Cleaning Products Blog

I saw this article on the Forensic Scientist Blog and thought it was really interesting. Some of these you would never expect! If you want to see the entire list, you should read the article, but here are some of my favorites.

1. Portable Toilets- A combination of high traffic and no plumbing make portable toilets a veritable Shangri-La for bacteria and other microbes.

4. Kitchen Sinks- Most people do not realize it, but kitchen sinks are one of the dirtiest places in the home, harboring used dishes and their accompanying decaying food particles. People also use them to wash clothes, as substitute toilets when vomit does not want to stay down, and other lovely unsanitary things.

9. Playgrounds- Hardly surprising, given children’s fondness for mining gold without ever actually having to pan or chip away rock for it. Swings, jungle gyms, and other equipment where kids have to use their hands rank as the dirtiest.

23. Keyboards- The sweat and oils from fingers and hands leave behind grime and communicable diseases such as the flu, colds, strep throat, and others. Public computers at libraries, schools, and other organizations pose the most threat.

30. Bathtubs and Shower Curtains- People may exits their bath tubs feeling sparkly and clean, but the receptacles themselves harbor dead skin cells, oils, and daily grime that get washed off with soap and water.

47. Money- Coins and paper dollars alike change hands quickly, as a result transferring germs, grease, and grime from one person to another. They only become dirtier and dirtier as they move about in circulation, accumulating a little bit of every owner on their surface.

Don’t worry- CleaningProductsWorld.com sells products like Lysol & Clorox that will keep these items germ-free!

I just saw this article on ABCNews.com about how more and more states are requiring schools and government buildings to use “green” cleaning products.

“After a burst of legislation last year, 10 states including Connecticut, Illinois and New York require or encourage “green” floor waxes, window cleaners and other products in schools, according to Green Seal Inc., a nonprofit that certifies the products. Similar bills are expected to be debated this year in at least five states.

Critics say that while the measures are laudable, states should not mandate which products schools and agencies must buy, especially if they increase costs for governments that are struggling financially.”

In my opinion, green cleaning products should be mandatory in schools especially, unless there is no alternative to the traditional. High rates of asthma and other allergic conditions have been attributed to a rise in usage of dangerous chemicals. Switching to green products like Seventh Generation, Nature’s Source, and Clorox Greenworks will help make schools and buildings much safer, and most of the time, the cost is not much higher. What do you think?

Last night I had a bit of an accident.

I dropped a bottle of nail polish.

It looked like a crime scene. The hot pink nail polish splattered all over my carpet. I tried to wipe it up and it made it worse. Within minutes, it was dry.

I decided to consult the internet and found a bunch of sites claiming Windex would work. I was suspicious (were these people watching too much “My Big Fat Greek Wedding?”) but I had some windex so I gave it a shot. Not surprisingly, it didn’t work. So today I went out and bought about a gallon of non-acetone nail polish remover. Basically I poured it all over the spill and scrubbed with a rag for about 45 mins. I also tried Windex, Shaving Cream, Dish Soap, Oxi Clean, and Shout. I don’t think any of them really did anything besides the nail polish remover.

Now my rug looks like this. Tinged pink but at least much better than before.

My landlord is sending the carpet cleaners to see if they can finish the job.

Bottom line is, if I ever spill an entire bottle of nail polish again, I would move rather than try to clean it up. I feel sick from the fumes and the stain is still there. Bad start to a monday!

Sheila Shine Polish

After a ton of use over the holidays, my candle sticks were looking very dirty so yesterday during my usual sunday cleaning spree, I broke out the Sheila Shine stainless steel polish and got to work. Wow does it work well! My candles look new! They are really shiny and it didn’t even take too much “elbow grease.” I really recommend this product if you have any metal that needs cleaning or polishing. Have you ever used it? Are there any other metal polishes on the market that work as well? You can buy this product and other stainless steel and metal polishes at CleaningProductsWorld.com!

An article on CNN.com caught my eye this morning claiming that disinfectants (like antibiotics) can end up strengthening those dreaded “superbugs.”

“Researchers grew a bacteria associated with hospital-acquired infections in the presence of a common disinfectant and found that the bacteria became 12 times less susceptible to the disinfectant.

But they also found that the same bacteria became 256 times more resistant to a widely used antibiotic — ciprofloxacin — even though the bacteria had never been exposed to it.”

You know how your doctors are getting stingy with antibiotics? I really hope the grocery store doesn’t stop selling Lysol and Simple Green!

Click Here to Visit CleaningProductsWorld.com!

With Christmas less than 3 weeks away, now is the perfect time to consider what steps you are willing to take to give yourself a truly ‘green’ Christmas.  Below are 12 Steps to help make sure both you AND the environment enjoy this holiday season:

1.    Purchase an “Environmentally Responsible” Christmas Tree
I completely believe that nothing says “Merry Christmas!” like walking into a house and being overwhelmed with the smell of fresh balsam.  And while some green enthusiasts may believe they are doing the environmentally responsible thing by purchasing a fake tree, artificial trees carry a gigantic carbon footprint, the PVC used to make them is NOT biodegradable, lead is often used as a PVC stabilizer. So, when you’re shopping for a tree, look for a green certified, cut tree. If you need help looking, the Coalition of Environmentally Conscious Growers can help you find one.

2.    Re-use Christmas tins and fill them with baked goods
Every year, we all get tins upon tins of Christmas baked goods, fudge, and popcorn. Instead of throwing the tins away, fill them with your own, homemade baked goods and give this new package to your loved ones.

3.    Need teacher presents? Give the gift of green, recycled toilet paper, paper towels, & tissues
While it is never expected to give teacher gifts, if you plan on doing so, why not give them something they can use in the classroom and most likely do not get funding for?

4.    Give the gift of green clean to Mom & Dad with a year’s green cleaning service
One Christmas, I prepaid a cleaning service to clean my parents house for an entire year.  To this day, they still say it was the best gift they ever got. And as you select your service, make sure the cleaning service uses green, natural cleaners and practices.

5.    Give vintage or used gifts
Vintage gifts are undeniably trendy – so as you hunt for gifts such as purses, furniture, or even books, don’t be afraid to check out a vintage shop. You’ll come away with one of kind gifts!

6.    Purchase fair trade, ethical products
As you make your list and check in twice, be sure to look for fair-trade products. These products are manufactured  in Asia, Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world and provide low-income artisans and farmers with a living wage for their work. Check out the Fair-Trade Online Store for great gift ideas.

7.    Be conscious of your added electricity usage
As your house glimmers with its impeccable display of lights, be aware of this  added electricity usage. As you turn your outdoor lights on, why not turn the indoor ones off?  Try lighting some candles or your fireplace – the effects are magical!

8.    If you need to purchase new Christmas lights, buy energy-efficient LED Christmas lights
These energy efficient Christmas Lights are Energy Star approved and have an endless list of perks  including 95% energy reduction, capable of lasting 100,000 hours, fire safe, and the strings stay lit even if one burns out.

9.    RECYCLE RECYCLE RECYCLE all of the Christmas wrap, boxes, tissue paper, etc

10.     Use Green Cleaning Products & Recycled Trash Bags when getting your house sparking clean
As you get your house in tip-top shape for the holiday season, don’t forget to use green, natural and biodegradable cleaning products and recycled trash bags. In fact, make this your New Year’s resolution to make the switch to green cleaning products permanent!

11.     Send electronic Christmas cards
When you send out your family Christmas cards this year, skip the old fashioned way and do it electronically. It will not only save you postage, but it will reduce paper waste and fuel emissions in the process.

12.    Buy local for your holiday get together’s
Why buy tomatoes from foreign counries when there are fresh ones in your local area? Buying local helps promote local businesses and farms, reduces fuel emissions, and promotes sustainability. So the next time you go to purchase carrots for your holiday spread, remember the average carrot travels 1,838 miles before it gets there.

We all know some intriguing and sometimes questionable cleaning myths – Did you hear the one about adding baking soda to tomato juice to clean red wine? While most of these cleaning myths and old maid tricks are plainly laughable like the later one above, some have profound basis and actually work.  For example, hair spray, due to its alcohol content, is capable of moving some types of stains.

Below our three of the most common cleaning myths debunked:

Myth #1) The more of a cleaning product you use, the more likely you are to remove the problem area
50/50 –If you are having trouble with a product treating a stain or something similar, the answer is not going to be to add more product. Most commonly, the cleaning product is not working because you are not using the right product, not using the right accessory, or simply not using enough elbow grease. I gave this myth a 50/50 because sometimes people over dilute their concentrated cleaners and forget to use the right proportion to treat larger problem areas; In both cases, it’s OK to add more product.  The basic principal to keep in mind is that more product DOES NOT equal more cleaning power.

Myth #2) You should never use your vacuum to clean anything besides your carpet.
FALSE – Vacuums these days are capable of serving as your best mate when cleaning.  Most have special settings to allow you to clean your hardwood floors and the extensions make cleaning fans, blinds, drapes, and furniture MUCH easier.

Myth #3) Always spray polish directly onto your wood furniture.
FALSE – You should NEVER apply furniture polish directly onto your furniture.  First, dust off the piece and then apply the furniture polish onto a microfiber cleaning cloth or other towel. This protects the furniture’s coat much more effectively, leaving it looking shiny for year to come.

In honor of our favorite holiday, Cyber Monday, CleaningProductsWorld.com is pleased to offer all of our customers FREE SHIPPING on EVERY ORDER.  While we usually offer Free Shipping on orders over $50, we’ll waive the shipping on all orders, no matter how small or how large.

Simply enter in the coupon code FreeShip09 at checkout to see your savings!

From our family to yours – Happy Holidays!

What's inside some of our favorite cleaning products no longer the mystery it used to be

Looking for the ingredients in your cleaning products may now be much easier  thanks to the folks at SC Johnson & Co.  Nine months ago the company, who’s brand portfolio includes Nature’s Source, Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles, Drano, Fantastik, Glade, Pledge, Shout and many more, launched a website to host the ingredient list for all of its products. This type of website and this type of transparency is the first of its kind in an industry that has come under much flack recently for products containing potentially harmful chemicals.

To date, there are over 200 products listed on the site, WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com,  including 126 air care products and 76 home cleaning products manufactured by SC Johnson. Additionally, there are explanations of all 169 ingredients found in these products.  You can search for the product lists by name or by use, making finding which ever product you are looking for a breeze.

Kudos to SC Johnson for their innovative and groundbreaking efforts in encouraging product transparency and for letting the public know what you’re made of. We hope other major manufacturers will soon follow suite!