Thursday, May 13, 2010

Favorite eco-friendly product for Cleaning Stainless

This week my favorite product is the microfiber cloth I use to clean my refrigerator. About 18 months ago I got new stainless steel appliances after a complete overhaul of the kitchen. They looked fantastic! The in-laws were coming for Thanksgiving and I needed help! My niece came over to help me get ready and her job was to make that new fridge shine. We cleaned and polished and cleaned some more. It looked good. I made a comment about cleaning the fridge to my mother-in-law (who is a dear and precious woman) and she told me "Oh yes, you have to polish stainless to keep it looking good." UGGGHHH!!!! Not what I wanted to hear.

Then I discovered a wonderful something (or should I say I discovered a new use). I have been using microfiber products for a long time. I discovered many, many years ago the microfiber mop and used it faithfully and solely on my entry way satillo tiles. But had never thought of it for stainless. CasaBella makes a wonderful microfiber for use on stainless. I had a new love. I never thought I could love something more than my microfiber mop; the way I could use the first one to dry mop and get up the dust and then use a second, (thoroughly wet, then wring as much of the water as you can get out) without chemicals, just water to make my floors shine. But here it was, something that made me love my new stainless appliances again.

So, here's the deal. Just like with the mop, thoroughly wet, then wring nearly dry and clean your appliances in a circular motion. While the stainless appliance may still need occasionally polishing (so far I haven't found a need to do this) this microfiber is GREAT for regular use to keep your appliances looking great.

No chemicals to use, no spray-on, wipe-ff goop, no paper towels to throw away, no grime and good to wash out of your cleaning cloth. Just toss the microfiber in the wash (no fabric softeners or bleach and do not wash with terry) and air or machine dry.

For keeping your microfiber cloth fresh between washings, check out my previous blog

BioKleen Bac-out Fabric Refresher instead of Febreze.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Congratulations BioKleen

Congratulations to BioKleen for their recent recognition of

biokleen banner photo

Best Cleaning Products: Biokleen by TreeHugger.com

It's tough deciding which is best when it comes to the bevy of terrific cleaning products that are readily available today. So we took our cleaning buckets and poked our heads under our bathroom sinks to assess how the major players in this category stacked up. While Seventh Generation, Method, and Earth Friendly Products take up a lot of real estate under our kitchen counters, Biokleen gets our rubber-gloved thumbs up for the sheer breadth of and gentle-yet-effective products they put out. From soy-cream surface cleaners to drain cleaner to dish powder, they make house chores that greener and easier to tackle.

Read the news release

Improving Indoor Air Quality: 5 Ways to Make Breathing Easier Indoors

Improving Indoor Air Quality: 5 Ways to Make Breathing Easier Indoors

Shopping online

My first preference for shopping is locally-owned businesses. Because we have our own retail store, however, there is not always time to do that. Sometimes I can't find what I need locally or sometimes I get an urge to buy at 2 a.m. (no, not very often and not very impulsively). When I do shop online, I like to know who I am dealing with. I will give new online stores a chance as long as they state clearly who they are.

Maybe it is just my preference and maybe it has something to do with being a small business owner myself, but I care who I buy from. I thought I am surely not the first person to think of this, so I did a little research and came across this guide that addresses that and many more issues about online shopping. Hope it is helpful to you.

Online Shopping