I want our home to be clean so that germs do not build up and make us sick. But the thought of awful chemicals being used around my house that could harm my children concerns me. Hence the question, How to Choose Cleaning Products?
I have used vinegar in place of rinse agent in the dishwasher, which seems to work well and costs much less money. I have researched alternative and more environmentally friendly methods to clean the house. When it comes to cleaning supplies, I have purchased some of the milder, organic cleaning supplies and I have made my own cleaning supplies.
And then. . .
I heard a teaser for the news and had to watch this news report: CBS 46 Investigates Green Cleaners.
“The three-day test showed what Crow said was a “big difference” in their effect on bacteria. Bleach prevented the growth of e-coli the best, he said. The more green the products became, and the less chemicals they contained, the less effective they were against bacteria.”
Eeeewww!
In fairness, there is some evidence to suggest that using a combination of a mist of hydrogen peroxide immediately followed by a mist of apple cider or white vinegar and then wiped off will kill E. coli on fruits, vegetables, and cutting board surfaces. Also, steam cleaning machines advertise their ability to disinfect and kill E. coli and other bacteria.
After I saw the sparkling house in this report and the e-coli that was rampant in the house, I decided that chemicals are not so bad afterall. Since I cannot afford the steam cleaning machines right now (unless a company wants to give me one to review on my blog), I’d rather have a bleach based product that actually kills germs than have germs that cause disease and make us sick around our house.
After watching this video, what are your thoughts on household cleaning products? Leave a comment to let me know. Finally, be sure to check out Shannon’s site for other Works for Me Wednesday participants.
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8 responses so far ↓
1 Dianna // Aug 27, 2008 at 5:25 am
I think I’ll take the bleach too…yuck!
2 Lisa // Aug 27, 2008 at 7:04 pm
No bleach in my house! Alcohol kills e. coli and is natural. If you want to kill mold use tea tree oil. Killed toxic mold in my house! We did tests sent a lab and they came back clear after we cleaned with it and bleach does not kill all toxic mold.
Bleach is very very bad for people with asthma or other lung problems. It’s VERY toxic and not safe around kids and pets. I have never found a reason to use bleach.
Bleach is not the only thing that kills E. Coli.
3 jenuinejen // Aug 27, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Hi Dianna!
Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog and comment. I’m with you, I’d prefer bleach.
4 jenuinejen // Aug 27, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Hi Lisa!
Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog and leave a comment.
Thanks for the information you shared about other ways to kill E. coli and toxic mold. I’ll keep your suggestions in mind. I simply want to make sure that I am actually disinfecting and not spreading germs around.
Thanks again!
5 Kristin // Aug 27, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Bleach can still be very effective and not smelly or dangerous. Just use one capful of bleach to a gallon of water. The weak solution (if used with in 30 minutes) will kill all that needs to be killed and not be so powerful that it smells.
Have a great day!
Kristin
Kristins last blog post..WFMW - Painting Tips
6 Job // Aug 28, 2008 at 9:05 am
OK, I have to clarify something for the person who argued that alcohol is better than bleach because it is natural. Bleach is natural, possibly more so than alcohol.
First, common bleach is primarily chlorine. Chlorine is one of the basic elements on the periodic table of elements. You can’t get much more basic or natural than that. Now does that mean it’s safe to bathe yourself in any of the basic elements? Not necessarily. I wouldn’t recommend coating yourself in uranium. But the argument of whether or not something is natural, and how that should affect your decision to use it as a cleaning product is not really a good one.
Second, to make bleach you take a tub of simple salt-water and run electricity through it. (Don’t try this at home.) If you take any power cord from your house, cut it open, expose the positive wire and the negative wire, plug it in, and dip the exposed wires into the salt-water, gas bubbles will begin to rise off of each wire. One of those will be chlorine gas; the other will be sodium hydroxide (a compound of sodium, oxygen, and hydrogen – all basic, natural elements). When you mix the two back together again, you get sodium hypochlorite (a compound of sodium, oxygen, and chlorine – again, all natural). That compound, mixed with about 95% water is what you get when you buy chlorine bleach at the store.
Open up that jug of chlorine, take a big gulp, and you will quickly assume room temperature because you’ll be dead. Drink enough alcohol and the same thing will happen.
Carefully use small amounts of chlorine to clean and disinfect surfaces and laundry in your home, and everyone in your house is a lot less likely to die from a nasty bacterial or viral infection. Billions and billions of people around the world have died and continue to die from bacteria and viruses that can be easily wiped out with small amounts of chlorine. By comparison, hardly anyone dies from small amounts of bleach being used to clean their homes.
So think about your fellow humans and the global impact your actions will have on the spread of contagious diseases, and then do the responsible thing and use all natural bleach to protect the planet.
7 Laura@Storytellin' Mama // Aug 29, 2008 at 9:51 am
It’s a mixed bag… I love the smell and idea of green products and use them frequently!!
Having four kids when one is sick or I know something is going around I tend to fall back on bleach, lysol and more disinfecting chemicals… things spread like wildfire in this house!!
Interesting post!
Laura@Storytellin’ Mamas last blog post..This Mom’s Grassroots Campaign!
8 jenuinejen // Aug 29, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Laura,
Thanks for taking time to visit my blog and comment ont his post.
You are right the smell of green products is awesome.
I really would love to have a steamer that the one called Sargent Steamer. As I researched this post, learned about this product for the first time. Since it uses dry steam to clean, there are not chemicals. From the video tutorials on their website, cleaning a bathroom would be a breeze! Unfortunately, it is way out of my price range at this point.
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