When you go to the store to get cleaning products for your home, you might not think about the fact that years ago people made their own cleaning products at home.
They made cleaners with simple things like lemon juice, baking soda, vinegar and borax.
Before the invention of all these cleaning products we see today, a homemaker had to have an understanding of the chemistry of the products she was working with.
You didn’t have to know everything, but a basic understanding.
Because of the convenience of cleaning products today, the knowledge of what cleaning products to use for certain tasks, has faded. That knowledge is still attainable and important to know.
Cleaning products 101 can help you learn a few facts so you can start confidently choosing the cleaners, detergents, and polishes you need to clean your home more effectively and efficiently.
Read the Labels
Before choosing a cleaning product, you should read the label. Labels contain a great deal of information on them.
Labels usually contain the following information:
- The type of product
- Directions for use
- Ingredients
- Safety information
- Storage information
- Disposal information
Type of Product
Cleaning products have 2 categories: all-purpose cleaners (made for multiple surfaces), and specialty cleaners (made for specific materials like glass, tile, wood, carpets, and metals).
No matter what kind of cleaners you are using, it’s best to read the whole label. Including that tiny print that it sometimes so hard to read and easy to miss.
A good example would be a cleaner for stainless-steel. This cleaner might be made for use on pots and pans but not for your appliances. Reading the label to find that information could save yourself a few headaches.
Directions for Use
This information is just as it seems. It tells you how much product to use, how to use it, how long it should be left on a surface, and if you need any specific sort of cleaning towel.
It can also tell you if a product needs any sort of dilution before use.
Ingredients
The ingredients list on cleaning products is a little different than your food labels. They’re not in any specific order.
Manufacturers are also not required to disclose all ingredients unless they are labeled as disinfectants (meaning they kill microorganisms) or are known to be hazardous.
Also good to known is that products that do contain disinfectants will have an Environmental Protection Agency registration number on it, meaning they meet the agencies guidelines.
Safety Information
Cleaning products that contain chemicals that are known to be hazardous have a warning that includes a list of risks, first aid information, and guidelines for safe usage.
When working with products that are labeled toxic, flammable, corrosive, and/or reactive, use extra precaution. Wear gloves, work in a well ventilated area, and sometimes even wear eye protection.
These words tell you if a cleaning product is labeled hazardous:
- Warning
- Caution
- Poison
- Danger
Storage Information
To maintain their effectiveness and sometimes just for safety, some products require certain storage enviroments.
For example, powder cleaners and detergents needs to be stored somewhere dry so they don’t clump up.
Aerosols are highly flammable. So you wouldn’t want to store those near any heat source.
Always check the storage information before putting away your cleaning products.
Disposal Information
Some cleaning products that contain hazardous ingredients, require special disposal. This will be noted on the label.
Hazardous products should never be washed down your drain.
Your local sanitation department should have the information you need about disposal locations and/or hazardous-waste pickup times.
Most products are also put in recyclable containers. So if possible, always recycle what you can.
Ingredients 101
We have come to expect a lot out of our cleaners over the years. We expect it to be easy with less scrubbing and no chemical smell. In order for the products to meet these expectations, they have come to contain many different ingredients.
The ingredients fall into one of these categories:
- Abrasives– small particles in powder or liquid, that work as an extra “scrubber”
- Bleaches– used as a whitener for brightening and removing stains in laundry, tile and tub cleaner, it’s also a disinfectant that kills bacteria’s, fungi, and viruses.
- Solvents– substances (usually a liquid) that dissolves another substance.
- Surfactants– a chemical in detergents and other products, to help emulsify or dissolve dirt
- Fragrances– additives to cleaners to mask the odors of other chemical ingredients during use
- Builders– chemicals that soften water by binding together minerals so they don’t mess with the action of the surfactants
- Enzymes– proteins added to detergents that break down stains
Your home does not need to smell of chemicals to be clean. Other than the lovely smells of food cooking or flowers, nothing says clean like the absence of odor.
Cleaning Products 101
Even though there are cleaning products for everything you can imagine, you can still make your house sparkling clean with a few simple supplies.
Beware, there might be extra scrubbing involved in. With a little extra effort though, you can replace many toxic cleaners with homemade ones.
Supplies like dishwashing soap, baking soda, and white vinegar can go a long way to clean many different places in your home.
Always try the least toxic options first, and move onto something stronger if needed.
Don’t over buy product. Cleaning products can loose their effectiveness if left sitting for too long.
Don’t mix cleaning products. This is where understanding what kind of product your working with comes in play. Combining certain products can result in chemical reactions that can be a disaster.
And always keep your cleaning products out of reach of children and pets.
And there you have it! A little information on cleaning products to hopefully help you decide what products will work for you and your home!
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