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.

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

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.

When it's not as Green as it seems

I'm a Consumer Reports website subscriber, so when I saw this article investigating the "green claims" of household cleaning product manufacturers, I was intrigued.

I'm a bit surprised at Seventh Generation's having a questionable ingredient in its dishwasher gel. I've used that stuff happily in the past. I'm not sure what to make of the Biokleen laundry powder finding, considering the company's statement that a questionable ingredient was accidentally listed in their disclosure statement and is therefore presumably not used.

It's a pretty short article without a lot of information in it. I'm glad Earth Friendly Products got a nod, and I'm wondering now about Ecover. Consumer Reports is sending people to its green cleaning website (which has been on my links list for a while) for more information.

Earth Friendly Products Natural Spa Dish Soap (and Junk Mail)

Ugh, the holiday catalog influx has begun! I have been getting 3-4 new catalogs each day, many from companies I've never shopped with. Victoria's Secret is the worst in terms of frequency, but Pottery Barn's is the thickest. Treehuger has a great post on removing yourself from junk mailing lists, but I also sat down and wrote to each company individually. (I was procrastinating other work.)

I just finished a bottle of Earth Friendly Products' Black Currant dish soap. I have never before used a dish soap that smelled this strongly. Every time I used it a wonderful tart berry scented wafted from the sink. I suppose the strong aroma could bother some people, but I loved it. Nice change from most shyly scented products.

Of course, scent is nothing without performance, and the soap worked very well. It didn't make my hands feel as dry as most soaps, but it cut through grease effectively. In the interest of full disclosure, I throw anything that can possibly fit into my dishwasher, so I may not have put this to as tough a challenge as it deserves. It did help me make work of some serious baked pasta dish pans, and it made me hate doing the dishes slightly less... it's definitely still one of my least favorite chores.

Black Currant is one of several scents. Click through to check them out. I want to try rosemary, lemongrass, and cucumber mint the most. Maybe they'll read this and send me a Christmas present ;)

I am currently using EFP's almond scented dish soap from their general product line. Review forthcoming.

Carpet shampooing doesn't have to be toxic!

I'm still here! :) School got busy and then I got sick. I'm too picky to let my apartment go much, but I definitely wasn't up to trying and reviewing anything new.

So I finally saved a bit and got myself a carpet shampooer. To be precise, I got a
"Hoover F5914-900 SteamVac with Clean Surge". My desire for one was so great because the carpeting in our apartment's bedroom has looked filthy since we moved in, and the rental shampooer I got from the grocery store actually made it worse (I think the thing was broken). I did a lot of research before choosing this model, and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with it.

Many years ago I shared an apartment with a mentally handicapped dog. Before we discovered "doggie diapers", our carpets suffered mightily. This was an apartment with carpeting throughout the unit as well. The poor little dog couldn't reason out even to use a puppy training pad, and after the stink got a certain amount lethal, we bought a Bissell. It worked... okay. Nothing like a professional job or the unit we once rented from a hardware shop.

The Hoover seems somewhere between professional and the Bissell so far, but it's very hard to tell because the carpet is a very mottled multi-colored job. I'm amazed at the filth in the water it pulls out though.

But let me get to the eco part!

So of course the thing came with a bottle of Hoover brand cleaning solution. This little bottle had no marked ingredients, which always irks me.
For the sake of science (you hear that, readers? I sacrificed my sense of smell for you! ;) ) I used it on part of my bedroom carpet. It worked quite well, but it smelled absolutely horrid and caustic. I wanted to crick a window, but it was a bit late and cool out.

Thankfully, I have an alternative- Earth Friendly Products' Carpet Shampoo! It smells like bergamot and sage (yum!), and it works just as well as the Hoover brand. I saved half of my bedroom carpet to do a comparison on, and the two products are functionally interchangeable. The Hoover machine comes with a bunch of caveats about only using Hoover liquid (they all do that), because other products may foam too much or somehow ruin the machine. I love the carpet shampooer, but I definitely am not buying the cross-branding hype. Just for "assault on my nose" reasons alone, I'd rather use the EFP. My dogs, my husband and I have to walk on this carpet too!

EFP's Natural Spa Dish Soap

Earth Friendly Products has a line of "Personal Care Products." These are deluxe essential-oil scented hand and dish soaps, hand lotion, and linen "water" (aka product you spray on fabrics before ironing them.) I recently scooped up the dish soap in "Black Currant". I've used a lot of scented dish soaps recently, but this is the one that smells the strongest and is the most pleasant. I haven't gotten to scrub any really tough items (no over-microwaved tamales this week), but I did notice that my hands were less dry after using this.

I kind of like their caddy, actually. You know how water collects around your soap dispensers by the sink and you get dirt under there and bottle-marks? Er... I use "you" generously here. I could perhaps be assuming too much. Ahem. Anyway, if I could take for granted that most hand and soap bottles would fit nicely next to each other in that thing, I'd get it. I kinda wonder if Earth Friendly Products' standard dish soap bottles will fit.

I like the essential oil descriptions featured on the left column of the site. I'm a big enough aromatherapy nerd that I knew all of these (heck, I have half of the EO bottles mentioned in my house), but it's fun to think about lemongrass dish soap helping to revive me on a daily basis.

(They sure need to redesign their website however. Were I in the design business any longer I'd offer. It doesn't do them justice.)

Anyone tried the hand lotion? I'm using Desert Essence's Spicy Orange hand lotion right now, but as it smells nothing like oranges (or spice, for that matter), it won't be a repeat buy. (On a total tangent, their pistachio foot cream is lovely, however.)

Earth Friendly Products Wave Jet

Hello green cleaners! Every time I log in I see a notice asking me if I'd like to place targeted google ads in my blog. I have to admit, I'm curious (for my sake) what they'd turn up. So, if you are at some point subjected to ads upon visiting me, my curiosity got the better of me.

Onward, Earth Friendly Products makes a dishwasher product called Wave Jet that's essentially just like Jet Dry. The idea is to eliminate spots and residue and make your glasses sparkle (it goes with your sparkly TV commercial teeth. What, you don't have those? Me neither.) All dishwashers I've been blessed with since my second apartment (prior to 2002 I lived only in apartments with dishwashers that led me to hand wash my dishes) have had a reservoir for this product, labeled conveniently with the Jet Dry™ brand name. Are there no other rinse aid brands?

I used Jet Dry in one apartment where the water was particularly hard and liked the results. When I switched to natural cleaning products I was going to indifferently do without, when I spied this product. I've used it for a couple of years and it's always lived up to its claims. One thing I'm never quite sure about is when to stop pouring the Wave Jet into the reservoir (I go with- when it starts to overflow) and how to know when to refill it (I go with- when I remember.)

I've never had London-hard water, but I'd still advise those looking for sparklier dishes with little effort to give this a shot. Sometimes I toss some borax in with my dishwasher detergent (in one of the additional cups) for fun too. Yes, for fun. ;)

If you've tried this, I'd love to know how it's worked for you. I've used it in two dishwashers, in two states, but these things can be subjective.

Earth Friendly Products Shower Kleener

Ok, I'm going to confess something to you here. I shied away from Earth Friendly Products for a while because their packaging isn't as nicely designed (exception- their spa line) as some of the others out there.

I was curious after reading this though:
"The only non petroleum based, naturally derived shower cleaner on the market. This unique and revolutionary product uses tea tree oil, lavender oil, purified water, a plant derived surfactant, and ethanol derived from corn to clean your shower and bath areas."

I always love the "plant derived surfactant" in descriptions. Anyway, EFP is an Illinois company, so as soon as I moved here I found that I could buy their products almost anywhere. It was my inability to get to a hippie store for a while that led me to snatch this up. And may I say, I am properly shamed.

It's actually really lovely.
In the past, I've tried Method and Mrs. Meyers shower cleaners, but the scent bothered my husband (particularly the Method, but it kinda smells like bum, if bum smelled like bad ylang ylang.) The EFP version hardly smells at all, and better yet, when I spray it in our stall shower I can see it chasing away the soap drips from the glass. It's kept me from having to do a thorough scrubbing in the nearly two months that we've lived here.

I've actually... repurchased, which for me is something. I'm a fickle gal. What's your favorite shower cleaner? I don't mind the Mrs. Meyers Lemon Verbana either.