Posts Tagged ‘green cleaning products’

A google of green cleaning in Northern Virginia or green cleaning in any NOVA city will bring up several company names. I checked them all out for two reasons. First, as a business I need to “know the competition”. Secondly, because of the nature of my business, I (Teresa – not just GreenItUp!) am pleased to see signs that our culture is moving in directions I support. What I found, though, is that “green” can be a meaningless marketing tool in the hands of some cleaning companies. Of course, we are already aware that “natural” and “green” are overused, unregulated terms. (See my Blog from last summer on popular green cleaning products:  The Dirt on Commercial “Natural” Cleaners!) The Executives at Clorox are one thing, but I expected a little more legitimacy from local businesses!

Other than one DC-based company, none listed the names of the products they would use in your home. Some claim, though, that their products have a green certification. While green certification programs usually have minimum required standards for product certification, typically this means only that the product in question has less impact on the environment and human health than other products that deliver similar results. But it does NOT mean that the product is non-toxic or harmless to the environment, as many of these labels seem to imply. Giving up heroin for Methadone does not make you any less of an addict, either.

To find out whether a cleaning product really is non-toxic or truly friendly to the environment, one usually has to do some hunting and questioning. When I inquired with one company, they provided the name of another company’s product they use. After some research and a call to the cleaning product’s manufacturer, I was able to find the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) on the product. It wasn’t Clorox, but it wasn’t what I would call “green” either.

All I am saying is know what you are purchasing. It is so easy with food – just look at the label and you know exactly what you are getting. Food has labels because people demanded to know. If a company does not disclose to you what they are using, ask them. Ask them what is in their cleaning products. Look up the MSDS sheets. Ask them if they use paper towels. Ask them if they use disposable mops and sponges. And if they won’t tell you, ask yourself why not. Then find a company that WILL be honest with you about exactly what they use and exactly how they use it.

As for GreenItUp!, my ingredients are already on my website: http://www.greenitupllc.com/products.html. I do not use paper towels. I use clean, recycled cotton towels and t-shirts that have outlived their usefulness as towels and t-shirts, as well as microfiber mops and sponges that are cleaned and disinfected for each reuse until they have no more life in them. I breathe easily and I do not lose any sleep at night.

“Green” and “Natural” are extremely fashionable marketing terms. To be a smart consumer you need to know exactly what you are getting. So, are you REALLY Green, or are you just wearing a ridiculously ugly dress?

Share on Facebook

[The email below is an actual email received by GreenItUp! Nothing has been altered.]

Dear friend,

Greetings from Andy in Tianjin City,china! Our factory specializes in the production of the following cleaning chemical,

Caustic Soda    Sodium Tripolyphosphate    Labsa    Sles

We would be more than happy to be some service of you if possible.Free sample can be sent for your close inspection.

It will be our great honor to talk about the further details.

Perhaps no business,friendship do exist.Keep Contact For Further Information.

Sincerely Yours,

Andy

Tianjin Bangtai Chemicals Co., Ltd

Add:Wah Ming Model Town, Dongli District, Tian Jin, China.

Tel:86-022-60500382

Fax:86-022-60500382

Dear Andy,

Thank you for your question! As you may know, GreenItUp! uses only homemade, non-toxic cleaners. Our products are made from completely harmless items such as vinegar, lemon juice, etc.. So, as you say, “no business” between us is possible. As for your suggestion that perhaps “friendship do exist,” I have a few things for you to consider. Do friends cause burns or blindness? Can friendship give you cancer? If we hang out, could water systems be degraded? Will our friendship make it hard for me to breathe? Because all of the items you are trying to interest me in do just these things. Therefore, I do not believe friendship do exist. You may be able to have business and friendship with most other cleaning manufacturers and maid companies, though, as they commonly use the items that you mentioned.

Happy Cleaning!

Teresa

Share on Facebook

My cats, Frankie and Verna, are 16 and 13 years old. They never peed outside the box until January of 2009 after a burglary at my house. (Let me be clear. My home was burglarized. My cats were robbed!) They started peeing around the door that the home was broken into first. Then the other doors in the house. Nine months later when I moved in with my husband – and his cat – they started peeing in random places. My husband’s cat has sadly passed, but my cats continue to pee. The protection of their space that started with their robbery and continued through living with another cat has remained. I can only imagine that they are fighting a turf war between themselves now. I tell you this only because I do not want you to think they are some gross animals – they are people just like you and me with feelings that they act upon. (I really am being serious.)

In preparing for our upcoming move, my husband sold three large filing cabinets. Under one we found very old pee that had caused the cabinet to rust and leave a stain on the beautiful wood floor beneath it. (See the photos below of the stain, the cleaning solution and the floor after cleaning.) I have no idea how long this stain had been on the floor and I was worried that I would not be able to get it up without using something like CLR. I did some research and here is what worked:

• 1 tbsp. of cream of tartar
• 1/4 c. of baking soda
• 1/4 c. of hydrogen peroxide

Mix the ingredients until you have a paste. Mine was actually a little runnier than I had wanted. It is probably best to allow it to sit on the stain for an hour – especially if you are working with a tub or a sink. I was impatient and started scrubbing right away. I did apply a lot of elbow grease that may have been avoided if I had allowed it to sit. But the stain was completely up in about 5 to 10 minutes.

The house we are moving to has a lot of white carpet so come back to the blog soon for lots of creative carpet cleaning ideas. (I expect that the move to Virginia will not do much to help the Turf Wars!)

Share on Facebook