In the last post we looked at how to choose the best, safest and most eco-friendly store-bought cleaners. With this in mind, I thought I’d share my top picks for store-bought green cleaners.

I like homemade green cleaners best, but as I noted in the previous post, it’s hard to get everyone in my house on board with homemade. There’s a slight learning curve. You have to know stuff, like what baking soda is good for, how to use salt to clean and how to mix up the proper amount of natural soap vs. H2O. If we only kept homemade cleaning supplies in the house, it would be hard for me to get help cleaning. Basically, until I can get everyone else up to speed, we do buy some green cleaners.

Following are my favorite green cleaners…

BATHROOM

Seventh Generation Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Emerald Cypress & Fir Scent – this toilet bowl cleaner works great (read my review). In fact, I think it’s better than homemade toilet bowl cleaner – which is rare for me. It smells nice and leaves the toilet very clean.

Sometimes, if it’s on sale, we’ve bought Mrs Meyers Clean Day Toilet Bowl Cleaner (Basil) too. I like the scent of this cleaner, but I don’t think it works as well as 7th gen. It’s a decent second place choice though.

GENERAL CLEANING – by general I mean everything; counters, walls, mirrors, etc. 

For general, every-day cleaning my favorite product is Earth Friendly Products Parsley Plus Cleaner. This smells AMAZING and works like a charm. Plus, I really like Earth Friendly Products in general. It’s a little pricey, but smells so great, it’s worth it.

When I don’t want to splurge I’ll buy Earth Friendly Products Orange Plus Concentrated All Purpose Household Cleaner, which costs less and makes TONS of bottles. In fact, I think the last time I bought this we got ten or so bottles of cleaner out of it. It’s concentrated, so you have to mix it yourself, but it gets everything clean, from sinks to counters to cupboards to grease stains and even glass. It’s one of my new favorite store-bought green cleaners.

I also will use plain old soap for cleaning. For instance, you can buy a huge bulk container of Dr. Bronner’s, add some to a spray bottle with water and use it to clean. Plus, you can refill reusable hand soap pumps with it, wash dishes and even, in a pinch, use it for laundry.

LAUNDRY

For laundry, Biokleen Citrus Laundry Powder is pretty much the only stuff I buy. It’s super inexpensive and works great. I only buy the powder though, as the liquid costs more. If you’re looking for a good liquid laundry soap try Vaska Laundry Detergent. Vaska works really, really well. The downside is it’s more expensive and hard to find. None of my local grocers carry it.

I never buy dryer sheets. I think they’re a waste of materials. My boyfriend likes them though, but he is willing to make do with either fabric softener or dryer sheets, not both, so I talked him into Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Fabric Softener, Lavender. This works well I guess if you like fabric softener – although honestly, I could do without. Still it does make your sheets smell excellent.

DISHES

Washing dishes is relaxing for me, but the price of eco-friendly dish soap and dishwasher detergent is anything but. Most of the time it’s really expensive, and often greener dishwasher detergent works terrible. That said, you may have to shell out more cash for one that actually works. So far, the two best dishwasher detergents we’ve used are Seventh Generation Auto Dish Pacs (Free and Clear) and Ecover Automatic Dishwashing Tablets.

We’ve tried tons of dishwasher liquid detergents and had little luck – i.e. they seem to leave stuff dirty. Both of these choices above cost more, but aren’t toxic and do work, so although I think they’re a little over-packaged, they’re what I’d recommend.

As for hand washing dishes, I’m not too particular. Soap is soap in this case. I tend to buy the least expensive natural, non-toxic soap I can find for when we hand wash. Sometimes that’s Dr Bronners Magic Pure-Castile Soap Organic (bulk) in almond, because I like the almond scent and sometimes it’s Seventh Generation Dish Liquid. It all works fine.

HAND SOAP

I like to buy plain soap in bulk and refill reusable hand soap containers. That’s your greenest option. That said, if you’re looking for a store-bought version, we’ve tested and like the following:

• Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Liquid Hand Soap – in lavender or basil.
• Earth Friendly Products Hand Soap
• Seventh Generation Hand Wash

EXTRAS

I don’t buy silver cleaner, because I don’t clean silver. However, if you need a good silver cleaner I’ve tested out Earth Friendly Products Silver Polish and it works very well.

Because I have kids in the house, I sometimes like to use fabric refresher on the couch and chairs. Most conventional fabric refreshers are icky though and I haven’t found a homemade one (yet) that doesn’t stain fabric. The best green choice I’ve found is Earth Friendly Products Stain & Odor Remover – this smells nice and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Biokleen Bac-out Fresh Lemon-thyme works well, but costs more and you don’t get as much.

I NEVER BUY…

Oven cleaner, wood cleaner, floor-specific cleaner or glass cleaner. I’ve tried some natural store-bought versions of these products, when companies have sent them to me, but overall, you don’t need them. I use baking soda, salt or soap and water to clean the oven. I use that orange cleaner above to clean glass and wood.

As for floors I just use steamy hot water because I have a Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam. We don’t use carpet cleaner, we just vacuum regularly and use soap for spot treating, plus have the carpets cleaned annually.

BRANDS TO WATCH FOR

If you just want to check out brands, and see their product line, here’s some help…

• Earth Friendly Products  - My favorite green brand for household cleaners. Fairly inexpensive in my opinion, but harder to find at local grocers.

• Seventh Generation – Has pros and cons along with a decent line of cleaners. Plus, you can find them everywhere and usually on sale. Read my company review.

• Biokleen – Best company for greener, inexpensive laundry products. I like their household cleaners too, but rarely buy them as most come with more expensive price tags.

• Ecover – This company is super hit or miss at my local stores. You may find their products, but you’re just as likely not to. They’re comparable price-wise, but I tend to go with other companies first.

• Mrs. Meyers – I like their products, and they’re easy to find at almost all stores, but they’re very expensive. Plus, to be honest, while I’ve reviewed individual products, I haven’t done a full review of their company, so I can’t say how green they are.

• Method – This is another company I need to do a full review of. I’m not sure how green (or not) they are. I do know that they seem to be only at select store and only select products are available. I don’t shop at places that carry much of them, so I don’t use them, but I have heard decent things about them. They may be worth checking out.

What are your favorite store-bought cleaners?

Although I advocate homemade green cleaners, I do get that many people still won’t use them. There are time constraints for sure. Also, in some households, people refuse to take the time to learn how to mix and use homemade cleaners.

That’s okay. For years, my son and I lived alone. We made almost all our own green cleaners. Now I live with other people and homemade cleaners are more problematic, because everyone in the house needs to know how to mix and use them. I can’t force people to use homemade cleaners correctly. This is a longer story, for another time, but to cut to the chase, since I started living with others, we do buy more store-bought green cleaners. I’m not crazy about it, but I’m also not nuts about a filthy house.

In any case, there will always be folks who want to buy, not make household cleaners, so we should take a look at how to actually buy green and safe cleaners.

Image © Flickr User Zepfanman.com

The number one rule!

Ignore pretty packaging – Pretty waterfalls, little green leaf and flower designs or green colored bottles mean NOTHING. Companies will try to trick you into buying their “green” cleaner by using super awesome green looking packaging, but don’t fall for it.  You must read labels to be sure a product is green and safe.

Terms you DO want to see on cleaning product packaging include:

• Ammonia free
• Chlorine free
• Plant based
• Biodegradable
• Certified organic
• Solvent free
• Phosphate free
• Chemical free
• Fragrance free
• Dye and artificial color free

Obviously, read the entire label. Often, a cleaner will contain one certified organic ingredient or state that it’s fragrance free on the front, but one or two good claims does not a green product make. You need to look at the whole picture.

Image by greschoj via sxc.

Terms you DO NOT want to see on cleaning product packaging include:

• “Poison” or “Danger.” Federal law mandates that when a product displays these terms the product has the highest possible level of hazard.

• “Caution” or “Warning” according to law, means the product carries a moderate hazard.

• “Wear gloves when using” or “Only use in a well ventilated area” and other likewise terms are big bads. Honestly, this is common sense. If you must wear gloves to handle a cleaner, obviously there’s a big safety problem.

• No terms at all. If you can’t find ingredients listed on a package, skip it.

• Terms you can’t pronounce or easily understand. “Essential orange oil” or “Vinegar” or “Lemon juice” or “Baking soda” are things you know are mostly safe when used correctly. However, I’d be willing to bet you don’t know what terms like diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, isopropanol or triethanolamine mean and you sure don’t know if they’re safe or not.

Look at the packging

Go a step further

• The Household Product Database
• Look at Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for products

Image © Franny-Anne

Consider homemade green cleaners

You can easily make homemade green cleaner. Bonus, making homemade cleaners can save you $1,600 in five years. If you need help getting started, check out the following:

• Homemade Green Cleaner Safety
• Homemade Green Kitchen Cleaners
• Homemade All-Purpose Cleaners & Safer Mold Cleaners
• Easy Homemade Organic Liquid Hand Soap
• Green and safe kitchen pantry homemade cleaners

I’ve been slacking on my, “Save $50,000 in five years” series. It’s a lot of work (all those calculations!) However, it’s time we got back to it, so without further ado… Let’s look at cleaning products.

Image © kabliczech

Why use green cleaning products?

In this post I’ll be comparing the costs green cleaning products only – both store bought and homemade. What I won’t be doing is comparing savings on making homemade cleaners over conventional cleaners, because you shouldn’t be using conventional cleaners at all. That’s a much longer story though and an issue that goes beyond budget.

If you’re interested, read Ten Problems and Hazards of Conventional Cleaning Products.

How I’m getting these calculations:

Green cleaning supply costs can really depend on your family, how much you clean and many other variables. We’re a family of five, and we clean fairly regularly, so I’m just going to use us as an example. When it was just my son and me, we almost always only used homemade cleaners. Now that we live with another family, who can’t seem to figure out homemade cleaners (longer story for another time) it’s sometimes easier to buy green cleaners at the store. I’ve also had to test out store bought green cleaners for reviews.

That said, I have a decent amount of experience with both types of cleaning supplies. However, I’m kind of a Grinch about buying anything, so I also looked at some market research to see how much people are spending on green cleaners.

Cleaning my family regularly does annually & supplies needed:

We do daily chores, such as wiping down the kitchen and dining room table surfaces about 2-3 times per day, most days of the year. On a weekly basis, we have two bathrooms to clean, scrubbing out the kitchen sink, recycle bin and garbage can, along with mopping floors and dusting surface. 

On a twice monthly or monthly basis we clean windows (glass and frames), wipe down the fridge, wipe down walls (Oregon mold prevention), spot clean couches and floors if needed and clean the oven.

For the chores above we need all-purpose surface cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, glass cleaner, tub cleaner and organic liquid soap.

*I’m not including vacuuming carpets (vacuum cleaner) or other tools such as scrubbing brushes or cloths or paper towels – just cleaners. I didn’t include laundry or dishes, because low impact laundry and dish washing savings are their own posts.

How much do FRUGAL basic store bought green cleaning supplies cost over five years?

These are the store-bought cleaners we buy, when we buy them. These in total are few, and not very typical to what I see among most families, so we’re going to figure two scenarios.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner – $3.49 per bottle – lasts about three months. Need 4 bottles = $13.96 (per year)

Glass & Surface Cleaner – $4.99 per bottle - we use a concentrated, mix your own cleaner that lasts us about 3 months – but we use it for lots of stuff; glass, the fridge, all surfaces, etc. Need 4 bottles = $19.96 (per year)

Castile Liquid Soap Organic $14.99 per bottle – we use this for a ton of stuff, from scrubbing out recycling bins to cleaning sinks and more. We tend to get the 32 oz size which lasts and last because a tiny bit goes a long way. Need 2 bottles = $29.98 (per year).

Fabric Stain and Odor Remover $5.05 per bottle – due to the kids, we go through more of this than other stuff, about a bottle every two months. Need 6 bottles = $30.30 (per year).

I never buy a scrubby type cleaner. If I want to clean the sinks or tub with something other than homemade stuff, I’ll squirt a bit of castile soap or surface cleaner into the sink or tub, sprinkle a bit of eco-laundry powder or eco-dishwasher powder into the area and scrub with a brush.

As for floors, we use our Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam, which we didn’t pay for, but costs $149.00. I suggest using this, as you don’t need any cleaners for it, and it’ll last the whole five years I’m guessing. Plus sweeping and mopping sucks. You do need to buy a steam mop pads, maybe once per year, for $6.75. Total costs for five years = $182.75. Still, had we not gotten the steam mop for free, then we’d simply use some of the castile soap or surface cleaners + a basic cheap mop, so our costs on floors would be negligible.

Total frugal green cleaning store-bought supplies = $94.20 per year or $471.00 over five years or $653.75 with the steam mop.

Image by svilen001 via sxc.

How much do TYPICAL basic store bought green cleaning supplies cost over five years?

We buy very few store-bought cleaners, even when we’re using them regularly, because we mix it up with homemade and use them sparingly. However, we’re not very typical.

When I visit other people’s homes, I often see a much larger amount of cleaning products – both if they’re buying green or not. People seem highly attracted to single use products – i.e. they need a kitchen vs. bathroom cleaner. Typically I see the following stuff in typical homes… Oh, and I’m going to guess, based on my experience how fast the average family of four would use these up and I’ll choose the most popular green cleaners at Amazon – since it’s hard to tell what typical people buy.

• Furniture polish $8.67 per bottle - I’m guessing a bottle of this would last a year (?) = $8.67 (per year)

• All purpose cleaner $8.80 per bottle. Need two bottles a year, since you’ve got all these other cleaners too = $17.60 (per year).

• Kitchen cleaner – surface spray $3.98 per bottle - maybe 12 bottles a year, people use a lot of kitchen cleaning spray. If I mix my own from eco-concentrate, I still mix up about 1.5 bottles per month = $47.76 (per year).

• Bathroom cleaner $3.86 per bottle - as with kitchen cleaners, if I mix bottles myself, I use about 6 or 7 per year on the bathrooms alone. Especially because the kids totally over-spray = $27.02 (per year).

• Toilet Bowl Cleaner – $3.49 per bottle - lasts about three months. Need 4 bottles = $13.96 (per year).

• Some sort of disinfecting multi-surface wipes $4.97 per container - I’ve seen people go through 2 or 3 of these per month, but that’s just nuts. I know a more frugal cleaner who uses 1 container per month, so I’m going with that = $59.64 (per year).

• Window and glass cleaner $9.70 per bottle - 4 bottles = $38.80 (per year)

• Fabric Stain and Odor Remover $5.05 per bottle - 6 bottles = $30.30 (per year).

• Floor Cleaner $4.85 per bottle for mopping and such – I have no idea how long this might last, but floors are big, so I’ll estimate at least three bottles a year = $14.55 (per year)

• Oven cleaner – I’ve actually never seen a readily available eco-oven cleaner. BUT you don’t want to go the conventional route. Oven cleaners are the worst of the worst cleaners. I do know of one oven cleaner that’s supposedly safe, but I haven’t used it. It’s affordable at just $7.69, I guess it would last the whole year = $7.69 (per year).

• Tub and tile cleaner $3.74 per bottle - hopefully you’d use less of this, especially if you’re buying other cleaners. Once, Seventh Generation sent me a bottle of tub cleaner spray to test, and it lasted me about 3 months, assuming I cleaned the tub entirely with it = $11.22 (per year).

• Bleach $11.63 per bottle

Total typical green cleaning store-bought supplies =$300.56 per year or $1,502.80 every five years.

How much do people REALLY spend on green cleaners?

My figures were $545.95 for frugal green cleaners and $1,502.80 for typical green cleaners over five years. However, to be clear, my best estimates about typical cleaning product purchases don’t match what other market research says.

David Bach, author of Go Green, Live Rich estimates that the average American family spends about $600 per year on home cleaners. Packaged Facts estimates that the U.S. market for household cleaning products through 2012 will reach $8.1 billion. People seem to buy an outrageous amount of cleaning products. Currently green cleaners only make up 3% of the home cleaning market, but they cost more, so if you buy a full range, you’d be spending a bundle.

For example, in 2009, $339 million was spent by a very small percentage of people on green household cleaning products. Packaged Facts estimates that green home cleaner sales should reach $2 billion in sales by 2014 while the global market for household green cleaning products forecast is US$9.32 billion by the year 2017. About 1/3 of green cleaners sold are laundry products, but even so, that leaves a hefty amount of other green cleaners being sold.

According to market research, my best guess figures were extremely low. The cleaning market is a rich market. It’s very likely that people spend much more on cleaning products than I figured, more in the range of $500-$600 per year. Or $2,500-3,000 every five years. If you split the average of $2,500 and $1,502, you’re looking at $2,001 every five years.

© Franny-Anne

How much do basic homemade green cleaning supplies cost over five years? 

Okay, these figures are easier, since for years, homemade green cleaners were all I used, so I have a much better basis for comparison.

Here’s a list of my basic supplies for a year’s worth of cleaning naturally.

• Prevention + arm power – both free – if you clean often, you avoid big messes that can’t be cleaned and you’d be surprised what a basic good scrub with a brush will get rid of.
• $3.00 (2 containers) salt - usually store brand or bulk.
• $6.00 (3 massive boxes) baking soda – usually store brand or bulk.
• $9.60 1 lemon per month (I refuse to pay more than 80 cents for a cleaning lemon, if it’s more I go without for cleaning.
• $9.02 1 bottle of Organic Tea Tree Oil.
• $29.98 (3 bottles) Castile Liquid Soap Organic
• $1.80 a small containers of vinegar – I HATE vinegar and use it ultra sparingly, actually forgetting to use it, so it costs me almost nothing.

I personally buy Fabric Stain and Odor Remover $5.05 per bottle - 6 bottles = $30.30 (per year). However, there are homemade versions you can make. They’re a bit more trouble, so this is one area where I spend extra.

Total costs of natural cleaners $59.40 for a year or $297.00 over five years. If you buy the steam mop ($182.75) I suggested up above, you’d spend $479.75 over five years.

Savings with natural homemade green cleaners over store bought green cleaners:

• $297.00 – $479.75 spent on homemade cleaners (highest estimate).
• $2,001 spent on store bought green cleaners (conservative estimate).
• You’d save $1,521  to $1,704 every five years if you went with homemade green cleaners (average of $1,612.00).

We’re trying to save $50,000 and so far we’ve saved the following…

• $1,612 by making homemade green cleaners
• $6,180 by using reusable water bottles vs. buying bottled water
• $1,000 by using cloth instead of paper towels
• $1,354 if you use cloth napkins instead of paper
• $835 by switching to reusable baby wipes

That’s a grand total of $10,981.00. That leaves $39,019.00 left to save. That seems like a lot. Whew, by the way, next time I’m doing something easy – these calculations were a nightmare. For now, if you want to start making your own green cleaners, check out the following:

• Green and safe kitchen pantry homemade cleaners
• Homemade all-purpose and mold cleaners
• Homemade green kitchen cleaners

In the fall, it’s nice to have an air freshener that fits the season, and homemade spicy apple air freshener does just that. Better yet, it’s much safer than chemical air fresheners. Note: this air freshener works best if you have a wood-stove or fireplace. You can make it if you have a oven and are cooking something else too.

• Core a large Roma apple. You can use other apples, but Roma apples are nice and hard, which is what you need. Don’t core the apple all the way through the bottom; leave a layer of skin intact.

• Peel a ring of apple skin just around the hole at the top of the apple.

• Place the entire apple in a non-breakable baking dish – I have an old pie plate I use for stuff like this.

• Using the hole you made, fill the apple up with brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon, or experiment with orange or other spices.

• Pour water over the apple, allowing the water to seep into the hole and down the sides. Leave an inch of water in the dish.

• Place the dish on top of wood-stove or place in a fireplace over a grill.

• As the apple heats up, a wonderful spicy apple scent is released and will make your entire space smell great.

TIP: If you place this in an oven, because you don’t have a wood-stove or fireplace, I suggest cooking other items at the same time, or it’s a huge waste of energy.

You can easily buy eco-friendly cleaners that work well and that are safe for your family. However, there’s no need to spend money on said cleaners when you can just as easily, and inexpensively clean your entire house with items most people have on hand in their kitchen pantry.

Baking soda & lemon: Grab some baking soda, sprinkle it in your tubs, sinks and toilets. Drizzle a fresh lemon, or other citrus fruit over the baking soda and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes. Scrub down with some plain old water for a sparkling shine.

White vinegar: I hate the smell of vinegar, but it’s hard to deny that vinegar is a powerhouse cleaner. White vinegar can break up deposits on your shower head and improve weak water pressure if you soak the shower head in it. Vinegar cut with water is awesome at cleaning windows and other glass. Vinegar is also a great way to clean your coffee maker. Simply run a pot full of vinegar through your machine a couple of times (the same vinegar) and follow with a clean water rinse or two.

*TIP – if, like me, you HATE the smell of vinegar, you can add a few drops of essential oil to it. Say for window cleaning – add a few drops of lavender essential oil. It cuts the scent a bit.

Table salt: Sprinkle plain old table salt on hot oven spills. Wait for the salt to cool and the mess should wipe away easily with a wet cloth. Rust can also be removed with salt. Just mix 2 tablespoons of salt with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Apply to anything rusty and rub really well.

Cream of tarter: This seemingly common baking ingredient will remove stains from aluminum cookware. Fill a stained pot with water. Mix in 2 tablespoons (give or take per quart/H2O) of cream of tarter. Bring the pot to a boil. Cut the heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Pour out the water and wash the pot like normal.

Spices: To get rid of gross fish smells in the over, sprinkle an old pie plate with cinnamon and nutmeg, then squeeze some fresh orange juice over the spices. Place the pie plate in the warm oven and leave it there as the oven cools. This smells much better than chemical air fresheners and is perfectly safe.

Got any more tips about how to clean your home, using basic kitchen pantry items? Share in the comments… 

So far we’ve looked at 5 insanely easy New Year’s goals for families who are newer to green living. Plus we started looking at some harder green challenges for more experienced eco-families. Next on our list is the goal of zero paper towels and paper napkins.

WHY TAKE ON THIS GOAL?

• Paper products use up entire forests – in total, 75% of the plantations established for paper and wood products in the last 20 years have been established at the expense of natural forests.

• Paper products create pollution; in fact, the paper industry is the 4th largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

• Paper products use excessive water and energy to manufacture.

• Typical paper towels are manufactured using chlorine, a known toxin which releases carcinogenic dioxins into the environment.

• Paper products account for 25% of landfill waste. In turn, landfills account for one third of human-related methane emissions.

• The majority of all commercial inks used in paper products are made with petroleum, a non-renewable resource.

The major reason you should give up paper towels and paper napkins is because on top of creating some serious negative environmental impacts, they’re unnecessary. This isn’t about something vital like food, shelter or clothing; it’s about a totally expendable item.

See many more facts about the damage caused by the paper industry.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS GOAL:

I never had to switch from paper napkins because my own mom raised me with cloth napkins. I never assumed there was another choice – I figured people just used cloth napkins.I was wrong of course. All kinds of people use paper napkins, but I never have.

Paper towels were another story. My own mom bought them when I was growing up, then later I bought them. Everyone I knew used paper towels, and honestly, I guess I assumed they were a necessity. You clean with them, use them for plates, wipe up spills with them – you know, all the typical stuff.

However, around the time my son was born, I started wondering why I was using paper towels. For one thing, they’re expensive for a disposable item. Secondly, I was using cloth baby wipes, reusable coffee mugs, cloth napkins and other reusable items, so using paper towels seemed a little lame. We bought fewer paper towels or bought recycled, but I didn’t decide to quit using them until Cedar was about 6 years old – or a little over three years ago.

HOW LONG DID THIS GOAL TAKE TO ACCOMPLISH?

I quit cold turkey. One day I simply asked myself, “Hey, what if the store was out of paper towels?” I never bought another roll. Now, to stop buying paper towels is one thing. To quit the habit of reaching for a paper towel when you think you need one is quite another.

I had moments where I’d attempt to reach for paper towels, then I’d have to remind myself, oh, we don’t have any. Luckily for me, as noted above, we already used tons of reusable items – cloth napkins, reusable ice pop molds, cloth baby wipes and so on, so the transition wasn’t as painful for us as it can be for some families.

All in all, it took one moment in my day to quit buying paper towels, and a couple of months to stop missing them. This was, in my opinion, a super easy goal to complete, but I’ve seen families who have a hard time with it.

COST OF THIS GOAL:

It depends. Overall completing this goal will actually save you money, not cost you money.

This goal cost me nothing, but if you have zero cloths, it’ll cost you a little bit. I already had cloth napkins, as noted, and I spend very little on them when I get new ones. As for replacing paper towels with cloths, I pretty much used what I had around the house, which included stuff like…

• Old cloth diapers, old cloth baby wipes, old washcloths, old cloth napkins and old shirts (cut up) to clean with and wipe up spills.
• Decent kitchen towels (that I already had) for spills and other kitchen messes.
• Decent bathroom towels (that I already had) for hand drying.
• Plates instead of paper towels for snacks and such.

If you’re a paper freak right now, and have few cloth items, you’ll need to get some. I have a break-down for the costs of each…

What it will cost to switch from paper to cloth napkins.

What it will cost to switch from paper towels to cloth.

TIPS TO HELP YOU SUCCEED:

Go cold turkey. If you have any paper towels or paper napkins in the house, and it’s already in your nature to use them, they’re just too easy to reach for. If you don’t have any in the house, yes, you’ll be stopping to think at first, “What do I grab!?” but this is a necessary step.

Stock up on cloth before you quit. Make sure you’ve got plenty of options laying around and a good amount of cloth napkins. If you have nothing to substitute for paper, you’ll get frustrated. Next thing you know, you’ll be running to the store for paper.

Make a list of alternatives. What could you use if paper towels didn’t exist? You can easily use cloth to clean with and dry your hands, right? I know a lot of people who have quit or tried to quit using paper towels and the place they get hung up on isn’t with cleaning issues, but food issues. It’s sooooooo easy to grab a paper towel for your toast or use a paper towel to cover a bowl of soup in the microwave. What you should do instead is use a microwave safe plate to cover items in the microwave and use plates, not paper for holding food and snacks.

Keep some REALLY old cloths around for super messes. At first, everything might seem like a super mess when using cloth. But in reality there are messes, then there are real icky messes, the kind you think won’t wash out of cloth. That’s not true – almost everything washes out. However, to save your sanity, it can pay to keep some really old, almost dead cloths around for those psychologically bad messes.

COMMON TROUBLE SPOTS & QUESTIONS:

I’ve actually got an entire post with common arguments for paper towel use. If you’ve got tons of concerns about switching to cloth, then this post is a must read. Here are some of the most common questions and comments I’ve heard from people about paper towels and napkins…

You must not have kids – because I do and paper towels are a must!: I DO have kids. Three kids in fact, between my boyfriend and myself. My own son has almost never used paper towels and doesn’t miss them. He knows how to clean with cloths, use a cloth napkin and so on. My boyfriend’s kids are extremely prone to disposables, because their other household is big on disposables. However, when they’re here, they don’t have a problem using cloth. Having kids is a terrible excuse for using disposable paper products.

Paper towels are best for cleaning because they kill germs better than cloth: For one thing, germs are highly overrated. Secondly, it depends on how you clean. You can clean incorrectly with either paper or cloth. Learn how to clean correctly with cloth.

Paper towels help stop the spread of germs!: This is what the paper council would like you to believe, but it’s a lie. In your own home, the chances of spreading deadly germs via cloth are slim. If your family washes their hands properly, you can all use the same cloth hand towel. Make sure you switch them out a couple of times a week and wash them. In the case of illness, the Canadian Lung Association suggests that you  give the sick individual their own hand towel for the illness duration, but paper is an unnecessary step.

What if I want to quit using paper towels when I’m out and about too?: Use a hand dryer or try PeopleTowels, which are reusable, personal, carry-along hand towels.

How can you suck up the grease from bacon or other greasy foods without paper towels?: Buy some lint-free tea cloths and only use them for grease. However, with the insane health risks related to fried foods, along with the current obesity epidemic in full swing, I’m gonna suggest you quit frying foods. Bake, don’t fry and place food on a broiler to catch grease.

How do you dry produce without paper towels? I use cloths for most produce and a salad spinner for my greens – because I HATE wet greens in a salad.

How do you get lint-free glass without paper towels? Microfiber cloths or recycled newspaper both give you lint-free glass. Personally, I think lint-free glass is overrated. Seriously, when was the last time a friend came over and actually said, “Wow, I just love your lint-free mirror!” That’s never happened to me – even when I used paper towels.

Don’t cloth products take up a lot of time? You will need to wash cloth towels and cloth napkins which is more work than tossing paper into the trash. However, at my house we use a ton of towels and napkins, and we really only wash about one full load of towels per week. Also, to save time, we don’t really fold. We fold napkins in half and toss them in a drawer and we store our cleaning cloths, totally unfolded in a reusable bag I hung up in the laundry closet.  Using cloth takes about 15 extra minutes of my life each week to two weeks – it takes much longer to drive to the store for paper towels.

TO SUM UP:

Quitting paper towels and napkins is such an awesome goal for families with kids – just think, your kids could grow up and not even know that there’s an option other than cloth. If you’ve got questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll try to help. If you need more inspiration or stories, here are some other bloggers who have quit the paper habit…

• Clean Mama – other parents don’t need paper towels either!
• An individual who realizes, “Paper towels are not the lifeline I once thought they were.“
• Here’s an example of someone who drastically reduced their paper use, but didn’t like the cold turkey idea.
• Simple Organic – has some excellent tips if you’re new to cloth napkins. I.e. stuff I didn’t think about since I’ve always used cloth napkins.
• Sometimes you may have set-backs. Like this gal who quit buying, then bought more paper towels. Set-backs happen, so be prepared.
• One mama’s story about creating a paperless kitchen.

GOOD LUCK!

Seventh Generation often sends me stuff to review. Today we got a box from them and Cedar decided to open it while I drove him to school. He worked at it, finally got the box open, pulled out something and said, “Well THIS is funny looking toilet paper!”

I was driving so I had no idea what he was talking about (yup, it’s not safe to drive and look in the back seat at the same time). Still, I had seen the box – it was skinny and in no way did this box look like it could hold toilet paper. I flip down the mirror and say, “Toilet paper? Hold it up.”

Cedar holds this up:

And says, “Maybe we’re supposed to cut it ourselves?” This child cracks me up.

Um… I tell him, “Goof-ball, those are paper towels. I know you’ve seen them!” To which Cedar says, “Oh yeah, I forgot about those…” Then he launched into a discussion about big butts – which I’ll kindly omit. Sigh, life with a nine year old boy.

It was a little weird to me that he forgot about paper towels. He’s flipping nine, you know, but then I started thinking that it was actually kind of cool. If he can live just fine for years without having paper towels around, I’d guess that other kids and their families can too. It’s a nice thought. Literally the only time we’ve had paper towels in years is when Seventh Generation sends them (and actually I wish they wouldn’t).

If you’re considering getting rid of paper towels read the following:

• Wait paper towels really come from trees?
• Arguments for paper towel use – benefits of paper towels over cloth
• Ditch paper towels and save $1,000 in five years
• Green clean correctly with cloth towels vs. paper towels
• PeopleTowels instead of paper towels

P.S. By the way. Beyond the paper towels I got some of the new Seventh Generation Hand Wash – so look for a review on that at some point.

Review summary: The Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam is a very water-efficient way to get your floors super star clean, really fast. Although I thought the vacuum function could be a bit better.

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Product: Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam

Use: The 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam combines a vacuum (for hard floors) and a steam mop for two-step functionality. This vacuum/steam mop is meant to help significantly time crunched people by cleaning faster with better and more efficient results.

Cost:

• $199.80 – at the Shark shop
• $149.00 at Amazon – but not sure if you’d get free shipping.

Background:

I don’t use harsh cleaners at home. I always use either eco-friendly stuff that companies send me to test out OR make homemade cleaners with natural ingredients.  For years, we’ve used a simple broom and a mop for our floors. Usually I use hot water and some natural soap when I mop. Although I’m an advocate of hot water for cleaning, I was a little skeptical of using just steam to clean the floors, which tend to get super sticky (three kids) but figured I’d give the Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam a whirl anyhow.

It’s a build it yourself deal:

The fact that you have to put this vacuum together freaked me out a little. I’m sort of crafty, but not so great at putting things together. However, it turned out to be pretty easy – even for building-challenged me. It really only takes one person to put this together too, which is nice. I’d say in all, including skimming directions, it took me 10 minutes to figure it out.

Eco-perks:

• Eliminates floor cleaners altogether – eco-friendly cleaners, chemical cleaners or otherwise. With this steam mop, you just need a little water. This is a big deal. According to the National Environmental Trust (NET), chemical household cleaners rank among the top five products containing neurotoxins, carcinogens and reproductive or developmental toxins. Since this product uses zero cleaners there’s no worries.

• The packaging that the vacuum came in was all clearly marked with recycling reminders. From the looks of it, most of the cardboard packaging was made from recycled materials.

• It took almost no water to clean all the floors in my house. Usually we use a lot more water. PLUS we use water to clean the mop afterward. This was a very water-efficient way to mop.

Usage & Health Perks:

Shark notes that this steam mop, “Eliminates 99% of germs and bacteria – including the viruses that cause H1N1.” Because I don’t happen to have any H1N1 laying around, and also because I didn’t swab the floor and then attempt to grow bacteria in a petri dish, I can’t confirm or not confirm this statement.

I can tell you this much – when I was in microbiology during the the RN program at college, we did run tests with bacteria and cleaners. During one test, we swabbed the floor in an attempt to grow icky fun stuff in petri dishes.

The test we ran with steaming hot water killed more germs than tests we ran with a couple chemical cleaners. SO, in my very unscientific opinion, I wouldn’t doubt that this steam mop kills germs. The benefit of course, is that you’re not using weird antibacterial cleaners that could grow cute super germs – you’re just using water (well, steam).

Other stuff to take note of…

• According to tests conducted by Shark, the Vac-then-Steam cleans hard floors up to 120% faster than traditional methods. See what I think about this below in cons.

• You can use this on used on all sealed hard floor surfaces – including sealed hardwood, linoleum, ceramic tile, or marble and other stone floors.

• The Vac-then-Steam comes with 2 dustcup filters – 1 in the unit and 1 replacement. It also comes with 2 post-motor filters. You only need to replace the filters once every year.

• The vacuum has a pretty powerful suction that’s supposed to pick up even even fine particles from hard floor surfaces, leaving them prepped for mopping.

• Usage was fairly simple once we got the hang of it. One simple flip of a switch and steam pad attachment allows you to change the vacuum into steam mop mode.

• NO messy wringing out the mop issues.

What I think:

I actually don’t mind cleaning. I like washing dishes. I don’t mind laundry much. I really like organizing. But I HATE, HATE, HATE sweeping. It’s my least favorite household chore. To get around it, I’ve tried to use our vacuum on the kitchen and dining room floors. However, our current vacuum cleaner is really only meant for carpet, so I’ve been stuck sweeping. Ugh.

It was pretty exciting to get the Vac-then-Steam, because I didn’t have to sweep before mopping! Weeeee! The reason I hate sweeping is because it’s totally inefficient. Brooms are lame. They don’t pick up anything small. The Vac-then-Steam rocked in this respect. It picked up bigger stuff, hair and so much dust you’d be amazed. Actually, I can show you – I left the floors alone for two weeks (to really give this a go) and look at the cup from the Vac-then-Steam after I used it…

Yuck right? This vacuum picked up almost everything; even really little bits of dust, with one exception (see below in cons).

My floors were a crazy sticky mess but the steam mop cleaned like a dream. The best part was that the steam mop got into all those little crevices – you know along the wall, where the border meets the floor, and dirt gets all icky there. This steam mop got it all nice and clean (see image above for what I’m talking about crevice-wise).

A huge perk was not having to stop and wring out the mop at the sink and then somehow get back across the floor to where you were. This mop was surprising because although it cleaned amazingly well, it seemed to use almost no water. Your floors are almost dry literally seconds after you clean them.

After going over the floors, my son put on a pair of clean white socks and ran around on the floor for a bit. His socks stayed clean, which is more than I can say for when we mop with an old school mop. This steam mop REALLY got the floors sparkling clean.

Other stuff we liked…

• We liked the telescopic handle on the pole. This adjusts the height of the unit, which is nice, especially because then you, your taller partner and shorter child (in my case) can all adjust this system to suit their height.
• The pads washed up well and were okay to air dry, thus saving me from using the dryer and extra electricity.
• The Vac-then-Steam is slim and doesn’t take up any more room in your closet than a typical broom and mop.

Were there any negatives?

• The color was one of the least user-friendly aspects about this shark 2-in-1. It’s fairly pink/lavender in color, and that’s not great for most guys and some girls. Everyone who has seen this at my house has commented on the weird color and most of the males said, “I wouldn’t want a pink vacuum.” While personally I don’t think color is a big deal, I think it sort of makes this a tough product to suggest for guys and gals who like a more neutral color.

• While I liked how the steam mop cleaned, I actually felt that it was a little slower than floor mopping. The drying time was shorter, but there were a few sticky parts of the floor that took longer to go over – i.e. I had to go over the sticky a few times to get it clean. It wasn’t a huge deal.

• You have to use the micro-fiber cleaning pads that come with the Shark. These are supposed to be replaced every three months, but I think it depends on how often you use the steam cleaner. It seems like they’ll last a good long while, but if something happens to it, you can’t simply replace it with a towel from around the house. The new pads are about $8 each – not bad, but still it’d be better to be able to use a towel.

• I’m not sure if any parts of this were made with recycled materials. Some companies are starting to experiment with recycled plastics and such, so that would be cool if Shark did too.

• I have no clue if Shark has other green initiatives, such as at the corporate level, because they have no environmental statement. It’d be nice to know if they do stuff like battery recycling, paper recycling, zero waste home computer recycling and so fourth.

• The vacuum system didn’t get into tight corners very well. It did pick up dirt from against a wall, but in corners; say under the kitchen cupboards, we had some problems. I had to get out the broom to get a couple of corners. It was still better than having to use the broom the whole time though.

Overall score:

3.5 out of 5 little trees. With some minor changes the Vac-then-Steam would have scored a 4 or 4.5. For example, I’d like to see an environmental statement at the Shark website and maybe a better color for non-lavender loving consumers. I also didn’t like that I still needed a broom to get into tight corners – although, keep in mind, I let my floors get terribly messy before testing this out.

As for usage – being a broom and mop hater, I really loved how easy the Vac-then-Steam was. I’d highly suggest this product over a basic broom and mop set-up. It got my floors extra clean with zero cleaners (NO chemicals) and just a little bit of water. Overall, I’d say this is not a perfectly eco-minded product, but much better than using an obnoxious broom and mop or a steam cleaner that requires cleaning solution to be added to the water.

If you’re sick of your broom and mop, it’s well worth it to give the Vac-then-Steam a whirl. I think you’ll like it a lot.

Learn more:

• Buy the Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam
• Shark Cleaning website
• Follow Shark Cleaning on Twitter
• Join Shark Cleaning on Facebook

See my green product rating system and green product rating criteria or read more green product reviews.

]]> http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/green-product-review-shark-2-in-1-vac-then-steam/feed/ 6 http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/reader-question-should-you-toss-unused-toxic-cleaners/ http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/reader-question-should-you-toss-unused-toxic-cleaners/#comments Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:51:28 +0000 Jennifer Chait http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/?p=5709

Today we’ve got a reader 2-part question, collected from the Seventh Generation company review post:

The first part of the question…

“My mom is transitioning from nasty chemical cleaning products and detergents to relatively more eco-friendly choices, such as Seventh Generation. However, she asked me if she should use up the nasty stuff she has (she still has A LOT of that) or just throw it all out.

Do you recommend she use that stuff up or just throw it out? (She’s already bought 7th generation products). It’s such a (financial and otherwise) waste to just throw it all out. The ecological damage of it ending up in a landfill or going into the water system seems negligible (yes?) but in terms of the health hazards of continuing to use the nasty stuff, I’m less sure.”

Actually of all the green questions I’ve received via email or comments over the years, I’d guess this is the most commonly asked. I see this as a positive. It shows that folks are thinking about tossing icky toxic cleaners in exchange for better, healthier cleaners.

1. Which household cleaners are worth keeping? Really, very few conventional cleaners are safe. I recommend only using green cleaners. The EPA notes that the following conventional cleaning products should be of concern regarding health; “bath and kitchen disinfectants and sanitizers, including bleach, household cleaning or maintenance products, such as drain cleaner, paints, or glues, automotive products stored around the home, such as anti-freeze or windshield washer fluid, products used to kill mold or mildew.” WHEW that doesn’t leave much.

The American Lung Association suggests you use safe, green and natural cleaners whenever possible. I can’t personally suggest you keep any of the conventional cleaners you have, because I wouldn’t use them myself. See how seriously dangerous chemical cleaners are.

Basically, if the label reads like a chem book, not a cookbook, I’d toss that cleaner.

2. Smart chemical cleaner disposal. Obviously you don’t want to give these cleaners to anyone else and tossing them in the sink or on the street is a big NO. Cleaners can be just as toxic to the environment as they are to you. When you release hazardous materials into the groundwater system, air and soil you’re not helping the situation.

Luckily, there are ethical and safe chemical cleaner disposal methods.

• If you live in a large urban area, (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York) check out Apartment Therapy’s urban list of where to dispose of unwanted chemicals.

• Check with your local recycling center. They may not accept hazardous waste, but they likely can tell you who will.

• Earth 911 lists at least a dozen hazardous waste drop-off locations in my area that accept cleaning products. You can do an easy search for your own local city at Earth 911 too.

• If you do a general online search choose your city (we’ll use Portland) and then enter a term like, “HHW drop off in Portland, Oregon” or “HHW collection in Portland, Oregon.“

• Look on the back of the package. Find the manufacturer’s toll-free number and call them for disposal recommendations.

NOTE! Some manufacturers will tell you that any water-based product is perfectly safe to toss in the drain. I don’t agree, but since many HHW collectors do think anything water based is safe to toss, you may not always have a choice.  For example, I’ve been told by many a cleaning company that bleach is considered safe to dump down a drain and I know some HHW collection sites won’t take bleach because of this. Thankfully, HHW collectors where I live now, do consider anything with the words “Poison” on it a HHW so they’ll take cleaners.

The second part of the question:

“Can you recommend websites with data on health hazards of common cleaning products? (She uses shout, cascade, Palmolive, Clorox…).”

To find out how many dangerious ingredients are in basic store-bought cleaners visit the Household Products Database. Make a list of the chemicals in said cleaner, then head to the OSHA/EPA Occupational Chemical Database and enter any chemical to see how dangerious it is.

The Environmental Working Group maintains a chemical index list along with a routes of exposure list that covers plenty of cleaners.

You can also do a general online search for a cleaning product’s MSDS sheet, although, they’re full of info supplied by the company, thus not always accurate. As an MSDS example, you can check out Clorox – as much as I don’t like them, they do make their MSDS sheets easily available to the public. I’m not saying buy from them, but one simple search of Clorox MSDS brought up a great Clorox provided list.

Keep in mind – no matter what database you use to look up cleaners, it’s not going to be terribly useful. As consumers, we honestly know very little about what’s in cleaners, thanks to the government.

As I’ve noted before, 3 decades ago Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TCSA) but to date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tested only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemical compounds developed for all sorts of products used in the home; cleaners included.

That’s a whole lot of chemicals not tested for safety, which is why it’s smart to avoid all of them. I suggest taking the road of least risk with regards to cleaners. If the government and all these cleaning companies don’t think we deserve to know what chemicals we’re using, why use them?

Think you don’t have the time to get green? You do! Here are 10 easy eco-friendly steps you can try that won’t take more than 30 seconds.

1. Recycle your old phone book: According to Waste-Free Mail There are enough phone books created each year to measure 106,700 miles when lined up end to end; enough to circle around the earth about 4.28 times! It takes just seconds to toss your old yellow pages in the recycling bin. The entire phone book is 100% recyclable and can be used to make new phone books.
2. Hang it up: After a shower, you’re clean (or so I presume), so hang your towel instead of tossing it in the laundry bin. Washing towels after one use is so overrated.
3. Wipe out your microwave: A dirty microwave has to work harder to heat food AND it’s totally gross! If it takes you longer than 30 seconds to do this, you’ve already waited too long.
4. Buy a recycled role: It takes less than 10 seconds to pick up a recycled package of toilet paper at the store vs. new toilet paper, yet this choice makes a big difference. Recycled toilet paper helps save water, trees, oil and landfill space. NRDC notes that if all households in the U.S. alone bought one 4 pack of recycled TP vs. new, it would save a million trees and eliminate 60,600 pounds of pollution.
5. Turn on the tap: It’ll take you about 30 seconds to fill up a reusable water bottle with good ol’ tap water vs. the 30 minutes it would take to drive to the store for a new case of bottled water.
6. Hit a button: Most computers uses 90% less energy while in sleep mode and it takes mere seconds to hit that button and save some energy.
7. Clean some rubber: When that long rubber seal on your fridge door gets all crusty and gross, the door doesn’t form a tight seal, won’t close properly and energy is wasted. It takes mere seconds to wipe this down with a cloth.
8. Cancel your catalogs: Amazingly, the average person in the U.S. use 700 pounds of paper products a year. Paper catalogs in the mail help contribute to this issue. Luckily, it’ll take you just 12 seconds per title to opt-out of mail order catalogs using Catalog Choice.
9. Pull the cord: During daylight hours pull up your blinds vs. flipping on the lights. I can’t tell you how many homes I’ve been in where the lights are on, the shades are down and it’s flipping daytime! Crazy? Yeah, I thought so too.
10. Turn off the shower: Not for good! Smelling nice is a good thing. However, if you turn the shower off just while you scrub the shampoo into your hair, you can save up to 50 gallons of water per year.

In the comments – add your idea – one easy green step for the rest of us.