What are the best non-toxic cleaning supplies for the home?

[asherdash]

be sure to post when the spa jets and rain shower head is done, so we can all visit

 

[teeveecat]

From the responses so far, I gather that no one has found a completely safe for pets commercial floor and wood furniture cleaner. I need to clean some bookcases I brought from storage and they're pretty grimy, and who knows what else dropped on them if you know what I mean. My cat hasn't really gone near them or inspected them as of yet. Wood polish or Kleen and Shine would be ok except that you're not supposed to rinse off wood with water. I did that a few days ago, and the wood is still a little damp.

Here's a little tip I've found. If you just search Google for a cleaning product in question and add "data sheet", you'll find the documents for each product that are required by OSHA laws.
For example. Proctor and Gamble's Swiffer results in this link:

http://www.pg.com/productsafety/search_results.php?searchtext=Swiffer&category=msds&submit=Search

P&G has a nice little page that allows you to cue up all the products and download the data sheets as a zip file for later extraction. Unfortunately, the data sheets only list the hazardous ingredients as defined by OSHA and not all the ingredients. P&G allows you to select whether you want to download the ingredients or the data sheets at the top of the page, or just click on the ingredients link for each product. The anti-bacterial floor cleaner has a few hazardous chemicals while the wood cleaner just lists ethanol. The Wetjet all purpose cleaner appears to have no hazardous chemicals as defined by OSHA.

The ASPCA has this FAQ:

http://www.aspca.org/about-us/faq/swiffer-wet-jet

Swiffer Wet Jet products do not contain cleaning agents in large enough quantities to be a serious hazard for pets. Several years ago, an urban legend spread that it contained toxic antifreeze and killed a dog. This rumor is completely unfounded—our toxicology experts evaluated the product and determined it doesn't contain ethylene glycol from antifreeze, and is appropriate to use in homes with pets.

Like any product, however, it's important to read and follow label instructions to avoid unnecessary exposure. For Swiffer Wet Jet and other cleaning products, mild skin irritation or stomach upset may occur if pets walk through a still-wet floor or lick any spilled solution.

Consumer Reports had this article as far back as 2006:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...no-matter-the-persistent-urban-myth/index.htm

Just paraphrasing:

[COLOR=0000FFAccording to the products' material safety data sheet (look under Household Cleaners), the cleaning solutions are mostly composed of water mixed with a small percentage of propylene glycol n-propyl ether or propylene glycol n-butyl ether and ethanol. Although propylene glycol is sometimes used in antifreeze, it is generally recognized as safe, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The misleading e-mails probably confuse propylene glycol with another chemical, ethylene glycol, a sweet, colorless, and toxic alcohol that is an ingredient in many automotive antifreezes....The Swiffer pads still pose a choking hazard and can block a pet's gastrointestinal tract if ingested[/COLOR]

Here's a site that rates cleaning products in terms of environmental concern. This is their review of Swiffer (many D's and F's)

http://www.ewg.org/guides/search?utf8=✓&q=swiffer&x=0&y=0&page=1&per_page=15

They also give the Method cleaner line bad grades and aren't crazy about Simple Green. What concerns me is that they still have 2-BUTOXYETHANOL listed as an ingredient in Simple Green when it was removed in 2013, so I'm not sure how old their reviews are.

I'm wondering if I can still use the old Simple Green Orange solution I have with 2-BUTOXYETHANOL (diluted, of course) if I rinse the floors right after cleaning with a mop and plain water. I never let the cat in until the floors are dry anyway.

There should really be a sticky on all cat forums regarding what products are safe for cleaning. I'm even thinking of buying separate cleaning tools (mops, sponges) for products that may be questionable and others for the known to be safe ones.

 

[Willowy]

I just use vinegar and dish soap :dk:. The dish soap I use is Watkins citrus scented. . .it's scented enough to cover the vinegar smell if I put a decent squirt into the bottle of vinegar/water mixture. I guess it does have essential oils so can't be considered perfectly safe for cats but I figure at that concentration it can't be too bad. I do also use pineapple-scented Dawn for really greasy situations but if you're trying to avoid chemicals I don't think that's the way to go :/.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

be sure to post when the spa jets and rain shower head is done, so we can all visit

)  it'll be years before i have that bathroom remodeled. i've got a garage to have built, the kitchen remodeled, the back enclosed porch made into a laundry and storage room, and the new upstairs bathroom put in before i get to remodeling the existing bathroom. but i'll post pics when i get the shower enclosure with the spa jets and rainshower head put in.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
That's interesting about the barkeeper's friend. I purchased some of this to use on tough calcium stains on porcelain, but would never have thought to use it on acrylic surround? I could see how it would work but thought it might be too caustic a product to use. Hmmm.

I agree re. the scrubbing bubbles. Really horrid stuff. My husband used this a couple of times, and then I purchased and handed him a shower sponge with the suggestion to just give the stall a wipe down after each use. I find the baking soda does a great job, and deodorizes at the same time.

Re. the claw foot tub, that sounds nice. I grew up with these deep tubs in my youth. Love them. We have an ensuite bathroom upstairs but no tub/shower as yet. I want to put in a soaker tub (acrylic or similar lightweight model).

i haven't had any problems with the barkeeper's friend causing any damage to my tub, but i just gently rub it on the soap scum until it'll wipe off with a sponge and then rinse the tub with water.

my house was built in the 1880's. my idea with the acrylic claw foot tub is to give the new bathroom the look and feel of a tub that would fit in with a house of that age, but (like you mentioned) without the weight of a cast iron tub.

 

[teeveecat]

I used to use pine-sol, but stopped this as the ingredients in this product can make cats very sick.

I'm revisiting this topic as I'm still looking for a safe cleaner! I was checking the data sheet for Pine Sol and their FAQ's state:

https://www.pinesol.com/faq/

Q: Is it safe to use Pine-Sol[emoji]174[/emoji] cleaners around pets?
A: Yes, all Pine-Sol[emoji]174[/emoji] products are recommended for use in pet areas. Please note that we do not recommend using Pine-Sol[emoji]174[/emoji] products as a pet shampoo.

Is this fact or fiction?

Here's their material data safety sheet:
http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/downloads/msds/pinesol/originalpine-solmulti-surfacecleaner.pdf

They don't list all the ingredients but state that:

Alkyl alcohol ethoxylates 3 - 7% Not established. CAS # 66455-15-0
Glycolic acid 1 - 5% Not established. CAS # 79-14-1
None of the materials in this product are on the IARC, OSHA, or NTP
carcinogen lists.

Are their statements to be believed? The Simple Green data sheets list much more information than the one page data sheet from Clorox for Pine Sol.

http://simplegreen.com/data-sheets/

I'm not sure why they aren't required to list all of the ingredients. Has anyone found a good and safe cleaning solution in the last few months other than the usual home concoctions?

 

[nebula]

I still use my homemade cheap stuff it works amazing. in a typical cleaning bottle you use 1/4 cup vinegar (make sure to get the cleaning vinegar from the cleaning section) then use 1 Cup of lemon juice and fill the rest of the bottle with water.

this is a very cheap very good non-toxic cleaning solution. Vinegar is a disinfectant as well as a deodorizer and lemon juice cuts grease as well as cuts down on the strong vinegar smell.

I don't do this but you could put some cooking extract in there if you want to to make it smell better.

you mentioned mixing baking soda and vinegar you are just going to have water they cancel each other out. Baking soda is an alkali and vinegar is an aci, the baking soda neutralizes the acid rendering the mixture useless.