by Katrina Murphy

Created on: February 07, 2009   Last Updated: February 08, 2009

As consumer awareness grows to the health and environmental impact of commercial cleaners, many wish to find safer cleaning products. The supermarket aisles overflow with sparkling bottles of cleaner for every surface, but how does one know which is safest? An old rule of thumb applies to the purchase of commercial cleaners: consumer beware.

Multiple mainstream companies market "green" products in response to growing demand, but are they truly green? They use natural ingredients, such as vinegar, but their continued use of synthetic chemicals and fragrance scratch them from the green list. Such chemicals cause respiratory irritation among other harmful effects.

Identification of chemicals, warnings and alternatives allow quality choices from the consumer. For many truly green products, the price is higher than most commercial cleaners are; however, alternative methods for healthy cleaning are cheapest.

Warning

Due to slack governmental regulations, companies are not required to disclose all of their ingredients. When shopping for cleaning products, a quick skim over the ingredient and cautionary label will offer you an idea of their toxicity levels. Labels reading "danger", "toxic" or "hazard" contain the highest levels of toxicity. Others reading "warning" or "caution" are less hazardous, though they still contain harmful chemicals.

For safe cleaning, avoid products containing fragrance (respiratory irritant), disinfectants (unnecessary), glycol ethers and heavy metals (possible carcinogens), phosphates (harmful to water) and volatile organic compounds. By reading the labels, many of these are unrecognized or not listed, which leaves the consumer cross-eyed and confused.

What to Buy

After skimming the product labels, you will find that most (if not all) cleaners do not meet the criteria for safe cleaning. However, a few store bought cleaners are safer to use.

Bon Ami

This scouring powder is a safe alternative to the others on the market and works well. For an alternative method, use straight baking soda.

Seventh Generation

This company provides multiple cleaning products- dish detergent, laundry detergent, all-purpose spray cleaners. Try their Free and Clear products for allergen reduction.

Bio-Kleen

Not only do their products work great (especially for carpet cleaning), they carry a pleasant scent and they are biodegradable.

Dr. Bronners

Castile soap is a naturally-derived liquid detergent with multiple uses. You can mix this with vinegar, water and essential oils to create

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