The cleaning product dilemma??

[shoezoo]

The last couple of years I've been trying to switch many of my cleaning products to things that use less chemicals and are easier on the environment. I've found several I like from the melaluca company. I know this has been discussed in other threads where people mentioned the products that are working for them.
Last week I posted about a product I saw at an open house -the company is norwex. Their microfiber cloths are used only with water and are supposed to kill 99.9% of bacteria and clean everything. So, my new question is are we better off not using cleaning products-using water mostly and sometimes soap and water? We are switching our counters to granite so I won't be using my old fav-409-and wondering how many other products we really could live without.

[Lrimerman]

Sounds fishy to me. If a microfiber cloth with water kills germs than there is some chemical in the cloth, that is probably not too healthy. I use microfiber cloths and water (or a vinegar water combo) for many things, but the cloth has no special germ killing properties, it just cleans well and reduces the need for papertowels.

Personally, I find making my own from household things to be the best bet.

Lisa

[DmOrtega]

I love the microfiber cloths. I found mine at a fair last year and was really impressed with how well they cleaned. The cloths work really well for dusting and the cloths mops for picking up dust and a simple floor cleaning. Just don't put them in the dryer if you use dryer sheets. The chemicals on the sheets will remove the static power of the cloths and they won't work. So, air dry those cloths.

We had a housekeeper for years and she had severe allergic reactions to chemicals so, we haven't used most of the products. She liked SpicNSpan and Bon Ami because they didn't bother her. Now, I use SpicNSpan and water mostly for cleaning the bathroom where it really needs it and for cleaning the kitchen floors otherwise it's just soap and water. The kitchen sink and sponge gets a bleach spray weekly. I don't even bother with Bon Ami because we just don't need it when we clean weekly.

[KAnn]

Have you seen Mrs. Meyers cleaning products in your area? Customers raved about them and they were so popular (I work for WF) and the scents enticed me enough that I finally tried them a year ago....absolutely fabulous stuff!

http://www.mrsmeyers.com/