Household Chemicals and Cleaners

[unpoquito]

We got rid of all of our teflon pans and iron, and replaced them. We have hardwood and linoleum floors in most of the house. Are the wet swiffer pads safe to use with a bird in the house? What about other cleaners? I used apple cider vinegar to clean the cage, and murphy's oil soap on wood furniture. Thanks for any tips.

[pam311]

I dont know about the swifer liquid, I always move all three of my birds to another room when cleaning and open a window. After 2 or so hors the birds go back into their regular space. I also dont vacuum or dusk around them either. When a 'spill" occurs I use lemon juice and baking soda to spot clean. This may be over kill but I dont want to take any chances.
Our first bird was a wonderful Peach Fronted Conure who talked all day long. Her cage was in the family roon and my step daughter made brownies and forgot to turn the gas oven off. 4 hours of oven fumes got to her. Now when I bake, the door is open, window open and birds upstairs.

[chapala]

We do have to be careful about all these toxic fumes around our birds. We have all tile floors, and they are mopped with a mixture of water and white vinegar, no chemical fumes from those nasty cleaners. (I did this before birds too!) Check out toaster ovens to make sure they do not have non-stick coatings - I have a fairly cheap model Black & Decker because it is SS inside, not non-stick. No oven-cleanng cycles or chemical oven cleaners around the birds either. Air fresheners, pesticide sprays, and what else everyone?
Reta

[Vegasmom]

If your birds like to preen your hair, no haircare products like hairsprays or gels. Of course cigarette or cigar smoke, air freshening candles. Teflon is SUPPOSED to be safe unless it's burned, but I don't take the chance either. I haven't heard any thing about iron though. Can you give me info on it?

[raiven]

I take care of my apartment building and the main cleaner I use for that and my own apartment is called Orange TKO. It is a highly concentrated cleaning product made from the oil derived from orange peel. It has no petrolates added. A small amount does floors, bathrooms, almost all my cleaning. It is a product that I have used for many years now.

[Pado]

Vegasmom - Some Irons have a Teflon coating - I believe that's what the iron reference is referring to :)

I use some Teflon cookware - with Parrots you just have to be careful and ALWAYS stay with the cookware while you are cooking. Its just like having Parrots and not letting them out when the doors and windows are open - one needs to be vigilant :p
Using Teflon you have to be extra careful - have plenty of ventilation while cooking and don't let them burn.

[unpoquito]

Yes, I was referring to our clothes iron. We realized it has teflon on it, so immediately replaced it with one that doesn't.

[chapala]

Teflon is SUPPOSED to be safe unless it's burned, but I don't take the chance either. I haven't heard any thing about iron though. Can you give me info on it?

Teflon doesn't have to burn to release fumes that are deadly to birds. If the pan reachs around 425 to 450 degrees, it is starting to emit deadly fumes for birds, and birds have died. Different chemicals are released as the temperature rises higher. It takes about 6 or 7 minutes for a dry pan to reach a temperature of around 650 degrees (as I recall) on a burner on high. People begin to be affected around that temperatue and have symptoms known as "polymer flu".

You never would want to use any non-stick cookware in a hot oven - very dangerous for the birds. Also, it is easy to get distracted (at least for me!) - the phone rings, someone is at the gate, etc. - and a non-stick pan on the stove can get too hot pretty fast.

The only two non-stick items I have are a non-stick waffle iron, and one egg pan. Cello gets wheeled outside before I use them, out in the fresh air on the terrace. The other birds' cages are out there too. So, that's how I use non-stick, with no birds in the house.
Reta

[lily]

My ironing board cover (pad) had a Teflon coating! So do baking bags and microwave popcorn bags.

The smoke from charcoal grills is laden with toxins. Sometimes people discard disposable cigarette lighters by tossing them from the car, then another car drives over it, releasing the lighter fluid fumes.

Some natural essential oils are toxic to birds. I have heard that if you can smell it, it is too strong for the bird.

[bethieD]

Also--many flatirons and curling irons are teflon coated! Make sure yours are metal or ceramic. I've also heard that some hairdryers have teflon on the heating elements. Not cleaning agents, but something to remember.

I've also heard that Glade scented candles can be toxic as well.

[catfish]

any aersol is potentially toxic to birds, I'm not sure if there are any candles that are safe to be used around birds because the wick does burn and tends to release smoke which then causes that strong fragrence to fill up the room....

I just avoid using candles and spraying anything around the birds and wearing cologne if I am going to be home for a long time.

[unpoquito]

Wow, I didn't know that about the microwave popcorn bags. Yikes!:eek:

[lily]

Fragrances don't have to be in aerosols to be toxic. Do not use plug-ins or any product designed to fragrance the home, freshen the upholstry or carpet, hide the fact that you didn't shower, cover doggie odors-- don't even use fabric softeners! These products are so dangerous that they are harming PEOPLE, and they have been implicated in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The reason they are dangerous is that they are manufactured from chemicals the majority of which have not been tested for safety. The majority of the fragrance chemicals in them that have been tested are toxic or carcinogenic. The reason these formulae are allowed on the market is because they are "trade secrets"-- that is, the fragrance formula is secret, so does not have to be disclosed, not even to the FDA. If the label says "fragrance," the product has synthetic chemicals (not natural essential oils) in it, and that single word can be a soup of 600 different chemicals that make the pretty smell.

We bird owners have good reasons (our birds!) to shun the concept that we and our environments must be perfumed in order to be acceptable. Air fresheners work, by the way, by numbing your sense of smell-- causing odors to "vanish." How gross is that? Air, bodies, and fabrics that are clean smell good without being perfumed.

P.S. Some candles have lead in their wicks, so even unscented ones could cause harm.

[chapala]

Products with "fragrance" are indeed adding a bunch of unnecessary chemicals to our homes and lives. If you start to look around store shelves, it really is amazing how many products have added fragrance.
Reta

[flyguy676]

Teflon doesn't have to burn to release fumes that are deadly to birds. If the pan reachs around 425 to 450 degrees, it is starting to emit deadly fumes for birds, and birds have died. Different chemicals are released as the temperature rises higher. It takes about 6 or 7 minutes for a dry pan to reach a temperature of around 650 degrees (as I recall) on a burner on high. People begin to be affected around that temperatue and have symptoms known as "polymer flu".

You never would want to use any non-stick cookware in a hot oven - very dangerous for the birds. Also, it is easy to get distracted (at least for me!) - the phone rings, someone is at the gate, etc. - and a non-stick pan on the stove can get too hot pretty fast.

The only two non-stick items I have are a non-stick waffle iron, and one egg pan. Cello gets wheeled outside before I use them, out in the fresh air on the terrace. The other birds' cages are out there too. So, that's how I use non-stick, with no birds in the house.
Reta


if ur teflon coated pan gets that hot the food is ruined anyways, not from being burned but from the teflon. its poisonous to humans as well. in my food prep class, the chef would make us throw out our food if we used metal utensil on it.

[mjmalek37]

Hi! I am trying to decide what to use to clean the floors in the kitchen.... is vinegar a safe product for my little Sweetie?

[chapala]

Yes, vinegar is a safe cleaner for your bird. We have all tile floors and use white vinegar (cheap bought in gallon bottles) and water. The vinegar smell disappears rapidly, and no harsh fumes for birds or humans. I also keep a spray bottle filled with 1/2 white vinegar, 1/2 water and use that to spot clean the cages especially the food areas. Great for kitchen counters too! I can't tolerate the harsh chemical cleaners so am quite happy with using more natural products.