"Green" Cleaning Products

B.,
As a mom who uses only safe products in my home, I am so happy to hear a daycare Mom is trying to do the same! I used to use a lot of vinegar as well. I switched to mostly seventh generation after the birth of child number 2. The cost was just too much! I am now an avid user of Ecosense cleaning products and all of the non-caustic lotions, bar soaps, vitamins ect.. that are offered wholesale to preferred customers at Melaleuca. Melaleuca is an on-line wellness superstore with GREAT SAFE products for your home. I've been using them for over a year and they have never let me down. They have the only EPA approved botanical disinfectant - Solumel Botanical! Just last month I decided to work part time for Melaleuca, so you may think my opinion is a bit influenced. But, if you asked a few months ago I would have told you the same great things about them. If your interested I'd love to give you more details. You can email me at ____@____.com. Whatever you decided - way to go green! A. B

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Dear B.,

Even though it is a slight conflict of interests, I would really suggest Melaleuca products. They are all natural, pet friendly, non-allergenic, green, and inexpensive. I really like that they are an American based company that manufactures in America. They smell great and work wonderfully! You can order off the internet and they deliver right to you.
I really love them, and the cost and time savings, too, and that is why I got involed with the company. Please contact me at ____@____.com for more info if you're interested. Good luck finding the right products for you.

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We use Melaleuca products exclusively. Everything from them is completely natural, safe for kids (I can even allow my 14 month old to help me clean the carpet after he stains it), and rated for use in daycares and other commercial settings. And the best part is that they're more affordable, my DS is safe, and they work better than my bleach ever did!

If you want to know more about what Melaleuca is or has, let me know, and I can get you that information. You can pm me, or doran . ____@____.com

1 mom found this helpful

Hi B.,

It looks like you have received lots of great info and I will add my 2cents as well. I use Melaleuca products both in my home and as a Classroom teacher. I can feel comfortable knowing that all is safe and the kids (I teach 4-5 year olds in Minneapolis Public Schools) can help me clean the tables after art time, etc. I also have the antibacterial soap for the kids and adults to use as well as offer the new organic snack crackers to my kids at home and school...they love them. The list goes on because for me, its not enough to only use cleaners that are safe but other daily products that are harmful and people don't even realize. I have used some other natural brands that do not clean as well especially on tough stains. Melaleuca has fabulous products and it has been a time and $ saver since they do come right to you and you can order yourself...not through someone else that has to deliver it to you. Let me know if you have any questions especially since I work in the same field as you.

Take Care,
J.
____@____.com

Hi B.
I'm making my own as well as combining with Daisy Blue Naturals products and essential oils. Drop me an email at ____@____.com - i'd love to tell you more!
J.

If you're near a Lakewinds, they offer an oxy-type product by biokleen that has worked well for me.

Remember that vinegar is itself anti-bacterial. The vinegar alters the pH of the bacterial walls and basically destroys them. There's a quick discussion at Cook's Illustrated about it:
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/askcooks.asp?askcooksid=684

If you're looking to disinfect toys, you could probably stick with bleach, if you use the right ratio. You need very very little bleach in the water to do the job - about 1 Tbsp for each gallon of water. 7th generation offers a non-chlorine bleach.

I love the Melaleuca products, but am not fond of the monthly committment. I'm just not in the habit of spending $65 - $70 on cleaning products/vitamins/toiletrees on a monthly basis - outside of diapers, food, etc. But, I have been very pleased with the products. Their window cleaner is better than windex, their laundry detergent lasts forever and smells awesome, their anti bacterial wipes are wonderful. I also dig their anti bacterial hand sanitizer. I don't feel bad putting it on my son's hands and then handing him food, like purell or anything else.

I have also starting using more natural products as I have 3 toddlers and I am constantly worried they'll get their hands on the chemicals.
I don't like the smell of vinegar much so have looked for alternatives. I use mostly castille soap (brand name is Dr. Bonners which you can find at GNC, health stores, etc and Trader Joes has their own generic brand) that's good for tubs, counters, toys etc, and has a nice pepermint smell. It is not too good for floors as it leaves a residue so I started using orange oil cleaner which you can find at most health food stores, I don;t know the name but if you ask someone or just look around the cleaning aisle you should see it. I also found out from a chemist friend of mine that salt is a very good disinfectant since bacteria can not live in a saline environment so you can just use plain table salt to scrub cutting boards or pour in your garbage disposal (orange peels, or any other kind of citrus peel, are also good to chop up into your garbage disposal, somewhat disinfects and deodorizes really well)
I recommend the book "Clean Home, Clean Planet" its popular so you need to wait for awhile to get it at the library so try buying used off amazon.com
Hope that gives you a few more ideas.
K. H

Hello,

I didn't read all of the responses so this may be a repeat, but I love 7th Generation products. They have everything, it is widely available (always at Target and Cub), and not too expensive.

I've also used Method. The products smell great. I also use Simple Green. Not too nice of a smell but my clean freak mother in law uses it for everything. I figure she should know.

L.

Hello B.,
I have heard about shaklee, but not the others. I've not used shaklee, but I know people who do and they say they love the products. I'm wodering about your daycare. Do you have an opening for an infant. My son is 8 months old. Where are you located? I'm in Farmington. If you do not have an opening, do you know anyone who does? I'm down to the wire with having to go back to work part time. Thanks so much!
S. J

I ADORE RESTORE PRODUCTS.

1.) Every product I've bought works great.

2.) It a Minneapolis mom's venture - that's a big incentive for me.

3.) I buy by the 1/2 gallon and reuse the containers at the Refill Stations. You get $1 off every refill and they are super concentrated, making them just about the cheapest way to clean if you're going to stay green but go beyond baking soda, vinegar, borax, etc. Plus you don't have bottles to recycle or toss, so it's more "green" in that regard than anything else you can buy.

I really like 7th Generation. I use their bathroom cleaners. It's nice because they don't have over-powering scents. It's also nice that you can get them at Target so you don't have to order from the internet or go to a natural foods store and pay more.

Hi B.,
I have switched all my cleaning products, dish soap, laundry detergent etc. to Melaleuca products. They do not contain any of the harsh chemicals, aren't expensive and work great! Email me if you are interested in going to a free dinner and learning more about changing over to greener products.

I like Target's "Method" brand cleaning products - they work great and are environmentally friendly. You can check out their website.(google method cleaning products)
They also have bar soap, lotions and hand soap all with very pleasant scents(or unscented)
These eco cleaners are also more reasonably priced than most you mentioned.
I have used seventh generation- their cleaning products work well and they have chlorine-free diapers.
K.

Hi B.,
I started using Shaklee products and have since my daughter was 11 months old. I was impressed with how concentrated they are and how much money you can save with them. They were featured on the Oprah show for earthday. Here's a link to the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=424FAcgPdI0

Also, if you'd like a free sample, you can go to:

www.greenandsmartclean.com

C.

Tea Tree Oil, just like what is used in Melaleuca products, is a disinfectant. You can pick up a bottle at the natural food section for about $20 but you only use it a few drops at a time so it lasts forever. I also use Simple Green because it's supposed to be environmentally friendly and cheap. I got a big bottle at Sam's Club for only $8. I like that I can use it on everything and it doesn't leave that sticky feeling on the floors. I know that Coborn's has a great selection of natural cleaning products in their natural foods section. I was quite impressed with the variety.
Good luck shopping,
J.

I've switched to 7th generation, in addition to using vinegar and baking soda. We buy it at our local Target, and after comparing prices with Melaluca, I believe I am ahead of the game as there is no minimum monthly order; I'm already at Target shopping each month, so I just put (only) what I need in the cart and off we go. You can get some great coupons on the 7th generation website!

I did see that several people recommended Simple Green. We have used it in the past, but the smell was too harsh for our household--it made me ill, as well as my husband. We haven't had any problems with any of the 7th generation products.

Good luck!

I like to keep it cheap and not buy pre-made cleaning products. I make my own. My favorite kitchen disinfectant cleaner uses a tiny amount of vegetable based dish or liquid laundry soap (I use Daisy Blue Naturals) and a couple drops of tea tree oil (a natural anti-bacterial, anti-virus, anti-fungal). This is also available from Daisy Blue as well as other places. Melaleuca oil is just a different name for tea tree oil. I just keep my mixture in a spray bottle. It costs me pennies to mix up a whole bottle compared to $$$ to buy it already mixed.

For scrubbing I use baking soda a lot. Nothing else (commercial or otherwise) has ever gotten my stainless steel as beautiful, my stove as degreased, or my tub as clean. For toilets I throw in a cup of borax (a huge box at Target costs less than $5), let it sit overnight, and run the brush around in the morning...spotless.

After switching to these inexpensive and more effective cleaners, I have concluded that the cleaning product industry is one of the BIGGEST rip-offs of this century!