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.
This scouring powder is a safe alternative to the others on the market and works well. For an alternative method, use straight baking soda.
This company provides multiple cleaning products- dish detergent, laundry detergent, all-purpose spray cleaners. Try their Free and Clear products for allergen reduction.
Not only do their products work great (especially for carpet cleaning), they carry a pleasant scent and they are biodegradable.
Castile soap is a naturally-derived liquid detergent with multiple uses. You can mix this with vinegar, water and essential oils to create spray cleaners.
Tip: Shop around for local stores that specialize in natural products or peruse the organics section of your local market. You may find some wonderful cleaners that you have never before heard of.
Online Shopping
Sadly, most safe cleaning products are not available in the supermarket. If expenses allow, take advantage of the Internet to order better products. Review comprehensive lists of safe cleaning products for full spectrum of available products. Aubrey Organics and Solay offer household cleaning and personal care products composed of naturally derived ingredients.
Commercial laundry detergents contain toxic ingredients and harm our water supplies. The natural alternative is soap nuts, a dried fruit that releases cleaning compounds when used in water. Soap nuts are also compostable, so they leave no trash. The expense is high, so research recipes for homemade laundry detergents if you wish to change products.
You will find most of the safest and cheapest cleaning products in your kitchen. Try diluted vinegar to clean windows and use baking soda for cleaning ovens and hard surfaces.
Commercial air fresheners cause respiratory distress and increase prevalence of headaches. Moreover, they merely coat the nasal passages to reduce your ability to smell. To naturally freshen the air, boil citrus peels and spices, or place a bowl of vinegar to absorb odor.
Commercial cleaning products assault our bodies and senses with synthetic chemicals. This aggravates our health and damages the water supplies. Avoid the temptation of fragrant chemical cleaners, you will find the safer products actually work better.