Allison Evans (0s):

Ironically, the products that we bring in our home to clean are sometimes the most toxic products in our entire home. So we came out with a formula that basically replaced every single cleaning product in your home. We wanted one for all.

Katie Ferraro (15s):

Hey, there I'm Katie Ferraro, registered dietitian, college nutrition professor and mom of seven specializing in baby led weaning. Here on the baby led weaning made easy podcast, I help you strip out all of the noise and nonsense about feeding, leaving you with the confidence and knowledge you need to give your baby a safe start to solid foods using baby led weaning. Well, Hey guys, welcome back in today's episode, we're going to take a little bit of a different turn, but it is. Trust me something I know you guys are all interested in. Tips on managing the food mess. I know the food mess associated with baby led weaning is a major pain point for some of you, and there's no way to prevent the mess.

Katie Ferraro (57s):

That's not the point, but we can minimize the mess. And so today I'm so excited to be interviewing Allison Evans. She's one of the co-founders of branch basics. So they're a company that makes non-toxic household cleaners. And I titled this episode, non-toxic household cleaners that actually cleaned food mess because I'll be the first to admit like tossing the toxins is not high on my priority list of all the things I need to do as a busy mom of seven kids. Like I'm a dietitian. I care a lot about what goes in their body as far as food goes. But over the years, I really have come to value the importance of removing toxic products from my house. So I have tested every single non-toxic household cleaner out there. And I have to be honest, that branch basics is the first one that I was like, whoa, this actually works.

Katie Ferraro (1m 38s):

It's actually real clean ingredients. And it's actually more affordable than what I had previously been doing. So those three things like that's the trifecta for me, does it work and actually get the food mess out. Okay. Is it actually clean ingredients or are they just masquerading as a clean company, which they're not. And then can I afford this branch basics hits all those marks. So I love the branch basic story. I am an affiliate for them. I do want to disclose that I love their company so much. Like when I first figured out that like, wow, this stuff actually works. I'm like, please, can I get a discount code from you for my audience? If you guys want to check out any of the products that Alison is talking about, the starter kit from branch basics is where to go. And she's going to explain how it works, but it's basically a concentrate that you then dilute at home.

Katie Ferraro (2m 19s):

I'm not a crafty mom, but I'm always like, look at me, I'm making soap because you add water to a bottle with a little bit of their concentrate, but they have like an all purpose cleaner, which is what we use for the food mess. They also have this oxygen boost that you can use to get stains out of clothes and to do dishes. So she's going to explain the different ways that these non-toxic cleaners can get your food mess out. I personally do all of these and I can vouch for you guys that they actually do work. So the code Katie15 works for 15% off the starter kits. And if you're checking them out at branchbasics.com definitely get the premium kit. It's $10 more, but it has that oxygen boost, which Alison is going to explain is kind of like magical. So with no further ado, I want to introduce you guys to Allison Evans co-founder of Branch Basics.

Katie Ferraro (2m 60s):

And we're chatting about non-toxic household cleaners that actually clean the food mess. All right, well, hi, Allison. Thank you so much for joining me today on the podcast.

Allison Evans (3m 9s):

Hi Katie. Thanks for having me. I'm super excited to be here.

Katie Ferraro (3m 12s):

Okay. I have been a massive fan of branch basics ever since I found out about you guys about two years ago that I am so excited, like so many questions to ask you, but first, could you tell us a little bit of background about yourself? What inspired you to create branch basics with all natural ingredients?

Allison Evans (3m 26s):

Oh my gosh. You're so sweet right back at you. I could ask you a million questions about being a mom of seven under six. So yeah. So what inspired branch basics? We, what did not inspire? It was that, you know, we wanted to grow up and sell soap, right? We were never,

Katie Ferraro (3m 43s):

That's not what you said you wanted to do when you grow up?

Allison Evans (3m 46s):

Exactly. You know, some people are out there and they see an opportunity. I think it's awesome. That was not us. We were super naive when it came to the business side and we were excessive on passion when it came to educating people on removing toxic products from their home. And that really went back to my health. And I I'd like to claim that I'm kind of the glue that brought the three founders together. So my aunt and my best friend and myself are the co-founders of the company back in middle school, I had a period. It never came back. This is going to be a really nutshell story. In high school, I went to a fertility specialist, diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, cysts all over my ovaries told I would be on birth control. And definitely there was nothing I could do about it. Fast forward to college Dolan birth control came down with this mysterious illness that most resembled Ms.

Allison Evans (4m 31s):

And I was on a slew of drugs throughout college and basically told that there was nothing I could do about it. My aunt merrily comes into picture and she starts talking to me about toxins inside the things that I put on and around my body and how I needed to remove these things in order to achieve my best version of myself and that my body had this amazing propensity to heal, but I needed to get out of its way. So I had nothing to lose except for all the drugs I was on and the pain that I was in. And I did, I tossed the toxins is now what we kind of call this campaign, this evergreen campaign. So after feeling a ton better in just a few weeks, Kelly, my best friend, who was my roommate in college, she and I decided to move out and live with Marilee in the hill country in Texas. And that is this, that was the summer of 2009.

Allison Evans (5m 13s):

And our lives would never be the same. We got out there and we really experienced what we like to call the power of pure. And we chose whole organic foods. We got rid of pesticides and EMFs and we grounded and drank juice and just kind of got back to basics. And we decided that summer, we wanted to put Maryles brain on the internet and I left that summer feeling better than I had in years, all the cysts. After a year, I went back to that doctor, all the cysts were gone. I was able to naturally conceive both of my two toddler girls. And now we're just on a mission to help others feel better.

Katie Ferraro (5m 47s):

Okay. Part of my ignorance, I don't know what EMF

Allison Evans (5m 50s):

Electromagnetic fields. So just excess exposure to cell phones. And we're all about turning your phone on airplane at night and not, you know, having around us all the time. Cause it can just kind of slow down our body's ability to heal.

Katie Ferraro (6m 2s):

How did your relationship with your best friend in Marilee then evolve into like, let's go build a soap company.

Allison Evans (6m 7s):

Yeah, so that summer in 2009, when I was in just horrific shape health wise, I left that summer. I was off all my prescription medications. My back pain was gone. Loss of motor skills was gone and you know, I was on fire cause I couldn't believe that just switching to whole foods and getting rid of pesticides and synthetic fragrances and toxic cleaning products could make that big of a difference in my health. And then my best friend Kelly, she was kind of, we always say either you're they're sick or smart to open up your eyes to this lifestyle. I was the sick one. She was the smart one. So all the things that she had experienced her whole life or most of her life like PMS and dry skin and itchy eyes and headaches, all they they'd all just disappeared.

Allison Evans (6m 47s):

And so we were just on fire and we wanted to tell everybody about this. So that's when the three of us decided, okay, we're going to be an information company. But we found that people were overwhelmed when it came to, where do I start? How do I start this healthy living train? And so we started with cleaning products because everybody claims and ironically the products that we bring in our home to clean are sometimes the most toxic products in our entire home. Right. I mean, it's just, the irony is just like tangible there. And so we we're all about helping people remove these toxins, but then they had nothing to replace them with. So we came out with a formula that basically replaced every single cleaning product in your home from your dishwashing detergent to your laundry detergent, to your body.

Allison Evans (7m 31s):

So we wanted one for all.

Katie Ferraro (7m 33s):

All this month on my podcast, I'm interviewing female founders of companies related to feeding. And I'm sure people are like within why do you have a cleaning products company on your podcast? But because it is so interlinked because you know, one of the biggest issues you did baby led weaning with you, two girls, you know, that the mess is a concern. And I always remind parents, the goal of baby led weaning is not to prevent the mask because getting messy as part of learning how to eat, but we can certainly do a lot of things to minimize the mess. So I was curious if you could share with us some ways that you use branch basics products in your house in and around like the area of food mess.

Allison Evans (8m 6s):

Absolutely. And I will add to that, that we feel is even more important than just minimizing or, you know, taking care of the mess is actually minimizing the exposure to toxic chemicals that sometimes come that often come from the use of these conventional cleaning products around your children. And I think that's a big thing and we have this rise in asthma and allergies and skin issues and just respiratory impairments and on a parts per million parts per billion level. Like we are creating a toxic soup in our home when we are using these products every single day. So that we're always putting human health above efficacy. Although we like to say that range basics really has kind of tackled both so ways that we use branch basics and our home.

Allison Evans (8m 50s):

It would actually be easier to say where we don't use it because we use it for everything. So when it comes to baby led weaning, which I did with both of my children, I have a four and a two year old who are incredible eaters, no pickiness in my house, which is such a blessing besides little stages here and there. But I mean, even just washing the produce, we use branch basics. And then of course we wash their hands in branch basics. And if you're not familiar with branch basics, I just want to take a second to describe that we sell a concentrated version of soap and then we sell empty bottles that go along with the concentrate. So each of the empty bottles, we have a foaming hand soap and all purpose, a, a window and glass, a bathroom cleaner, a laundry soap. So you use the concentrate in to fill the bottles and there's fill lines and then you top it off with water.

Allison Evans (9m 36s):

So there's different dilutions for different cleaning needs. So it's one product for pretty much everything. So clean the kids hands, clean the produce, stick them in their chair. And I've always really embraced the mess and kind of let my kids go wild. It's good for sensory improvement as well. And then I typically start cleaning and even involve them as they grow older in cleaning their mess. Cause I I'm a big believer in having them see just the process of what it takes from start to finish. I also love Montessori methods. So I really like, I'm all about the setup, the experience, and then the cleanup. And I love it involving the kids. And we have a ton of customers who are really big about involving their kids in the cleanup process and it's all safe.

Allison Evans (10m 16s):

So we would clean the high chair. They can be in it, the table, the floor, if it's a wood floor, we always recommend using just a small amount of product and then just wiping up. So it doesn't sit to like strip a stain off of a wood floor. And then of course is the hardest part, which is their clothes. If the baby is not disclosed clothed before, before feasting. And so what I typically do is take their clothes off. If they're super messy and I will spot treat the stains and we also sell something called oxygen boost, which is like the dynamic duo when it comes to stain removal. So I'll spot treat the stain and then I'll get a little scoop, comes in a powder version and scoops of oxygen boost on some really tough areas and kind of agitate with my fingers.

Allison Evans (10m 59s):

And then I will typically throw that garment in with the rest of the wash on cold. And by the time it's washed and comes out of the dryer, there's no stain. We kind of claimed that there's not a stain. We haven't been able to remove.

Katie Ferraro (11m 10s):

Oh, and I can verify that, like I'm talking, you guys were talking turmeric paprika, marinara sauce. I use the branch basics products. I use it in much the same way you guys have that little brush too. I have that for using the oxygen boost. I kind of will do the same thing to agitate it and I'll let it, I usually let it sit for a little bit before I do the laundry. But you know, seven kids are like doing laundry constantly. But I do think like the key is in the timing, like, especially with food mess, right? You've got to get to it when it's wet. Like there's nothing like dried oatmeal or dried yogurt. I don't care how good your products are. It's much easier to clean it when that mess is wet. So can I ask you, do you use the all purpose cleaner for the high chair and the table is that what product we're talking about?

Allison Evans (11m 49s):

I do. Yes I use all purpose. And I really want to emphasize that you don't to have exact proportion. So if the bathrooms cleaner is closer to you and you have it just use that we have more concentrate in the bathroom cleaner. So it's better for toilets and tubs and such, but honestly, in order to stretch the concentrate and not, you know, use as much, I often don't even fill to the fill lines. Even in the all purpose, like I'll just use three quarters or something. It, you don't have to be exact. So you're one of those people that has to be exact. I'm giving you permission to not be well.

Katie Ferraro (12m 19s):

I was going to ask you that actually, because one thing I love about is you get one bottle of concentrate and I penciled this out again. I'm like a very frugal mom, you end up saving money. Not only are you removing all of the toxins and getting a product that actually works and even smells good, which a lot of non-toxic products don't, but you're saving money because you're not having to buy all of these different cleaners. You're using the same concentrate as Alison explained. And then you just dilute it with your water. Now question, I always use the filtered water at our house. Do the branch basics products. Do they perform better if you use filtered water? Is that a recommendation? Did I just make that up?

Allison Evans (12m 52s):

No, you did not make that up. Absolutely. In fact, we, we recommend the highest of the high is the distilled water so that you're not having any sort of hard water issue or any really what's happening is that it's preventing buildup. As you're treating. If you're spot treating something or even spraying a counter or a window, a lot of times you can have buildup from minerals in the water. And so if you use distilled water, then it's doable and of those things.

Katie Ferraro (13m 14s):

And you know, one thing I learned, speaking of like concentration ratios. So when you get your branch basics products, where you get a bottle in the starter kits, you get a bottle of the concentrate, which depending upon how much cleaning you do can last a really long time. Then you get the different bottles and then you build it yourself. Basically. I like to say, oh my gosh, look at me. I'm making soap, like the concentrated insert, pour the water. And I never realized, so the streak free, which is basically like their equivalent of Windex. Like I didn't realize there's like a drop of soap in there and it's all water. And I was like, why have I been paying $5 for freaking Windex when it's just a drop of soap and it's magical. Like, and also you can give it to your kids. My kids love cleaning the windows with the branch basics products. And I'm like, oh, there's only one drop of soap in there. I don't even care if they like waste it.

Katie Ferraro (13m 55s):

Cause it's mostly water.

Allison Evans (13m 56s):

Exactly. And it's some people may be thinking, oh, well, what's the point. You're just selling something with just a drop of your product. It was the hugest difference. Water versus a bottle with water. Plus a drop is amazing. If you see streaks, we always say, add water. It's you need to dilute it down. And I want to go back to the stains really quick, Katie, because this is important. I think I want to emphasize like if, if your child has just eaten and you're spot treating something that is when you're going to have the most success in just quickly spot treating and throwing it in. But I am with you. I am all about the soaking, especially because I don't have the capacity, even just with two kids to always get it off the them and spot treat and do things. I mean, they're already running around the house with messy hanging, you know, all the things. So of course I do clean their hands first, before I cleaned their clothes, I will admit that, but I sometimes will go three or four days and I'll have a pile of stained clothes and I will gather those things.

Allison Evans (14m 46s):

I will stop up a sink in my bathroom cause I don't have a sink in my laundry room and I will put a scoop of oxygen boost in the sink and I'll use cold water because you don't want to set a stain with warm water. So cold water Superblocks that can boost in a capful of the concentrate, which is equivalent to about a teaspoon. And I will just submerge all of those clothes in that sink sometimes for two days. I mean, I have as a busy mom and an entrepreneur, like I've been known to leave it in sometimes for three or four days and I'll go back the next day and I'll, I'll lift it up. And at the stain is still there. I'll just dump it back under and like run out

Katie Ferraro (15m 18s):

With the brush for a second.

Allison Evans (15m 21s):

Yeah, exactly. And then what I'll do is I'll ring it out and throw it in the wash with the rest. And, and that's a really good way to get like stubborn stains that you haven't had a chance to get out

Katie Ferraro (15m 29s):

And we did a whole blog post for our audience on how to use branch basics. Non-toxic cleaners are in and around food mess. So one thing I experimented with a lot was using the oxygen boost, which is like, literally it's like magical powder. I don't, I know what's in, it is good for you, but like, I like this stuff is magic. You can also use it in your dishwasher. So I do do that actually. And it's really amazing. You can even like sprinkle it all over your dishes or actually even put a little of it in the dishwasher, the dishwasher container thing, where the soap goes. Could you talk a little bit about using the oxygen or even just branch basic products in general for dishes? Cause I've only used it in the dishwasher, but I understand there's other things you can do as well.

Allison Evans (16m 4s):

Yes, absolutely. So dishes I would say is what the product was mainly kind of made for in terms of everyday use. So I personally have not used anything except for our product for the past 10 years on dishes. So my husband and I were just in a routine where there's a bunch of dirty dishes. We'll kind of spray everything around the sink. That's all, you know, they're all dirty. And then I'll just rent with water and usually things slide right off and I'll just put them in the dishwasher. We actually went a year and a half or two without a dishwasher. And so I would just hand wash by spraying. Now, some people kind of still have this mentality of filling up a sink with water, which is great. I've just never been that kind of dishwashing person. But you could do that. You can add a cap full of the concentrate into the sink full of water and dirty dishes and then bring each one out and kind of rinse it.

Allison Evans (16m 46s):

And then something else people sometimes prefer our CEO is this way. He likes to do the foaming pump on the dishes. So it's just a matter of which method you're using branch basics, but we highly recommend that you replace your conventional, especially if it's conventional, but even these non-toxic green cleaning products or dishwashing products contain chemicals that you do not want to be ingesting even in a really small amount. So, and then for the dishwasher, our product is not specifically made for the dishwasher. I would say that is the one use that we are really missing around the house. Although we are formulating something from the dish for the dishwasher specifically, so stay tuned. But for now a lot of people will open up the container compartment where the dishwashing liquid will go and they'll fill it with maybe half to three quarter scoop of oxygen boost.

Allison Evans (17m 32s):

And then I don't know, maybe a half of a cap, as you can tell. I don't really measure super well. And I don't personally do that.

Katie Ferraro (17m 37s):

But I love that you don't have to, this is making me

Allison Evans (17m 40s):

A little bit of concentrate in there and then just start the dishwasher. A lot of people also will spray their dishes once the dishwasher is full and then sprinkle a little, little bit of oxygen boost on top and then shut the dishwasher and wash. I will say that the success of this method depends a lot on the hardness of your water. So I am living on a well, we have pretty like tough calcium deposit buildup. And so I personally do not use branch basics and this this way, but a lot of people have great success with,

Katie Ferraro (18m 7s):

So I've actually used like the foaming. I love the foaming hand wash, especially like COVID era. And my kids are just washing hands all the time. After I like got hooked on branch basics, I went back to your website and I think like the foaming hand wash bottle is like, I think it's $5 for extra bottle. And I just bought a ton of them. They're in every single bathroom in the laundry room. And then now I just use it as dish soap too. So I was going to ask you if that was okay, but it sounds like it is. That's what a lot like to pump. I don't like to spray. I like to pump when I'm doing dishes.

Allison Evans (18m 31s):

So our, I know our CEO is always making fun of us. He he's like y'all spray your dishes. I'm like, yeah. He's like, you gotta pump it.

Katie Ferraro (18m 38s):

Okay. I have another question though. So when it comes to the bottle, so the starter kits come standard with plastic bottles, which is always like, oh my gosh, in feeding people, you know, we're always like, oh, the AP says you shouldn't be using additives, including plastic around foods and feeding. So we're always like conscientious of trying to move away from plastic in feeding. But what I love is you can go on the branch basics website and I do this every time I get someone to start her kid, I also get them the glass bottles. And if you guys have kids, the glass bottles come with these amazing rubber bumpers on them. So I let my kids use the glass bottles all the time. Except the foaming hand wash bottle doesn't come in glass. Is that because you need some plastic for that mechanism to like pump?

Allison Evans (19m 13s):

Nope. It's because of darn COVID and supply issues, but fear not. We are coming out with the foaming glass bottle.

Katie Ferraro (19m 19s):

Can I be first on your list? I will buy like a million of them. Cause I love it. I was just curious why that one wasn't

Allison Evans (19m 24s):

Oh, I'm glad you asked that. We get that question all the time. My mom calls me like every other week, my mom group meets your glass foaming bottle. And like I know

Katie Ferraro (19m 33s):

The glass bottles are awesome. And they're like, actually like, look nice too. I mean, again, you know, your, your cleaning products, you usually like hide underneath the sink, but I love your guys' branding again. It's one of those products you can feel good about using and then using around your kids, which I wanted to go back to something you said earlier, which is like without naming other brands or brand bashing, like you did imply that there are other brands that are out there kind of masquerading as clean and green products. We see this in skincare, we see this in food. How do you guys source your ingredients and how can consumers be assured that they truly are clean and green and safe to use around their babies?

Allison Evans (20m 5s):

Wow, that's a great question. Yeah. We'll never name other brands, but I will say the thing that differentiates our product from others is our ingredient list. And first of all, if you have a cleaning product and you cannot find an ingredient list on the bottle because the law actually says that, you know, it's not required, but if you can't find it, you need to take out that cleaning product because it is, it is toxic and every single cleaning product should have every single ingredient inside that bottle. You're inhaling these, these, these particulates in the air where they're being absorbed through our skin. So in our opinion, there's never a reason to hide them. If there is caution, warning or danger on the cleaning product could use to see either of those three words, any of those three words, they need to be tossed because those three words are actually, they're not just kind of like cutesy, oh, I think we should slap this on there.

Allison Evans (20m 53s):

They actually are triggered by certain ingredients that exist inside the product, legally, any sort of fragrant product, you better be able to turn the bottle around, look at the ingredient list. If you smell peppermint, you need to see the word peppermint oil. If you smell lavender, you need to see lavender oil. If you smell these things, but then you see the word fragrance or parfum. You need to toss that toxin because those are endocrine-disrupting chemicals. They were created in a lab. They're a concoction of any of 3,100 chemicals that were grandfathered in and they do not belong in your home, in our bodies

Katie Ferraro (21m 22s):

But sorry, can those products still be marketed as like clean? I mean, it's the same in food. Like so much of the front of the package is the advertising. And if you actually turn it over and read the ingredient list and like, I know my way around a food label that I never knew that like I should be reading the ingredient list of my cleaning products. Cause it like, honestly, sometimes if it's green or they say they're clean, I'm just like, oh, they must be. That's not true.

Allison Evans (21m 40s):

Absolutely. I know. And that's, what's so deceiving and I, I would even argue that some of the non-toxic green cleaners have more toxic chemicals than the conventional ones, the words green and non-toxic are completely unregulated. So if you see that or if you see, you know, a sweet little grandma with great sense or some leaves, or it does not mean that it's healthy or safe. And then I would say the thing that differentiates us from even the cleanest of other products on the market, other green cleaners is our preservative action. So we actually use Camma meal to preserve our product. It took 18 months and over a hundred iterations of reformulating our product back in 2016 to come up with a product that met our quality standards was efficacious and yeah.

Allison Evans (22m 23s):

Kind of passed all of the, the branch basics, like check boxes. So that's a big thing. A lot of products will, will contain things like sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate. And these are quote unquote, you know, healthy preservatives that just didn't pass our tests because they create irritation in the lungs or in the skin. Yeah. So we it's really, we're all about human health, prioritizing human health first. And then it has to work because let's face it. We can have the cleanest product on the market, but if it's not going to get your stains out, not going to clean your house, people aren't going to come back for more. So that's what's so great is we really can confidently say that we do perform like conventional cleaners.

Katie Ferraro (22m 57s):

And so for the audience members who are listening and to be honest, it's mostly moms, but these are the people that go to the store and pick out the foods at the baby eats, pick out the skincare that goes on the babies in the family's body, pick out the cleaning products that clean the house. What tips do you have for our moms? If they are interested in making that change from their regular toxic household, cleaners and chemicals are currently using what's that first step that they need to do in order to move towards a more non-toxic lifestyle

Allison Evans (23m 23s):

I love that that's leaf that says actually the perfect setup for the, one of the things that we always say, and it's not about buying range basics. That is not, I hope that this is not, you know, the, the takeaway here, the takeaway, if I were to, to choose one is that we need to remove the toxins from our home. So you can clean your home with vinegar. I mean, it smells like salad dressing. It doesn't work as well, but it's way better than cleaning your home with toxic chemicals. So it's all about removal. And even just the act of removing these toxic products, these synthetic fragrance endocrine-disrupting cleaners are ones that are disinfectant that actually contain pesticides that are neurologically harming ourselves. Our children's developing brains. We don't want to have any sort of like disinfectant with an EPA registered pesticide would, you will be able to see the EPA registration on the bottle.

Allison Evans (24m 10s):

If you look at your disinfected, so get those out of your home. And this act of removal alone will drastically improve your air quality, just like that. So that is the takeaway. And then when it comes to replacing, there are definitely better alternatives out there on the market. We would say that we were probably the cleanest and most efficacious, but our whole thing is go around your entire house, not just your kitchen, we're talking drawers and underneath cabinets. And in your laundry room, that's a big area where a lot of people keep a lot of toxic cleaners and we have a whole kind of campaign on our website called toss the toxins. And it takes you step by step through removing toxins from your home.

Katie Ferraro (24m 49s):

And I have to admit it. Wasn't always like a top priority for me. Like I'm really, as a dietitian, I'm super interested in food. And then, but the more I've been in this business, you know, I think that what goes on and around your baby's body is just as important as what we put in in it. And I've been a fan of branch basics. I am an affiliate for you guys, and I really love the products and stand by them. But I learned so much from your toss, the toxins campaign and have done that very thing. Like we just cleaned out our garage over spring breaks. We didn't go anywhere. So it's like, we're going to spring clean. And the amount of just like stuff from like previous owners, I don't even know what it was like, literally like skull and crossbones stuff all over the place. I was like, why is this? Even in our house, like the kids could get into it, but like, we don't actively need it. And I have learned so much from you guys about just reading the labels of all the things that are in your house.

Katie Ferraro (25m 31s):

Whereas previously I'll admit, like I only cared about the food stuff. I do really think that this other layer is so important. You guys do such a wonderful job of educating about where toxins are located in your typical household. Hmm.

Allison Evans (25m 41s):

Katie, I love that so much. And I, I could just, you know, get emotional thinking about all the people that have written in daily testimonials of how they have changed their diet. They're taking supplements, they're doing all these things, but the eczema is still there. The persistent headaches are still there. The allergy shots are still there. These issues, even behavioral disorder issues, mental health issues. Because like I said, these toxic chemicals can actually change our brain chemistry. And so once they toss the toxins and usually I'll, I'm going to be honest, it's usually one problem child in the home and that's kind of this, this consistent pattern we're seeing. And so they'll do all these things for this one child and all of a sudden, they're like, no, my husband hasn't had a seasonal allergies. Oh my other kid doesn't really have to have eczema cream.

Allison Evans (26m 23s):

So what you're doing is you're improving the health of your entire family. It's like the best form of preventative health care to not just look at diet. Cause we are all about diet. I mean, that is that we we're all about it. If you go to our website, you'll see it's all about tossing the toxins in your food as well. But I think a lot of people are missing the environmental aspects. So it's such a blessing that you've kind of woken up and done, done this for your family.

Katie Ferraro (26m 43s):

And it's one of those things too, that I have to be honest, it has to be affordable and feasible. And so I think what it really came down for me was when I made the switch to branch basics was like, yes, this is the best choice toxin wise. But there is, at some point you have to consider like the cost considerations. It actually saves you money to switch to branch basics. And for me, that sealed the deal and you can be like, oh my gosh, I can't believe you. Wouldn't be totally concerned about toxins. I just, I have to admit, like I don't have that problem child. I didn't have a reason. I don't feel bad. I don't have immune diseases. I don't, but I do now value the importance of having okay, nontoxic products and something like, literally it goes on the table and then your baby eats off of the table. I mean, ideally they should be eating off of the plate, but you know, they eat off of everything like that chemical that comes in contact with it, shouldn't be harmful to my baby because it's going to get transferred to my baby because they put everything in their mouth.

Allison Evans (27m 27s):

Exactly. And you know, it's not about just these, these reactions that happen overnight because you are so blessed to have children with great constitutions and a lot of families, you know, aren't, aren't in that situation. But we have to remember that these, these chemicals actually bioaccumulate, so they will actually store in our organs over time and as morbid and kind of negative, this sounds like cancer doesn't form overnight when you're 50 or 60 or whatever. And so what we're doing as moms and each has really anyone listening is we are really investing in long-term health and it is affordable. I mean, I'm going to hit that as well because once you buy the concentrate, you and the, and the empty bottles, you start with the starter kit and you never buy an empty bottle again.

Allison Evans (28m 7s):

So typical families spend about $500 to $600 a year on cleaning products. And if you're on our subscription method model, and you're getting a new concentrate every month or every two months, you're not coming in anywhere close to spending that kind of money

Katie Ferraro (28m 19s):

So tell us where we can go to learn more about branch basics.

Allison Evans (28m 24s):

Yeah. So we are all over Instagram. You will see my face, my best friend co-founder and her beautiful face Kelly and we are always just hopping on and giving tips on how we live our lives. We're literally not doing anything other than living our lives and just sometimes turning our phones around and showing it. So it's really fun to, to educate people on we're actually in April is the content is focused on deep cleaning and spring cleaning. So I'm about to do a whole video on how to deep, clean a room from washing your walls to baseboards and all the things. So you can look out for that. But yeah, that's just at branch basics and then www dot branch basics.com. We have articles and articles and articles of just all free, all about removing toxins from your life.

Allison Evans (29m 8s):

And our mission really was, you know, to prevent people from one day saying, why didn't someone tell me this? Because that's how I felt when merely opened my eyes to the negative effects of toxic chemicals in our diet and then in our home. So, yeah. And if you want to reach me, alison@bridgebasics.com and I'm happy to answer any specifics questions

Katie Ferraro (29m 27s):

Well, thank you so much for your time. This was super informative. I really appreciate it.

Allison Evans (29m 31s):

You're so welcome, Katie. Thanks for having me.

Katie Ferraro (29m 34s):

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that episode with Allison Evans. She's one of the co-founders of Branch Basics. They make the non-toxic household cleaners that I really recommend for cleaning the food mess. So the way it works is that starter kit, she was describing you get a bottle of their concentrate and then you also get the bottles for their all purpose cleaner, their bathroom, cleaner streak free. And then the foaming hand wash. I highly recommend, if you are checking out the starter kit, pay the 10 extra dollars to get the premium kit. It has a canister of what they call their oxygen boost. That's the powder that she was saying you can use to get the stains out of your baby's clothes. When they have food mess on them, on what you also can use to do the dishes. I use it in my dishwasher. I know she doesn't because of her well water situation, but it works great in my dishwasher.

Katie Ferraro (30m 16s):

Although I'm very excited to hear or learn more about the dishwasher product that there'll be releasing soon. If you guys want to check them out, my code is Katie15, that's for 15% off the starter kits. And that is at branchbasics.com. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you guys next time.