natural cleaning products - Stuff Parents Need

Under the Rainbow Giveaway Hop Featuring Unique Natural Products Gift Basket!

March 1, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 197 Comments

Welcome to the Under the Rainbow Giveaway Hop, hosted by the Blogging Mamas Network!

From March 1st-17th, you’ll have the chance to win plenty of prizes from over 50 bloggers to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!

So after you enter my giveaway, make like a little, green Leprechaun and hop around to all the other blogs participating in the Event!

What will YOU find Under the Rainbow?!

Here’s my contribution to the hop! I have up for grabs a FANTASTIC gift basket from Unique Natural Products! We are really committed to using natural cleaning products in our home, and I always enjoy giving new (or at least new to me) companies a try. I have been really impressed with the high quality of green cleaning products that have come on the market lately…a notable improvement from even 3 years ago, I would say!

So today I want to showcase Unique Natural Products. Basically, what you are buying in these containers is a bunch of bacteria! These bacteria LOVE to eat dirt and stains. They are sort of amazing, actually! I have been using the wine stain remover (which also works on other food stains like ketchup!) on Darah’s clothes and have been getting terrific results.

We’ve also been using the pet odor eliminator. It is never exciting to have to reach for it (because it means that Hattie threw up…AGAIN…and usually on the carpet). But it is very effective, and I am totally at ease using it, even with a crawling, drooling, biting, licking, putting-everything-possible-in-her-mouth baby crawling around. I know I’m not actually even using chemicals! Everything is safe for humans and pets.

But perhaps my very favorite item of all is the Super Digest It. Drain openers are one of the most toxic items in most people’s homes. They are also HORRIBLE for the environment. I very strongly dislike them, but have found myself buying them in the past when I didn’t know that I had any other choice. Super Digest It bacteria eat the organic matter that is clogging up your pipes. No chemicals needed! Just nature doing its thing! Isn’t that awesome????!!! We are using it on our pipes once a month, now, just as a preventative measure to ensure that anything that is building up gets taken care of before it becomes a problem. And since I shed hair like a cat, this is especially helpful in our bathroom drain!

You can order products from Unique Natural products online or find your nearest retailer here! I very highly recommend them and have made a note of where I can go pick up more in Chattanooga once my supply dwindles!
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a gift basket from Unique Natural Products containing the following items:

Pet Odor Eliminator Ready to Use (24 oz)
Super Digest It (1 qt)
Carpet Shampoo (1 qt)
Unique Complete (1 qt)
Wine Stain (4 oz)

ARV for the items is $58.20!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page. Disclosure :According to Jenny, So Easy Being Green, the Blogging Mamas Network, and the Under the Rainbow participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill prize obligations. I received complimentary products for review purposes from Unique Natural Products. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. Linky:

My Bathroom Cleaner is EPA Approved!

February 16, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

This post brought to you by CLR. All opinions are 100% mine.

I absolutely DO NOT LIKE cleaning our bathroom. Typically, this is how it gets cleaned: I will go in and pick clothes/toys/whatever the children drag in there off the floor. I will also clear off the bathroom counter, as I fully admit that 90% of the mess there is mine.

And then I have Tim go in to do the cleaning. This division of labor started when I was first pregnant with Darah 4 years ago. The reason we started it was because the cleaning products we used were unsafe for pregnant women to inhale.

Which of course, got me thinking: if they were unsafe for pregnant women, weren’t they really unsafe for everyone???

That’s when we made the switch over to more eco-friendly cleaning products. I have been using CLR Bath & Kitchen Cleaner for a few years now, and have been extremely impressed with it. I gave it a try because I read that it had been given the “Design for the Environment” designation by the Environmental Protection Agency. It is most definitely safe for everyone in the house, including small children and pets.

When I use CLR in the kitchen, I have found it to work just as fast as my old products, only minus the strong smells. While I typically spray my cleaners on the counters and let them sit for a few minutes before wiping, I have found that to not be necessary with CLR. I really appreciate how quickly and effectively it takes care of the dirt and crud on our counters. Tim likes using it in the bathroom because it knocks out the soap scum in the tub. While I don’t have experience with lim deposits and hard water stains, CLR is also said to make short work of those, as well.

Once we eliminated the nasty chemicals from our home and replaced them with products like CLR, I lost my excused for not doing the tougher parts of cleaning the bathrooms. Thankfully, Tim has been a sweetheart and never mentioned that fact, and so our little arrangement continues! 🙂

We have been really happy customers of CLR and I definitely recommend you give it a try. Also be sure to follow them on Twitter (@clrcleaners) as they tweet some good cleaning tips and the occasional giveaway!

Eco-Friendly Alternative to Comet: Emily by Eco-Me

April 25, 2012 · by Tiffany Merritt · 85 Comments

Are you still using toxic cleaning products in your home? The two main reasons I have heard people cite when explaining why they aren’t going green with their cleaning products are cost and effectiveness.

If either one of those (or both!) is true for you, then you’ve officially run out of excuses, because there’s a very affordable line of products out called Eco-Me and they can go toe-to-toe with your extra strength chemicals!

As we were preparing to move out of our old house, we needed to give our tub a serious scrub. Tim tries to clean it once a week, but he doesn’t typically do a thorough scrubbing. We tested out a product called Emily
(all the products have people names, which is cute). Emily is a gentle abrasive that can safely be used in the bathroom and in the kitchen (even on pots and pans!). We put this product to the test on our tub, and we were really embarrassed to see just how much gunk came off our tub when cleaning with it. We were also really impressed! Check it out, and try not to judge!

Eco-Me has an excellent range of products for all your cleaning needs, and can be found at Alice.com, or on Amazon! You can also search for a local store or see a complete list of online retailers here. Emily can be purchased for a very reasonable $5.39 for 16 ounces! A little goes a long way, too!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win the Eco Me product Emily, just like I reviewed! You will love it!

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Best Eco-friendly Stain Remover and Hand Soap: Ecover!

October 18, 2011 · by Tiffany Merritt · 73 Comments

Ecover is an eco-friendly household product company. You’ve likely heard of them, as they have been around for 30 years, working hard to perfect the power of their products without compromising their gentle footprint on nature.

My family has been working hard to switch out all our household products for green alternatives. One area where I haven’t known how to go green, though, was with stain removers for clothing. I thought my only options were to use harsh chemicals. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to try Ecover’s eco-friendly stain remover! I’ve found it to be effective on lifting stains (including berry stains, which Darah gets frequently). It’s also made from plant-based products, so it has very minimal impact on aquatic life, which is much more than I can say for the stain removers I typically turn to. I will definitely be purchasing this product again.

Another area that I haven’t really given much thought to is hand soap. I know some soaps are more harsh than others, but I thought that on the whole, soap was soap, and it wasn’t very full of chemicals. Ecover’s eco-friendly hand soap is suitable for sensitive skin and contains only natural fragrances (the fragrance piece is where many of those yucky chemicals sneak into soaps). I love that it contains aloe vera to help sooth skin and lavender essential oils for a nice, light scent.

One of my very favorite things about Ecover is how easy it is to find locally! They have a list of places where you can purchase it, and it is very likely that you will have one of these stores near you. If not, no worries! Ecover has a great online store through Alice.com. Check it out; I think you’ll be REALLY impressed with their price points! The stain remover is $4.13 and the hand soap is just $4.54. At these prices, you might as well try out several things at once! I know I am planning on purchasing their dish washing detergent in the near future.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win the stain remover and the hand soap to try for yourself! Woo hoo!

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Cleaning Stuff Overhaul: I’m Going Green!

March 25, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 321 Comments

We’ve been dabbling in more environmentally friendly cleaning stuff over the last year or so, but thanks to Seventh Generation, we have now pretty much completely made the switch, and we aren’t looking back! We’ve been using several products from the Healthy Home Kit in our

home and have seen results that are every bit as good as the more toxic stuff we formerly used! The Healthy Home kit includes the following:

Kitchen Cleaner
All-Purpose Cleaner
Glass & Surface Cleaner
Shower Cleaner
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Tub & Tile Cleaner
Brown Paper Towels

I’ve tried everything, and here are my thoughts. The Shower Cleaner and the Tub & Tile Cleaner both smelled terrific! These were the products that stood out the very most to me. Our former bathroom cleaners gave us headaches because the fumes were so bad, but we thought we needed something that strong to get rid of all the grime in there. I’m glad to report that we were wrong, and I only wish that we had realized it sooner! The Toilet Bowl Cleaner also gets the job done just as effectively as our old stuff. The All-Purpose Cleaner has been used throughout our house as a “go-to” product for everything from carpet stains to wiping down fixtures. The Glass & Surface Cleaner is every bit as effective as Windex, in my opinion, and is much better for the environment. It’s a winner!The Kitchen Cleaner smells absolutely awesome (it is scented with wild orange and cedar spice). I found that if I spray down the counters and the stove top with this product and just let it sit for a minute or two, all the icky comes right off. Basically, every single cleaning product I tried from Seventh Generation did exactly what it was supposed to do, minus the nasty chemicals. Hooray! We are moving away from paper towels in our home, but there are times when we have messes that just need to be picked up and thrown away (cat hairballs, anyone?!). I’ve really enjoyed having the Seventh Generation Brown Paper Towels around to clean up these messes. They are made from unbleached, 100% recycled paper!

It is wonderful to be able to clean pretty much anything in the house with Darah in tow. I don’t have any worries about any of these products touching her skin or of her inhaling the fumes, because there are no fumes! We’ve actually been putting her in her baby carrier now while we clean up. This makes life easier and more fun for all of us!

In addition to the great cleaning stuff I’ve mentioned, Seventh Generation also offers a lot of other great items for your family and home including trash bags, laundry detergent, and diapers, just to name a few!

Right now Seventh Generation is working to make a positive change in our nation, by hosting the Million Baby Crawl. From their site, “Babies everywhere are crawling to Washington and saying “no” to toxic chemicals found in household products. Join the crawl and help Seventh Generation, maker of naturally safe and effective household products, demand change! Join the crawl. Learn more here about what action Congress could take to help keep toxins out of our homes and away from our babies. I love supporting organizations that are working for the greater good, so I was really glad to read about this campaign. Way to make an impact, Seventh Generation!

Buy It!: There are so many reasons to give Seventh Generation a try. If the frugalista in you needs some convincing, check out the coupons they offer on their site! Take the plunge, I know you will be satisfied and you’ll make the earth smile in the process!

EDIT: Giveaway closed

Win It!: Seventh Generation wants to help you and your home go green by offering a Healthy Home Kit to one very lucky Stuff Parents Need reader (a $38.99 value)! The contest will run until Sunday, April 4th at 7:59pm CST. A winner will be randomly selected and emailed, and will have 48 hours to claim the prize. Open to residents of the United States.

How to Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Of all the great products that Seventh Generation offers, which one do you want the very most, and why?

Additional Entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog via RSS or email (one extra entry total, even if you subscribe both ways)
2. Follow me through Google connect
3. Put my button on your blog and leave a url where I can find it
4. Subscribe to Seventh Generation’s blog
5. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter (leave your TwitterID)
6. Follow Seventh Generation on Twitter (leave your Twitter ID)
7. Become a Fan of Seventh Generation on Facebook
8. Tell me something you learned while checking out the ideas behind the Million Baby Crawl
9. Join the Seventh Generation Nation and include a link to your profile in your bonus entry
10. Enter any other currently open giveaway on my site (one extra entry per giveaway that you enter)

Disclosure: I requested and received product samples in order to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own!

Choose Non Toxic Cleaning Products: Ecostore USA

February 4, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 264 Comments

Over the weekend Darah made an interesting discovery. She figured out that she had full control over this funny thing inside her mouth called a tongue! She loves to practice sticking her tongue out and making noises while her tongue is out. It is absolutely precious. You can imagine, though, that the drool factor just went up a notch in our home!

Another change that this has brought on is her interest in licking anything with which she comes in contact! This has really given me pause to think about what I am using to clean around the house. I’ve been wanting to “go green” with my cleaning supplies, but now I truly feel as though a fire has been lit under my behind. Darah will not hesitate to put her mouth on the floor, the carpet, the table…anything! I really need to make sure that she is not at risk for ingesting anything toxic, and one way I will do that is to choose non-toxic cleaning products.

This brings me to my next review for the Planet Earth is My Valentine series! One suggestion I have for showing love to the little ones in your home, and even showing love to your home itself, is to kick those chemical-laden cleaning products to the curb! A company that can help you do that is ecostore USA. The idea behind this company is simple: create products with NO NASTY CHEMICALS!

The super friendly folks at ecostore USA sent me two household products to try: the auto dish powder and the toilet cleaner. I was really impressed with the ingredients of the dish powder. They are as follows:

Ingredients

Palm and coconut based non-ionic surfactants
Silicates and carbonates including sodium meta silicate (simple mineral salts)
Citrates and natural citrus oil
Cellulose (plant based)
Fatty acid derivatives

That’s it! And you know what? My dishes have been coming out just as clean as when I use more commercial (and more toxic) products that you find in grocery stores. This product sells for $12.00, which may seem like a lot, but listen to what ecostore USA has to say about their prices: “Ecostore USA knows that it can be expensive to buy natural or organic products, but we’ve found a way around this by safely super-concentrating each formulation. This means that a little really does go a long, long way. The result is saving money by significantly cutting down on cost per use.” Since very little is used per load of dishes, this container will last our home a good long while! I also like the fact that purchasing concentrated products cuts down on your waste in terms of the number of containers that you purchase, too!

I was excited to try the toilet cleaner because I have yet to find an environmentally-friendly product designed for cleaning toilet bowls. I feel a twinge of guilt each time I use my current product because I know that what I’m putting into the water system just to get my toilet bowl shining is bad stuff. From their website, “Because Ecostore USA’s Toilet Cleaner uses NO NASTY CHEMICALS, your toilet will not only be fresh and clean but safe for Earth’s waterways as well. Conventional products have released toxins, dyes and synthetic perfumes into toilets for years causing water degradation. Created with your environment in mind, this product is extraordinary.” I completely agree! Once again, I have found this product to clean just as quickly and effectively as the stuff I was using before, and now I have zero guilt! The product retails for $8.00.

In addition to these and other great eco-friendly household products, ecostore USA also carries a terrific line of soaps, baby care items, and even a line of products for your pets, all with NO NASTY CHEMICALS!

Buy It! If you have been thinking about going green with your cleaning products or your personal care products, ecostore USA is a great product line to try. Give them a try today!

EDIT: This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to #123!

Win It! Ecostore USA wants Stuff Parents Need readers to have the chance to win! Woo hoo! They are giving away one $25 credit to their site so that you can green your home! The contest will run until February 14th at 7:59pm CST. A winner will be randomly selected and emailed, and will have 48 hours to claim their prize. Open to residents of the United States. Make sure that your email address is either in your profile or in your comment.

How to Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Visit ecostore USA and tell me about the product in their line that you need the very most in your home.

Additional entries:

1. Subscribe to my blog via email or reader (2 entries, so leave 2 comments)

2. Follow me on Google friend connect (2 entries, so leave 2 comments)

3. Listen to the ecostore podcast and tell me something you learned!

4. Enter any other current giveaway on my site and come back here to tell me you did

5. Fan ecostore USA on Facebook

6. Follow ecostore USA on Twitter

7. Tweet about this giveaway

8. Add my button to your blog and leave me a url where I can find it (2 entries, so leave 2 comments)

Disclosure: I received product samples for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.