The Best Cleaning Products
7/27/2009
by Mae Jones
Chores aren’t fun for most of us, but at least you can feel a little better about yourself knowing you’ve made the decision to clean up your environment, inside and out. If you can’t find any of the brands I tried, look for products that advertise their lack of phosphates, sulfates, petrochemicals, ammonia, chlorine, bleach, fragrance, and dye. Feeling unusually creative, ambitious, and frugal? You can make your own cleaning products out of common ingredients like lemons and vinegar…tons of websites offer recipes. But if you’re going to spend the money at the store, how should you spend it?
THE CHEAPEST: NAME BRANDS. Unless Method or 7G products are on sale, you’ll probably save anywhere from a few cents to a few dollars sticking with greener versions of the big guys, but only Clorox Green Works was actually green, and I wasn’t impressed.
THE GREENEST: SEVENTH GENERATION AND METHOD. Though many of their formulas are pretty paired down, some of Method’s products still contain petroleum-based ingredients. Method just edges out 7G in the corporate responsibility category, but both product lines are far superior to almost all of the greenwashed options on your grocer’s shelf.
THE BEST: METHOD. I personally preferred Method’s performance in all three categories. Seventh generation would have ranked second in every category, leaving the name brands ranking third across the board. Method’s price is barely higher, (if at all with sales and coupons) so if you can find their cute little bottles, be a “person against dirty”. That said, 7G is a perfectly acceptable and effective runner up.
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