True Innovation in Laundry Care--NO Liquids

Purex is living up to its name. They recently came out with Purex Natural Elements, a biodegradable laundry detergent made from naturally-sourced cleaning ingredients, which does an excellent job cleaning and softening clothes. A plus is there are several special and refreshing scents made with natural fragrance extracts: Linen & Lilies, Apple & Melon, Cherry Blossoms & Vanilla and Lilac & Lavender. When you open the bottle your senses are hit with an exhilarating wave of freshness that translates into the cleanest laundry.

Purex Natural Elements Fabric Softener is a more recent addition and comes in two fresh scents, Linen & Lilies and Apple & Melon, that complement the detergent fragrances. The softeners also contain natural fragrance extracts, are hypoallergenic and free of dyes and the formula is biodegradable.

But the newest member of the Purex cleaning team is a real breakthrough. Purex just introduced their new 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets – and unlike any other detergent - there is NO liquid involved. Imagine washing and softening your clothes with one sheet that does it all. These sheets are amazing and do everything promised. And there are no bottles or liquids involved so they are lightweight and spill-free and so make perfect sense when you need to pack laundry products for travel.

Simply drop a Laundry Sheet into the washer (either Standard or High-efficiency), the blue detergent portion of the sheet is released during the wash cycle. Once the washer is complete, transfer the laundry sheet with clothes to dryer. The color stripe is heat activated by the dryer to soften clothes and remove static.

3-in-1 Laundry Sheets are available in three unique fragrances: Spring Oasis^TM, Tropical Escape^TM and Pure & Clean.

Highly recommended. And Purex recently launched their Purex Changes Lives program (www.purexchangeslives.com) in partnership with Kiva.org, a global person-to-person micro-lending website that helps low-income families create their own sustainable sources of income. We wanted to let you know that for every Purex Complete 3-in-1 UPC registered at PurexChangesLives.com Purex will donate one dollar to help a hard-working entrepreneur of their choice.

Fragrant Glade

After you have cleaned your surroundings you’ll want to keep the environment smelling fresh and fragrant. There are ever-increasing types of air fresheners out there—some passive, some active—some a combination.

Consider Glade’s lovely multi-wick Soy Based Candle. For about $8.99 you can have a delightful fragrance wafting throughout the room without even lighting the candle. Three wicks are better than one in a candle this size and the idea behind a soy-based candle is that soy wax is all-natural, burns cleaner and produces less soot and can burn up to 50% longer than candles made from paraffin.

There are six scents available including Currants & açai, Orange vanilla, and Sheer white cotton (a blissful blend of floral, woody and fruity notes such as freesia and lime), The six fragrances are also available in a single wick candle and a Reed Diffuser.The aroma is subtle yet heavenly.

Another option of course is spray fragrance. With the Sense & Spray you can have the fragrance without pushing the button. Sense & Spray has a built-in motion sensor and automatically releases concentrated burst of freshness. It works well and after about 30 days it can be refilled with cartridges in scents such as Clean Linen, Apple Cinnamon, Powder Fresh and Country Garden.

A favorite air freshener with a bonus is Glade's Wisp Flameless Candle. Not a candle at all-- there is no flame--you get the effect of a scented candle without any of the safety issues. The glow is very realistic and the scent that automatically puffs out over time is very refreshing, indeed. This is really an innovative product.

All these are easily available and affordable so you can put one of

each in rooms throughout your environment to create an atmosphere of inviting

and relaxing fragrance.

http://www.glade.com/

Cleaning a Wide Swath

Cleaning the floor is about to get a little easier, thanks to the new O-Cedar Microfiber Flip Mop.

This long handled wonder has a generous 18” by 6” cleaning pad and a neck so flexible it can get under the lowest cabinets. Perfect for hardwood and other smooth floors, it can be used dry or damp. Dry, the microfiber pad acts like a magnet, picking up an impressive amount of dirt and pet hair. If you want to damp-mop the floor just use a spray bottle of water. The microfiber pad is washable and comes off easily by opening the Velcro strips. Then just toss it in the washing machine and allow to dry flat. The pad is also reversible. Just flip it over and start cleaning with the other side.

The whole unit is lightweight and a pleasure to use.

The history of O-Cedar goes back to the early 1900s –when it became a popular brand. After introducing its waxes and polishes to residents in and around Chicago in 1906, the Channel Chemical Company developed and sold oil-treated dust mops under the O-Cedar name in 1908 as a companion to the popular cleaning products. Parlaying its success selling O-Cedar waxes and polishes in the “Windy City,” Channel Chemical Company achieved not only national distribution in 1910, but took the products overseas as well.

During the early 1920s, a prosperous time for the country, demand for consumer goods ran high and radios became a staple and O-Cedar was thrown into national prominence. During the
1920s, O-Cedar used radio to advertise its products to millions of listeners, catching their
attention with a clever slogan: “O-Cedar Makes Your Life Easier®.”

The Depression that followed the boom times (sound familiar?) forced people to use what they had and careful cleaning became a way for people to preserve the life of their home furnishings.

During the 1930s, O-Cedar published A Book of Household Tips, which
contained practical advice for quickly and thoroughly accomplishing everyday chores. One tip in the book was “…to clean scorched pans, sprinkle with some dry baking soda and let stand.
Then pans will clean readily.”

The point is, O-Cedar has been around a long time and they know what works.

Sugg. Retail price is $14.99 and is available at select food, drug and mass merchandise stores nationwide. For more information about items in the O-Cedar family of cleaning products go to www.ocedar.com

Environmentally Conscious Cleaning

Keeping clean doesn’t have to mean multiple bottles of mostly water coming into your home full and leaving empty each week. With Arm & Hammer Essentials Refillable Cleaners you buy the bottle once and then purchase small refills when the spray bottle runs out. There are three types of spray cleaners:-- Multi Surface, Glass, Cleaner & Degreaser.

The cleaners combine powerful plant-based and other biodegradable cleaners and environmentally sound packaging to help us develop cleaner, greener cleaning habits. And they do the job.

First you buy an ARM & HAMMER® Essentials™ Cleaners Starter Kit, which contains an empty trigger spray bottle and one cartridge of concentrated cleaners. You fill the spray bottle with tap water and add the concentrate to the bottle. When you run out of cleaner, you buy refill cartridges—not a new bottle. The bottle can be used at least seven times before it can be recycled.

It’s a way to save money and the environment. You will be helping to cut down on landfill waste because the refill 2-pack uses 93 percent less plastic and 80 percent less packaging than standard, pre-filled 32 oz. cleaners.

And those little power-packed cartridges are easy to carry and use. Who needs heavy bottles that, honestly, contain mostly water anyway? Get the concentrate and fill them up at home.

The New Standard

The ads for Swiffer are right—you’ll never go back to your old mop and broom after trying the WetJet. Cleaning floors now can take less than half the time and the result will be a floor that is cleaner than if a regular mop (any kind—sponge or the antediluvian swab-the-deck version ) were used for the chore.

The idea for the Swiffer WetJet, which came on the market in 2001, emanated from studies that found that people who cleaned were looking for something that would eliminate the strain and fatigue of floor cleaning, rated as one of the most tiring tasks. So the Swiffer WetJet was born, reducing a lot of the drudgery and inefficiency associated with floor cleaning. It’s more efficient because there’s no scrubbing on your hands and knees or carrying buckets from room to room. With one less thing –a heavy bucket filled with cleaning solution and water--to drag around the house, cleaning the floor is a bit less tiring.

In 2005 P & G’s Swiffer WetJet underwent some upgrades including reconfiguring the pump and nozzle to reach a wider distance and streamlining the spray pattern. A triple layer core was implemented to the WetJet pads to trap and lock away all the dirt leaving behind virtually no residue. That’s also about the time the color was changed to purple. And now there are several formulas, including the new Wood Care line, complete with WetJet Wood Floor solution that dissolves dirt and is quick drying so there are virtually no streaks or hazing. They are also about to launch a new and improved Swiffer WetJet Antibacterial cleaning solution that kills 99.9% of bacteria.

Here are a couple of suggestions, though. How about using a refillable container to hold and dispense the cleaning product liquid? It seems like a bit of a waste to have to buy a new container when a concentrated refill should do just as well.

The cleaning pads are easily attached to the WetJet by Velcro strips and for the most part work very well. After a period of time, however, sometimes the Velcro strips can start to become separated from the machine and so partially come off when you remove the dirty pad. Crazy Glue works to reattach the Velcro but this might be an area for some improvement. It is true that Swiffer is constantly enhancing its products based on consumer feedback and insight and they are genuinely interested in consumer comments.

Again, these are just a few suggestions. The Swiffer WetJet as a whole is a superb and truly innovative product. It is lightweight, cleans more thoroughly and is easier to use than a mop and a bucket and is now pretty much the benchmark for how to clean a floor.

You never will go back.

A New Dawn

Even though many people have dishwashers (automatic, not human) there are still plenty of households (some 22 million) where the dishes are washed by hand. Even if you have an automatic dishwasher, there will be many times when dishes have to be washed by hand, either because the machine is too full or because some of the items are better off being cleaned by hand.

But what about your hands? Sure, you can wear waterproof gloves but they can make your hands uncomfortable and some people just don’t care for them. Dawn recently came out with Plus Hand Renewal, a posh lotion-soaked dishwashing liquid that will leave your hands feeling better than if you hadn’t washed the dishes. The dishes will get perfectly clean, of course, but it is your hands that will really appreciate the creamy treat the more-lotion-than-dish liquid provides.

So if you wash any of your dishes by hand any time, you might want to try this product. Many dish liquids promise smoother hands while doing dishes, and perhaps they deliver. We know that this one does.

Scents available are: Invigorating Pomegranate and Splash with Vitamin E, Delicate Lavender and Silk with Vitamin E, and Soothing Aloe Vera

The Scent of a Dog (or Cat)

We love our pets. We don’t love the odor -- in spite of timely baths and grooming --that sometimes lingers in a room long after the dog or cat has left the premises.

A few products have started appearing on the market that should help not just layer the air with a more pleasing fragrance, but might actually help dissipate the malodorous scents that don’t leave the area when your pet does. Glade is one company offering pet odor patrol products. Febreze is another.

The Febreze line offers a few ways to eliminate pet odors gracefully. Air Effects Pet Odor Eliminator did so well in the marketplace that the brand has launched companion forms of the Febreze Pet Odor Eliminator. Use one or several for layers of fragrance that will purge offending smell from the premises:

Plug-In Febreze—the oil this works continuously to help keep the air in a room from screaming, “A very lovable but wet-cornflake smelling dog was just here.”

Candle: Light this to diffuse a warm scent that can light the area with a glowing fragrance.

Febreze Air Effects Pet Odor Eliminator: A nice light but hard-working scent to recharge the atmosphere with an aggreeable secent.

Febreze Fabric Refresher spray: The one that started it all. The Pet Odor Eliminator fragrance can help freshen fabrics on sofas, curtains, pillows and your pet’s bed (just remove the pet and any toys and chews before you spray).

All of these work very nicely, indeed.

Cleaning Scents

One of the latest ubiquitous fragrances added to cleaning products—from Mr. Clean floor cleaner and counter spray to Downy (and some store brands ) fabric softener and laundry detergents and air fresheners-- is Febreze—which seems to have become the name of the fragrance itself..

But it is the brand name of a particular range of fragrances.

Once the most popular scent in household products was Lemon. Green Apple had a turn around the fragrance merry-go-round, as did, and Vanilla. Now it is Lavender. Or Lavander with Vanilla.

What is the next scent waiting in the wings?

Some Compounds to Avoid

The International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec), in collaboration with leading environment, women, health, labor and consumer public interest organizations in the EU and beyond has released its REACH "Substitute It Now" (SIN) list under the working name of the "NGO Priority List of Substances of Very High Concern."
This list was created to ensure that within REACH, the authorization step is an effective tool to fast-track the most urgent high concern chemicals for substitution, and to facilitate toxic use reduction by businesses. This list was announced at the Substitution Conference held today in Brussels.
Among those chemicals on the list are some materials that are used or can be used in the production of cosmetics, including:
Lead di(acetate);
Dibutyl phthalate;
Triclosan;
Formaldehyde (anhydrous gas);
Ethylene oxide; and
Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (INCI: Cylcotetrasiloxane)

One industry expert cautioned that the release of this list by NGOs could cause alarm across the board, internationally, for any products containing these materials. Starting in Europe, products could be pulled from shelves and it may only be a matter of time before the state of California and others follow suit, including some of the larger mass-market retailers.

NGOs collaborating to compile this list include: European Environmental Bureau (EEB) WWF European Policy Office Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) Greenpeace European Unit Instituto Sindical de Trabajo Ambiente y Salud (ISTAS) The European Consumers’ Organization (BEUC) Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL)
For more info, see www.chemsec.org/list.

To anti-bacterial or not?

Was it that long ago when cleaning a home meant using soap and water? Just when did it become necessary to use hospital-strength cleaners on your kitchen floor?

When is soap enough? What is the difference between cleaning and disinfecting? When is which necessary?

These seem like pretty simple questions. It turns out the answers, and the roads to them, are not that straightforward.

There has been some discussion about the place for anti-bacterials for some time. One concern is that the overuse of these agents result in bacteria, which, being resilient and endlessly clever, become more and more resistant to the point that virtually no remedy can adequately vanquish them.

Another concern is one agent in particular, Triclosan, which can irritate the skin and be hazardous to the environment. http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:Q97AT-uxe54J:www.panna.org/files/factsheetTriclosan.pdf+Lysol+AND+Triclosan&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us

http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/emci/chemref/3380345.html