Jul 10, 2009 11:50 pm US/Eastern
Going Green: Eco-Friendly Household Cleaners
ShopSmart Magazine Endorses 'Traditional' Cleaning Products For Big Jobs, Green Options For Day-To-Day Maintenance
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
As more companies are committing to the production of environmentally conscious goods, many cleaning products are being marketed as "Green."
These household cleaners typically do not include harsh chemicals like ammonia or bleach, and are becoming all the rage on grocery store and pharmacy shelves.
Lisa Lee Freeman, of ShopSmart Magazine, believes consumers are often unsure about which products they should purchase.
"It's confusing out there," she said.
ShopSmart rigorously tested both traditional and green cleaning products. Bathroom cleaners were judged according to how well they cleaned tile been sprayed with soap scum every day for two weeks.
Comet With Bleach was declared the winner.
"Good old Comet is our top soap scum scrubber," Freeman said.
But she added Greenworks Natural, the environmentally friendly alternative to Comet, is a good option for lighter cleaning jobs.
"It's good for your day-to-day cleaning, and for preventing soap scum from building up," Freeman said.
In the dishwashing test, Dawn Direct was declared the most effective product.
"If it's Thanksgiving dinner, and I have a lot of big, greasy dishes to clean, I would use Dawn," Freeman said.
E-Cover Ecological soap was labeled as the best Green alternative.
"For everyday cleaning, E-Cover is an option," Freeman said.
At the conclusion of all tests, ammonia was the top-rated overall cleaner. But Castille, a mild soap, proved to be an environmentally-sound option.
"It's not going to have the same cleaning strength as ammonia. But if you don't have a grungy job, Castille soap is the Green option," Freeman said.
Windex No Drip was tagged with the label of best window cleaner, and Freeman reported that the green alternatives were not much competition.
"The green window cleaner didn't do so well," Freeman said. "We can't recommend them."
All in all, ShopSmart endorsed the original products for the big jobs, but claimed that it may be better to go Green in everyday cleaning.
"For day-to-day, regular cleaning, go with the Greener stuff," Freeman said. "It's better to your family and better for the environment."
The magazine also cautioned that consumers looking for Green products should focus on the ingredient list rather than the labeling.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
2009 Celebrity Deaths
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments