Selecting Cleaners For Your Home Part 3: Green Clean Killing Machines

If your from Canada, you KNOW how long, cold, and wet this winter has been. This week we welcomed the first day of Spring (FINALLY!), and I could not be more ready! There is something about the warmer air and sunshine that makes me want to get a head start on my spring cleaning. And with Earth Day just around the corner, I find myself taking extra care selecting products for my home that are not only safe for me, but safe for the planet. Today on Sweet and Saving, I’m sharing what to look for on your product label to prevent you from being fooled by “green” marketing language, plus I’ll be adding some germy items in your home to  add your cleaning list that you’ve likely never thought to clean before.

Green Certification

Green, all natural, biodegradable, and plant based, are all terms that are frequently used on cleaning products to make consumers think that they are safe for the planet. But don’t be misled by these green logos and claims. Product environmental preferability claims should be validated by credible THIRD party certifications that have been designed to ensure strict standards are followed in the formulation of cleaning and disinfectant products. Did you know that there are both industry and government requirements to be labeled a “green” product? If you want to put your mind at ease, look for these following third party certified green logos.

Green Chemistries

While Green certifications really are your gold standard for selecting environmentally friendly products, these products may be challenging to come across at your local Walmart or Target. Due diligence can be done just by selecting chemistries that are known to be readily or inherently biodegradable and are gentle on the planet, the place we all call home. Look for products with hydrogen peroxide, citric acid, or lactic acid as the active ingredient, which can always be found on a disinfectant’s product label. You will also want to avoid products with ingredients that are harsh on the planet like QUATS (Quaternary ammonium compounds), phosphates, and triclosan.

Green Claims

Remember the relevant green marketing claims that I talked about in Part 2? Look for cleaners and disinfectants that claim to be readily or inherently biodegradable. So what is the difference between readily and inherently biodegradable? Readily biodegradable means a product has been proven to degrade  into its natural state when subjected to sunlight, water and microbial activity, from 60-100% in 28 days. Inherently biodegradable means that a product has been proven to degrade into its natural state when subjected to sunlight, water, and microbial activity from 20% to 60% in 28 days. Other GOOD marketing claims to look for are phenol free, VOC free, and phosphate free.

VOCs

What the heck is a VOC? Volatile Organic Compounds, otherwise known as VOCs, are products that have a high vapor pressure at room temperature. In other words, VOCs quickly evaporate into the environment leading to indoor air pollution which can also be toxic to your health. Common VOC culprits in cleaning products are fragrances and alcohol (i.e. glass cleaners). Instead, opt for unscented cleaning products. Personally, I use glass cleaners with alcohol (I find they work the best), but to reduce irritation the best method to apply is by spraying the product onto a cloth and then apply to the surface. This reduces aerosolization which can cause respiratory irritation.

Germy Items in Your Home to Add to your Spring Cleaning List

When it comes to cleaning our homes, I’m sure we all get to the basics on a regular basis (bathroom, kitchen, fridge, etc). But, did you know there are some items in your home that are more germy that the toilet, some places that I bet you’ve never cleaned? These are high touch items, meaning that you touch them on a regular basis providing the perfect breeding ground for germs to travel and spread. Next time you give your house a good clean don’t forget to clean and disinfect you:

• Cell phone
• Telephone
• TV remote
• Light switches (especially during cold and flu season)
• Door knobs/handles
• Computer mouse

Happy spring cleaning!

xo,

 

Selecting Cleaners For Your Home Part 2: Ditching the Toxins

How many of you have jumped on the toxin-free band wagon? While selecting safer products for your home is admirable, there is SO much misinformation out there thanks to Dr. Google and the plethora of products claiming to be “safe” with nothing to support their claims except for a pretty picture of a leaf on the product label. During part 2 of this blog series, we will review what to look for and avoid in your cleaning products to ensure you get what you expect to pay for.

Chemistry

When it comes to selecting non-toxic cleaners and disinfectants for your home, the first and best place to start is the chemistry. There are two main chemistries to avoid that are known to cause respiratory, skin, and eye irritation. The first chemistry is bleach (no surprise there!). A common replacement for bleach which is frequently marketed as “Bleach Free” are QUATS (Quaternary ammonium compounds). QUATS are the most common chemistry used in consumer grade cleaning products. I talked about the toxicity of Quats in Part 1 which is linked HERE if you wish you learn more.  So what chemistries do I recommend? My go to is always Hydrogen Peroxide based products. Hydrogen Peroxide is non-toxic, inherently and readily biodegradable, non-irritating, yet has the amazing capability to kill germs. You can also look for products based on natural acids like citric  or lactic acid. This is where reading your product label is essential to know what is actually in your cleaners and disinfectants!

Irrelevant Marketing Claims

All Natural, Biodegradable, and CFC Free, are just some of the marketing claims that are totally irrelevant. Let’s start with “All Natural” cleaners and disinfectants. Just because a product claims to be all natural does NOT mean that it’s safe. Chemicals such as arsenic, mercury, uranium, and formaldehyde are just some of the naturally occurring chemicals that are very toxic. My other favorite is “Biodegradable”. Did you know that EVERYTHING is biodegradable? So if something takes 1000 years to degrade, “biodegradable” could still be on the product label. What you want is a product that quickly degrades which can be identified with the relevant claims “readily biodegradable” or “inherently biodegradable” which are more specific to the actual time frame of biodegradability. Finally, if you’ve bought a product because it claims to be CFC Free, jokes on you because CFCs have been banned for over 30 years so NO product contains CFCs.

Scents

Is there anything better than the smell of a clean house? What clean scent is your favorite? Lemon? Lavender? Did you know that the smell of clean should be no smell at all? Most scents used in cleaning products are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) which negatively impact indoor air quality and can be irritating to the lungs. Instead, opt for scent free products. You will know your house is clean when you can smell… NOTHING!

Read the Fine Print

You would not believe how many “green” and “non-toxic” cleaning products actually have warning symbols/statements in the fine print on the label. The most common warning statements are skin, eye, and respiratory irritation. Again, READ your product label to ensure you aren’t getting tricked by that pretty green leaf on the front label.

Dilutions

Concentrated cleaning products are a great way to save money, but how many of you just pour in your disinfectant without reading what dilution should be used? Properly diluting your concentrates ensures two things. 1. Proper dilutions ensure you are using the correct amount of chemical to effectively clean, kill germs, and protect your surfaces. 2. Proper dilutions help maintain the safety profile of the product. If you are over diluting you are making the solution stronger than it needs to be which could negatively impact the safety profile.

So whats the moral of the story? READ THE PRODUCT LABEL, YES ALL OF IT!

xo,

 

 

 

Selecting Cleaners For Your Home Part 1: Back To The Basics

It’s that time of year again! The birds are chirping, the snow is melting and it’s time to start spring cleaning. When it comes to the cleaners and disinfectants I use around my house I am SUPER picky! And it’s not because I’m a tree hugger overly concerned about the environment, or because I have young children at home who may come into contact with the products that I use, rather I worked in the cleaning and disinfecting industry for a number of years and it’s safe to say that I know TOO much! As a marketer I know the tricks companies use to try to sell you products…and you all make it way too easy! Few people actually do their research when it comes to selecting cleaners and disinfectants for their home and instead take those pretty labels at face value. Well now I’m here to shed some light on what to look for in your cleaning products. In this series of blog posts, I am going to share some industry inside knowledge on selecting green and non-toxic products for your home. But first, we need to get back to the basics.

Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting are NOT the Same

First we need to get our terminology right. Cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting are all terms that are used interchangeably but did you know that they all mean different things? Cleaning does NOT kill germs rather it is the process of physically removing dirt and debris from your surfaces. Germs WILL remain on your surfaces even after cleaning. This is where sanitizing and disinfection come in. Sanitizing and disinfecting DO kill germs. Sanitizing kills low numbers of bacteria that may be lingering on your surfaces whereas disinfecting kills larger numbers of bacteria, viruses, and fungi. If you want a product that actually kills germs you need to look for a product that specifies “kill” on the product label. If it just says “cleaner”, that’s all it is.

 

What the heck is a contact time?

Have you ever read the back of your disinfectant (e.g. Lysol wipes) and read how long the solution must remain wet on the surface in order to be effective? That is what we call a contact time. Go read your product label, I bet you will be surprised. Most consumer products have contact times between 5 and 10 minutes, but most products won’t stay wet for that long, meaning you must re-apply the product in order to kill the germs you are most concerned with. And yes, having to re-apply multiple times means using more product which means you spend more moolah.

Kills 99.9% of Viruses and Bacteria

Wow, 99.9%! That’s pretty good right? Wrong! When it comes to killing germs, 99.9% is a passing grade. This is the minimum kill required to be considered a sanitizer/disinfectant. Some products can achieve higher kill rates which are much more impressive! Of course no company would ever put this on their product label because you are sooo impressed with 99.9% that they can get away with marketing the passing grade. And when a product claims to kill the flu virus, guess what…that’s not that impressive either. The flu virus is an enveloped virus (just like HIV), meaning it’s very susceptible to chemical disinfectants. In English, this means that the flu virus is extremely easy to kill, and if your disinfectant can’t kill the flu, than it’s pretty much useless.

Bleach Free: Buyer Beware

When you think of cleaning products your mind probably jumps to Bleach, because that’s what our mothers used and they used a whole lot of it. Today we are much more aware of the toxicity of bleach and look for products that are “bleach free”. When it comes to consumer products the most popular substitute for bleach is QUATS (quaternary ammonium compounds). QUATS while known to have a better safety profile than bleach, actually has many downfalls and is the one chemistry I absolutely REFUSE to bring into my house (aka Lysol). Rather than breaking down in the environment, Quats build up which is not only bad for our planet, but it gives germs the opportunity to become resistant to the killing agent of the disinfectant. QUATS have also been associated with eye, skin, and respiratory irritation. Of even more concern, recent studies show that QUATS contribute to mitochondrial toxicity and endocrine disruption…NOT GOOD! If I’ve scared you away from QUATS, you NEED to start reading your product label. Avoid products with active ingredients that end in “Ammonium Chloride”.

DIY Disinfectants

How many of you use vinegar and water to clean or disinfect your home as a natural substitute to harsh chemicals? Disinfectants registered with Health Canada or the EPA have undergone RIGOROUS efficacy testing by third party laboratories to PROVE that they can kill germs. Homemade remedies obviously have not undergone this level of validation, meaning that there is NO way to tell if your DIY disinfectant has any kill power. The problem with water and vinegar is that is lacks detergents which are essential for effective cleaning AND disinfection. Why? Soils, dirt, and debris can actually inactivate your disinfectant. So if you’re using plain vinegar and water to clean and kill in 1 step, your likely achieving neither. Additionally, many people try to use natural ingredients that are known to have antimicrobial properties to make their own disinfectants. And while it’s true that there are natural substances that contain properties with the ability to kill germs, in order to activate their killing power they depend on other inert ingredients to achieve the necessary level of potency to kill germs. So unless your a chemist that knows which substances provide these types of chemical reactions, my recommendation…leave it to the scientists.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, my next blog post will focus on selecting safe and non-toxic cleaning products and what to look for on the product label. Until then, go take a peek inside your cleaning closet and let me know what discoveries you’ve made!

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xo