Julie Bishop, 35, from Norwich, set up a non-toxic cleaning company after she and her young son developed asthma
![[Photo from article - Julie]](../library/julie.jpg)
Three years ago my father had terminal liver cancer and my two-year-old son Paul and I both suffered from chronic asthma. Mine came on after a bout of bronchitis as a baby, and Paul had always shown signs, but after we had the house painted when he was a year old, he had a massive asthma attack. I suspected it was caused by the paint fumes.
Facing up to so much illness made me question my whole lifestyle. As I thought about what I could change, one thing started to concern me more than anything else - the toxic effects of chemicals in the products I was using round the house. When I totted up everything I was spraying and splashing about -from toilet cleaner to descaler and furniture polish - I realised I must have been bombarding my body with chemicals. I'd already noticed that every time I sprayed shower cleaner I ended up wheezing. I was breathless a lot of the time and had several bad attacks a year when I was hospitalised because I was fighting for breath.
We decided to move from London to Norwich to escape inner city pollution and Paul's asthma improved. But I still wanted to reduce household pollutants, so I started using non-toxic, natural cleaning products.
I couldn't find much for sale in the UK so I began to think that if I couldn't find anything I liked, why not invent my own? I contacted an industrial chemist and started formulating my own, natural product range. I was passionate about coming up with alternative solutions that worked every bit as well as conventional ones.
When I was happy with what I'd produced, I launched my own cleaning company with a team of six, and called it Living Clean. The staff use tried-and-tested tips from the past, such as vinegar on windows and pumice stone on limescaled toilet bowls!
Our asthma is so much better since I cleared my home of chemicals. I still get attacks when the pollen count is high but there's not much I can do about that. At least I've done all I can to minimise the allergens we come into contact with at home. I'm sad to say that my father died recently but his memory lives on in my business - he designed my company logo, Dolly the Dolphin!