Bona Floor Cleaning Products

I was fortunate enough to nab two bottles of Bona's floor cleaning products from Houston's eco-friendly home goods shop, New Living. When I bought my first house down here recently I was suddenly faced with a new substance to clean, one I'd never dealt with before- travertine. Travertine is in most of the houses I looked at down here in TX, at least somewhere on the property. It's common on newly remodeled shower walls, but also in dens/ adjacent to kitchens. It stays nice and cool in the scorching summer heat, so it has that advantage over wood at least. (Had we been able to choose I may have selected bamboo flooring instead.)

Anyway, I have read a lot about ways that different cleaning products can damage travertine, and we already have cracks in some of our tiles from foundational shifting. I wanted to be able to clean this stuff in my shower AND on my floor, and wanted to be able to use my existing microfiber mops.

I tried the spray cleaner first, and was impressed that it wasn't as much of a pain as I'd feared to spray while I walked around the room. I had been careful to vacuum the room first as per the directions, and the floors looked squeaky clean when I was done. (Then one of my dogs peed on them, as it was lightening out and she gets hysterical. Thanks, Mei.)

I was most interested in the floor polisher though- could it really make these tiles gleam? It claimed to provide a protective coating that will guard against damage in the future- that I definitely am in favor of.

The bottle said to keep traffic off the floors for 12 hours after use of the product for best results- and I knew that wasn't going to happen, as our stone floors are in the middle of the house and must be crossed to get anywhere. This stuff smelled a bit strong (I cannot think of what to compare it to), but it did seem to coat the tiles lightly. I'd say I was ... mildly pleased, as I'm not sure the results on my flooring are as dramatic as they might be on other kinds of stone, tile, or on laminate. (It's worth trying on your end, I think.)

I must admit, I am really intrigued by Bona's wood floor polishing products- I love the sight of a gleaming wood floor. I hadn't heard of this line before New Living tipped me off, but I haven't found anything else that even claims to be non-toxic to clean these floors with.

Oh, and my shower? That one was tougher. I gave it a good once-over with the cleaner, but I still cannot figure out how to deal with the mineral leaching (it looks like rust) coming off of the stones. It seems like a combination of their natural properties and my very hard water.

New (and not so new) things at the store

I love Casabella products. Everything they do is so well-designed. Their sponges are attractive, I prefer their microfiber cloths to anyone else's, and I've waxed poetic about their magnet mop in the past (it's the best mop ever, I'm convinced). Anyway, I saw something cool in my local BBB today- a stylish spray bottle with three different types of microfiber cloth in it. And printed on the side of the bottle were formulas for making your own basic cleaning products from simple ingredients. If you happen to need either a spritz bottle, or microfiber products, it's pretty sweet.

I also saw the Method hand soap refill jugs for the first time at BBB- HUGE! If you use their hand soap, this is a pretty good deal. I haven't seen refills this size at Target or Whole Foods. This size doesn't seem to be available anywhere online-apartment therapy only saw it in person at Costco.
It seems like it was much cheaper at CostCo, actually. To my surprise, I like the smell of the Sea Minerals and the Green Tea+Aloe self-foaming hand soap. As a bit of a tangent, the spring limited edition Mrs Meyer's smell- snap pea- smells awesome, really like fresh peas! I'll link to it on drugstore.com, since mrsmeyers.com is no longer selling it.

Trader Joe's (HE) Liquid Laundry Detergent

I should be grumpy at you, Trader Joe's. I just moved from Chicago, land of TJs, to Houston, and in the entire state of Texas there is not a single TJs. Not even in Austin. Nonetheless, I'll forgive TJs and lament the loss of their delicious lime habanero salsa.

First: A great, informative post on Earth friendly laundry detergents here.

Anyway, I was slightly concerned about buying TJs detergent because it only comes in a lavender EO scented variety, and my dog has experienced skin reactions to eco friendly scented detergents in the past, although I cannot see why he'd have a problem with lavender EO, per se. Especially in limited quanities. (I wash the dog beds and blankets as needed.)

Like the reviewer on grist, I've had fairly consistent results with all of the eco detergents I use, so your best bet is to go with one in your preferred scent (or scentless) and pay attention to cost effectiveness (which goes hand-in-hand with greater eco friendliness, in that if you're emptying bottles faster, you're creating more waste), and overall environmental impact of the formula.

So... the smell on this detergent is actually lovely. It's quite mild, and doesn't seem to linger through the drying process in my dryer. I have tested some grim stains on this stuff- red wine, salsa, bloody mary- and all came out easily. My clothes, towels, and bed sheet all feel soft when they come out of the dryer. If you have an HE washer, you won't need a ton of detergent, but even if you don't, this is a fairly concentrated product. The powder is even more so, as water is still an ingredient in the liquid version.

Alas, for me, I'll be going back to Seventh Generation Free & Clear, my old standby, as this isn't an option for me anymore.

p.s. A good run-through of the ingredients can be found on the greener one blog

J.R. Watkins Window Cleaner

I thought all window and glass cleaner was created (fairly) equal(ly). Apparently I was wrong. Until we get rid of this mod glass dining table[1], I'll be using a lot of glass cleaner, so I decided to try the J.R. Watkins version. We've seen their products at Target before; my husband used to love their bay rum aftershave. It was only recently that I realized they sold cleaning products.

Always a sucker for scent, I nabbed the "Aloe and Green Tea", which just smells fresh and pleasant (and is lightly scented). I don't know if the aloe is what made this product so easy to wipe off, but it is! My glass got cleaner without nearly as much elbow grease. Huh....

It's sold online, ($4.69/bottle) but many Targets carry their full line.

1. Chicago area people, wanna buy it? It'd be nice to sell it before we move again. I have photos somewhere.

Earth Friendly Products Window Kleener

I have a mod-style glass topped dining table. I'm actually not a huge fan of it anymore, but adored it when we bought it back in... 2003? The thing shows fingerprints like MAD, so I need a good glass "kleener", and believe me, vinegar and water don't seem to cut it. Could be some error on my part, but vinegar+H2O left a bit of streakiness on my table, windows, and mirrors. So much for the cheap option.

I like EFP's line, and I like the smell of lavender so I nabbed this version from a cute little local health market that for whatever reason, only had this version in stock. It works great! When my mother-in-law was visiting she cleaned the table after meals for me a few times, and commented that this stuff worked well and smelled nice. I was pleased because she uses fairly traditional 'toxic/caustic' stuff, as does my own mother. I like that this stuff is just clear, and it comes in an unscented version for those who don't love lavender.

Give it a shot if you don't have success making your own!

p.s. I am noticing you can get a 12-pack on Amazon for $36.86 or about $3 a bottle. Weigh that against your local price to decide.

Method "Smarty Dish" Dishwasher Cubes

I actually am rushing to post about this stuff because I am so pleased with its performance. I may have found an eco dishwasher product I can stick with! I bought this stuff on a lark (in the 'go naked' unscented variety), because I like the idea of dishwasher tablets. I was never that psyched that Ecover individually wrapped theirs, however. That's not particularly eco-friendly, even if the dish tablets worked well for me.

The Method "Smarty Dish" version comes in a single recyclable canister, and they're shaped somewhat like a losange.

The important thing? They work. As well, if not better than the toxic crap at my local supermarket. They've gotten residual coffee stains out of cups, taken the weird mineral stains out of my bathroom cup, cleaned an old soap dish that I thought was permanently manky, and made my cocktail glasses sparkle.

I've never understood why dishwasher soap needed to be scented, so I haven't tried the pink grapefruit version... and I like most products as scented as can be.

Of course, whenever I review a dishwasher detergent people post and say that their experience vastly differed, as we all have different appliances and water quality. But I'd give these a whirl for sure... because if they work half as well for you as they did for me, you'll be hooked!

(I use it with Earth Friendly Product's rinse aid, but I'm not sure it really matters. I bought the rinse aid to try to improve some prior, lousy dishwasher products.)

Dishwashing Liquid- Who's Got the Best Label?

National Geographic's Green Guide had a good article on dish soap this month. They ranked them according to how completely the company discloses ingredients, so that the consumer might discern how many are plant-based, how many are harmful additives, etc. At the top of their "honesty" list was Seventh Generation's Dish Liquid, which got three "G's". At 2 (for using generic terms like 'preservative' or 'surfactant', although these were certified low- eco impact by an independent agency) were Clorox Green Works (Natural Dishwashing Liquid), Ecover (Dishwashing Liquid), and Planet (Ultra Dishwashing Liquid Gel).

Receiving 1 'G' for generic ingredient names and a lack of independent testing were Biokleen dish liquid, Earth Friendly Products (Dishmate), Method (Ultra Concentrated), and Mrs Meyers (Clean Day Dish Soap). D'oh!

The label vaguery doesn't necessarily mean that the companies in question have something to hide, but I'd encourage them to spell things out as much as possible. Trade secrets are important, sure, but so is knowing what we're buying.

Incidently, SG has coupons on its website, and you can stock up in bulk on Amazon.com

BabyGanics Tub & Tile Cleaner

First- something random that I like. Method's aroma ring comes in bamboo (the actual ring part, not the scent)! I'm convinced bamboo, buckwheat, and soy can save the world, so this is great news. I've reviewed the aroma ring here, and because it didn't really make much scent for me I won't be buying it. Have you had any luck with it?

(I kind of want the Method frosted fir glass candle. If you're not candle-savvy, paraffin wax candles are to be avoided. They make nasty soot, which gets into your air, and they're made from petroleum. This means Yankee Candles' products are pretty seriously not eco-friendly. I am really enjoying wood wicked candles right now, because I don't have a fireplace and I missed the crackle of a good fire. Particularly since it's now snowy and freezing in Chicago.)

But this post is really about BabyGanics' Tub & Tile Cleaner. I've been using it to scrub my glass-doored stall shower for a while now, and a little goes a long way. It's done a good job getting the soap scum off. So much so that I have been able to stop using my daily shower spray. I clean about every other week with it. BabyGanics sent me the unscented version to review, but this stuff also comes in Lavender, and both bottles have a nice cloud picture in the background for me to gaze at and wish I had a window in my bathroom. Anyway, it's effective stuff and if you haven't had much luck with other 'green' shower cleaners, you may want to give this a go.

Mrs Meyer's "Basil" Surface Scrub

As a scrub this stuff works really well. It gets my tub clean, my shower clean, and my sinks clean. I have no gripe about the performance. What I do have a gripe about is the scent (and it's a problem with the all-purpose wipes as well). I mean... gahhhhh I often enjoy Mrs. Meyer's scents, but this one is like bad body spray. After a recent bout of cleaning my whole apartment smelled of it, and it was really headache inducing, not fresh. Despite it being November in Chicago I considered opening the window.

It's really not basil scented, of course. That would be pleasant. The website explains that it has "top notes of basil, apricot leaves, parsley, and eucalyptus". My husband compared it to "cucumber-floral eau de toilette". It certainly gets up my nose in a way that reminds me of some of the Bath and Bodyworks products I bought in the early '90s. *Gag*

I'll finish the canister, of course... but I'm thinking I'll pass on the Basil line in the future.

On another hand, the holiday gift pack is peppermint scented and would make a lovely hostess gift. Hopefully it's just straightforward peppermint. I'm STILL using my gingerbread kit from 2 years ago because the all-purpose cleaner goes so far. A teaspoon full mixed with water fills my spray bottle and then I'm good to go for another month.

As an alternative scrub I recommend Bon Ami, or the same Mrs Meyers scrub in the Lemon Verbena or Lavender scents. I have a similar gripe with their Geranium fragrance, so if you enjoy that then you may actually dig the Basil!

Trader Joe's "Auto (Next to Godliness) Dish Soap"

I somehow suspect that this is supposed to be a similar to product to Earth Friendly Products' excellent Wave dishwashing gel. It looks vaguely similar to EFP's version in the bottle and the texture is comparable. However, Trader Joe's version doesn't seem to be as effective. Most of my dishes come out clean, but my silverware is typically cloudy looking, and it doesn't do anything for the tough jobs, like my dogs' food bowls with crusted-on homemade wet food that I slacked on soaking in the sink before tossing in the dishwasher. (Let it be known, the dishwashing products I like pass this test.)

It's fine for most dishwashing jobs, it's just not good enough. Any time I have to re-wash things when they come out of the dishwasher, I won't re-buy. It's a big waste of water and effort.

Sad, because the bottle claims it "dries spot free". It's also labeled "biodegradable, phosphate free, chlorine free, removes dried on foods, removes tough stains, built-in rinse aid." If you can't find other eco-friendly options, give it a shot and post here to let me know if it works.

Earth Friendly Products ECOS Lemongrass Laundry Detergent

Hello! I am back. I'm resurfacing :) Things are very busy right now with school, but I'm still cleaning and still trying new things.

I've been using this liquid laundry detergent for a while. It's "ultra concentrated" meaning it really doesn't take much to do a single load. One week Jhimm and I thought we looked low on the stuff so we picked up another bottle. The one we had lasted another month and a half. Just be mindful of the fill lines inside the cap, and you should get a good value from the stuff.

As for the smell, well, I can't say it really recalls lemongrass for me or that my clothes come out smelling of anything. However, it was actually cheaper at my local grocery store than the unscented version that I'd previously bought, so.... lemongrass it is!

I'm a big fan of this brand because their products actually work for me. My laundry comes out of the dryer soft, clean, and fresh. My little potty-troubled dog's overnight diaper smells snuggly rather than... um, how it smelled when I tossed it in the laundry pile. If this detergent works on that foul odor, it's my friend.

I really haven't ever noticed a stain go into the wash and come back out again while using this stuff, but perhaps I haven't given it a tough enough challenge. I'll have to try to spill some wine or bleed on it or somesuch. Or... oooh, I had a pen explode on a sweatshirt sleeve the other day. I'll try that later.

You can get save a lot by purchasing a pack of 4 of these jugs from Amazon.com for around $40... that would easily last me a year.

(They also have a laundry powder version that I am dying to try.) Alas, everything is "out of stock" as they move their Health & Personal Care products warehouse.

Trader Joe's Lavender Dryer Bags

I don't like what dryer sheets do to laundry (generally coat it in a layer of film that actually lowers the lifespan of your textiles), but I do enjoy the smell. Trader Joe's has come up another good solution! Their lavender dryer bags are filled with delicious smelling lavender seeds. They can be used for 5-10 dryer cycles each, and I've been erring more towards 10. They very subtly scent my laundry a nice, natural lavender. It seems like the dryer (machine) gets more lasting scent than, say, my towels, but this is mainly because I dry everything on low heat and these really make a better stink on hotter settings. I'm not sure they produce enough scent for my liking (at my preferred drying temp.), but for less scent-obsessed folks they're probably more than sufficient.

When you're done with a bag, the package advises sprinkling them on your carpet and vacuuming them up for a lovely lavender smelling house. I did this, and it was herby and delicious everywhere I vacuumed. Delicious, that is, if you like lavender. I imagine these'd also work well in drawers and closets to keep things fresh.

Each pack contains 4 bags, and although I've forgotten the price it was pretty reasonable. I'll re-buy.

(Theoretically you could make your own! Fill a small cloth bag with dried flowers or herbs, close it securely, and toss it in the dryer.)

When Natural and Organic are just words...

I know this isn't cleaning related, but as is true of my occasional deviations from that topic, it's about potentially dangerous components of the products we use. I'm so disappointed that some of these brands, which I have used and praised, don't pay as much attention to their quality control as they should, or don't research everything they're putting into their goods well enough... (or are deliberately deceitful).

So, I give you:
"Panic in the Organic Aisle: How a dirty scandal is forcing the natural products industry to come clean"

What do you think? Will this change your buying habits at all?

Target Organic Cotton Bed Sheets?

Okay, so bedsheets aren't really cleaning products, but I'm enjoying these new sheets so much I had to mention them. I'm really surprised too. I typically buy pretty expensive organic sheets because I have chronic problems sleeping and I try to make my bed as comfortable as possible. When I spotted a set of organic cotton 250-thread count (non sateen) bedsheets at Target, next to the also promising bamboo sheets, I nabbed a set. I figured at $49.99 a set I wouldn't feel awful about it if they didn't work out longterm, unlike the sets that are $75 for just the flat sheet.

Well, after my first set of these in a dark cocoa color I made a special trip back to get a second, robin's egg blue set. I washed them and that put them on the bed last night. I wanted to roll in them they feel so nice and soft. My closest Target seems to be making a big effort to stock more eco-friendly products. They have a whole green cleaning isle!

Anyway, highly recommended! (I like them better than my gaiam sheets.)

Skoy Cleaning Cloths

The kind people at Skoy (I love that word) were generous enough to send me samples of their biodegradable and compostable cleaning cloths, and I've been using them for about a month now around my kitchen. We've been trying an experiment in our house to see if we really need paper towels. So far.... no. The Skoy cloths, which are made from cotton and cellulose (from wood) have been alternated with our existing microfiber cloth stash to keep our kitchen very tidy, if I do say so.

My husband has been using the Skoys to clean out his wok after he makes us yummy summer stir-fries. He just wets them and swipes a few times and then tosses the cloth in the laundry pile. (I don't put these in the dryer. They air-dry nicely.) The trick is to wet these under the faucet, ring them out, and then clean whatever you've just spilled (like breakfast smoothie).

I am enjoying the bright colors (you can order them in a pack of just white if you prefer) in my kitchen this summer, and they've got a big daisy on them too... more summery cheer. I suppose how you'll feel about that depends on how you feel about floral print.

You can put these in your dishwasher, which is cool :) I need to start doing that, although the washing on cool is also fine. (More tips here.)

I haven't tried these outside the kitchen yet, but after they get a bit worn I may give them a shot in the bathroom.
More weapons in my effort to stop buying paper towels, which I have no room to store!

Trader Joe's Room Spray: Coriander and Bergamot

My bathroom occasionally smells less than fresh, as I'm sure yours does. I've actually avoided (even eco-friendly) room sprays for the most part, but Trader Joe's has a way of talking me into things I wouldn't otherwise consider!

Last time I was there, I nabbed a bottle of their essential oil-based coriander/bergamot "Next to Godliness" room spray and I'm really enjoying the scent. I've had the urge to spray it on myself a few times. Never felt that way about Lysol spray, that's for sure. Now granted, I could make this stuff myself with the essential oils in question ($17 for coriander and $13 for bergamot; I already have the bergamot.) and some water, and I may try that. But I have to credit TJs for selling this stuff cheaply and giving me the idea for the scent combination (and for making it non-aerosol.) The scent could linger a bit more, but it seems to mask stinky bathroom aromas nicely, at least temporarily.

Depending on how much air freshener spray you go through and whether you'd use the essential oils for anything else, you might be saving money by buying the TJs version.

Most essential oils have directions on the packaging for how much (distilled) water to combine with EOs to make a room spray or linen spray. My favorite linen spray "recipe" = 18 drops of oil for every 1 oz water combined in a spray bottle.
(Aura Cacia also sells prepackaged EO blends for those of you who don't have a full medicine cabinet of oils like I do.)

South of France hand soap

I'm biased against bad packaging. I know... it means I probably bypass good products and spend more on cleaning products overall, but as some of you know, I'm an ex-design professor. So when I told my husband he could pick out our hand soap and he returned with a brand called "South of France" whose label design I wasn't overly fond of, I kind of assumed it couldn't be that great. It looked so "generic drugstore brand"!
The texture though, was totally different from any hand soap I've tried before. It's creamier somehow, and a lot more moisturizing. I really like it! The "green tea" scent doesn't smell like actual green tea to me (as usual), but it's quite fresh and herby.

Apparently this hand soap is "kettle cooked in small batches using a traditional recipe from Marseille". Well, that's kind of cool. The company makes bar soaps too. It contains essential oils and no SLS. Judging from the reviews floating around online, people either love it or hate it.

And, to combat purchasing for aesthetic reasons, I found a great site the other day: debranded home. They encourage you to make your own personal care products, and/or to purchase in larger quantities and refill plain jars. We do this! We have lovely recycled glass soap dispensers that we refill with hand soap. It's a fun site.

Seventh Generation "Green Mandarin and Leaf" Shower Spray

I'd been using Seventh Generation's Citrus Shower Spray as my daily cleaning spray, but wasn't that fond of the scent. Rather than smelling bright and orangey to me it always smelled a little, um, vomitous. Anyway, I was relieved by the replacement of the citrus with "green mandarin and leaf" scent. The leaf definitely comes through more strongly, so the product has a green, almost biting scent. I actually don't think I'm a fan, because there's a medicinal tone to the scent that bothers me. Scent preference is so subjective I'd encourage you to try it anyway. I might be imagining the medicinal part.

I was talking to someone about this blog the other day (boy do people think I'm a nerd when they hear about it!) and I mentioned I really like SG products. She said she'd never had any success with them, and I mentioned the shower cleaner specifically. "Ugh," she said "I especially don't like the shower cleaner."

In retrospect I wish I'd asked her some followup questions.
1. Do you use this stuff as a daily shower spray, not just once in a while? For it to work you must spray it every time you shower (which is the point of "daily shower sprays" I probably don't need to add).

2. What kind of shower do you have?
I have a glass-doored stall shower (three panels of glass, two of tile), and I can't vouch for how well this would work on a tile-only shower.

I'm sure product performance is completely contingent on things like the kinds of personal care products you use in the shower, water hardness, etc. I also use a squeegee on my shower walls when I am done in there, and I'm sure that helps a ton!
I feel like this stuff does the best job of any shower spray I've ever used, earth-friendly or toxic, but I'm always on the prowl for a new and better product.

Biokleen Bac-Out (and Mrs. Meyer's Rhubarb)

Phew, I finally got around to buying a bottle of Biokleen's "Bac-Out", a liquid that promises to remove the stank and stains from a variety of places. I bought it to spray into my toilet, my trashcan, and to pour down my garbage disposal.

(Re: the last: lime and lemon rinds do the trick nicely, but I don't eat many citrus fruits so we don't have them in the house often. Just put 'em down the disposal and grind away.)

The bottle I bought didn't come with a spray nozzle, but thanks to the collection of empties I keep around for making my own cleaning products, I had a spare. I immediately tackled the toilet. I clean my toilet with a combination of a homemade tea-tree concoction, eco-friendly bleach, Mrs. Meyer's wipes, and Bio-Pac toilet tabs. My toilet is a huge stink problem, and has been since we moved in. It's a low-flow model, and I don't think the bowl gets rinsed enough between flushes. Or the toilet seat needs replacing. Either way, ew.

So I cleaned the bowl and then sprayed he Bac-Out all around the inside. Then I hit the other toilet, and then my garbage disposal. This stuff smells -amazing-. It's tangy lime bliss (I adore Biokleen's products for their scents alone.) Anyway, I am finding as I type this that I can't remember if the toilets still smell. This must be a good sign, but I'm going to go investigate for you, blog reader. WOAH. Ok, they smell. Hmph. I'm going to keep trying with the Bac-Out though, so I'll update this if it starts working on my toilet reek. In the meantime, this stuff is good for laundry and carpet stains as well.

**
I got a chance to smell the Mrs. Meyer's Spring Rhubarb cleaning kit in Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I think I'm sold. It's sweet and tangy, and the perfect kit for spring/summer, I'm thinking. Of course, I'm still using the gingerbread kit I bought during Christmas of 2006. At least you know it's a good value! Anyway, I think I'll have to snag one.

Mrs Meyer's Wipes in Baby Blossom

I think I am moving away from using disposable wipes, even in the bathroom, but I've really loved them in the past. Mrs Meyer's are my favorite, as they don't leave too much soapy residue behind (thus trapping more dirt, ultimately). I ordered their new Baby Blossom wipes, even though I don't have any babies hanging around in my apartment. The scent sounded great for spring cleaning: "spring wildflowers, butterfly violets & honeysuckle with a teeny bit of apple, lemon & mint".

Okay, so my nose can't really identify even half of those notes when I'm cleaning, but I do smell a sweet floral. Not bad. It doesn't beat the lavender or lemon-verbena scent for me, but it's pleasant. (Still waiting to try that Basil!) Mrs. M's site claims this line of products is especially safe for use around small children. Also nice for me, as I have sensitive skin. ;)

My bathroom, particularly around my toilet, is now actually clean thanks to these. My absence from this blog has been indicative of a workload that's kept me from cleaning as thoroughly as usual too.

I just got Bon Ami powder yesterday so I'll be testing that soon too.