The ultra clean life style now encouraged by large companies after your money has certainly impacted on natural immune responses, particularly in children - and I have no doubt that a lot of the asthma type allergies and skin irritations are caused by these products themselves!

For years now I've been wondering when mothers would wake up to what was going on and fight back ........... by using the basic ingredients our mother's mother used to great effect, and by letting their kids "eat dirt", so to speak!

Another very bad side-effect of all this clean-freak activity is the damage to the environment! Has anyone considered how all the bleaches, disinfectants, and general additives going down the drains of so many domestic homes - and the sprays in the atmosphere - alter the ecology of our waterways and airways? We blame big business for their toxic emissions - but have we ever considered what the mothers of our country are doing - to our children and the planet?

judith johnson, New Town, Tasmania, Australia

I think there is a very simple explanation
the extensive range of cleaning products used today are man-made substances often with volatile perfumes which are easily ingested through the lungs/skin etc..
are bodies haven't evolved to deal with these substances
identifying them as 'foreign'
hence the immune reaction i.e. allergy

stop consuming chemicals?

tony bandero, Cambridge, UK

There may be something to this...

My family (of 8 children) was never big on housekeeping. Growing up, I was never taught to clean much beyond tidying and doing dishes and laundry. We had dogs and cats; we almost never dusted until it looked like it needed it (badly), and we never disinfected anything. The kids got dirty enough to grow potatoes on them, and only washed once a week, unless they were too grubby to bear. We were very rarely sick and never developed allergies of any sort.

My husband's family are all clean freaks - everything is always spotless, shiny, and "germ-free". They bathe at least once a day and wash hands and faces religiously. Their kids rarely get outside, much less dirty. All of them have allergies, sometimes severe.

My husband even has asthma. Since he has been living with me, he has gotten used to my lifestyle (clean, but not spotless). Now he has no allergies (our children, of course, have none either.) and he no longer needs his asthma medicines.

Mrs. H, Wilmington, Delaware, USA

There may be something to this...

My family (of 8 children) was never big on housekeeping. Growing up, I was never taught to clean much beyond tidying and doing dishes and laundry. We had dogs and cats; we almost never dusted until it looked like it needed it (badly), and we never disinfected anything. The kids got dirty enough to grow potatoes on them, and only washed once a week, unless they were too grubby to bear. We were very rarely sick and never developed allergies of any sort.

My husband's family are all clean freaks - everything is always spotless, shiny, and "germ-free". They bathe at least once a day and wash hands and faces religiously. Their kids rarely get outside, much less dirty. All of them have allergies, sometimes severe.

My husband even has asthma. Since he has been living with me, he has gotten used to my lifestyle (clean, but not spotless). Now he has no allergies (our children, of course, have none either.) and he no longer needs his asthma medicines.

Mrs. H, Wilmington, Delaware, USA

Food allergies are not caused by improved conditions or "spotless lives." They are caused by the jump in vaccinations given to infants which tinkered over the top with the immune systems of these babies....those born in the eighties, nineties and recently. Babies are given up to twenty vaccines...some doubled and tripled in one shot by the time they are two years of age. Vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases are given without testing the mother for these diseases at birth!! The pharmaceutical industry has made billions on these new products....and now the same will benefit what are now "allergy free" babies in Africa as our method of vaccinating infants so aggressively is shared with undeveloped nations.

clm, new york, USA

I have an asthmatic reaction to air freshener blocks and those little fan things in electric sockets (which also increase your carbon footprint). Often I have to remove them from hotel rooms and hire cars. The adverts for them really amuse me, especially the cartoon-y animal ones where the "mother" says "I really hate bad odours". The rest of us love them of course.

alexandria, Sheffield, UK

How did, say the baby boomer generations,make it to the age they are today? We played outdoors in the dirt and mud. Soap and water scrubbing was as much as you got when you skinned your knees and elbows. I am sure I ingested my fair share of bugs, dirt, pollen, and other stuff left on hands when not washed properly. Today, children don't play outdoors, they are washed head to toe with antimicrobial soaps. Disinfecting countertops and toilet bowls is pushed down the television viewers throats as if 'germs' are a new concept. For goodness sake, yes, your toilet bowl has germs in it - but are these germs different from the ones around 40 years ago? No. But marketing has created an even larger group of mildly neurotic folks ready to place Jr. in a hermietically sealed bag and turn them out into the scary world. Use a bit of common sense - wash your hands, keep things tidy in the lav/kitchen and put your kids outside in the garden - maybe they will eat a little dirt!

Bobbie Crum, London,

The usual problem with doctors is that you can't read their handwriting. In this case, you can read the writing but you can't understand it half the time because the grammar is so bad.

Scribe, Bangkok,

From personal experience, I have noticed how often people can show adverse breathing reactions when they are close to plug-in air freshners and recently laundered clothing, and also skin complaints when having used washing-up liquids. These are all thing sthat are marketed to encourage us to believe we are following a "fresher" (if not cleaner) life-style, but are they so toxic that they cause other health issues?

RICHARD KRAWIEC, HAYWARDS HEATH, WEST SUSSEX

I knew there was a very good reason I don't do much cleaning.
My houseproud relatives blame my laziness.
Thank you.
I am vindicated.
Somebody gave me one of those jokey fridge magnets which says
"My kitchen is clean enough to be healthy, and messy enough to be happy"
But there is a truth there - getting the balance right. Clean the sinks and lavatory once or twice a week, (more frequently when there is illness in the house or an incident occurs) not, like one bleach enthusiast I met, 3 times a day.
Washing hands after jobs and before touching food is sensible.
Washing the kitchen walls and ceiling weekly is over doing it.

Cam, Essex,