HEALTH

More and more customers are requesting non-toxic cleaning supplies for their homes. Photo by Gordon Murray.

Homeowners seek natural cleaning products, services
Story by Louise Gacioch, Photos by Gordon Murray

Marayah Arcedera says that cleaning her home with natural products benefits her "emotionally, spiritually and physically.”

"I use these products to help create a better environment; a better future,” comments Arcedera, a Chandler resident, while shopping in the Sprouts market at Alma School and Queen Creek roads.

Her environmentally friendly purchases include laundry and dishwasher detergents plus general household cleaners.

“I know these are better for my health," she asserts. "I don’t like breathing in the harsh chemicals found in regular cleaning products.”

Increasingly, SanTan Essential area stores are stocking cleaning products that are chemical-free, biodegradable and unscented or are imbued with natural fragrances. Their labels usually emphasize that no animals have been used to test the products.

Mountain Green, a natural products company headquartered in the Valley, reports a 30 percent increase in sales in each of the past five years.

“Now we are heading into the much larger grocery stores that really are the primary outlets for cleaning products,” says Steve Berry, Mountain Green principal sales representative. “And, we expect exponential growth in the next three to five years.”

Green and effective

Sprouts carries a wide variety of eco-friendly cleaning products.

Traditionally, green cleaning products are found in stores that specialize in organic and natural goods.

“The quality and effectiveness of these products has caught up with the traditional brand items," says Berry. "And, they do not harm the environment or toxify the users and their homes."

One such natural store, Sprouts, boasts an abundant section for eco-friendly cleaning products. Air fresheners feature natural lavender, citrus and vanilla essential oils. All-purpose cleaners use citrus solvents and pine instead of potentially irritating chemicals.

The labels of the green laundry and dishwasher detergents reveal that they are vegetable-based, low in suds, hypoallergenic and include enzymes and purified water.

Although one of the glass-and-surface cleaners is derived from coconut oil, it "leaves no streaks." A toilet scrub is made of soy. The shelves are filled with ecologically safe goods that clean drains and stains, doors and floors.

“We sell a lot of these products,” says Gary Dahl, manager of the Sprouts where Arcedera shops. “Many customers come in complaining of allergies or wanting to do their part to improve the environment. They return to purchase the same kinds of products again and again, and say they work very, very well.”

He allows that the green cleaners may be slightly more expensive but they are worth it because they make a big difference in people’s lives.

Dahl also shares that customers save money by purchasing basic ingredients and making their own green cleaning supplies. Vinegar, baking soda, salt and essential oils are some of the most common elements in these homemade mixtures.

Green cleaning services

Asthmatic Jo Cook, at home with her lapdog Yogi, couldn’t breathe after cleaning with commercial sprays.
 She now uses only natural products, and hires Earth Maids to clean her house.

Makers of house cleaning services are following the non-toxic products trend to accommodate the earth and sensitive customers.

“Our home has been eco-friendly for the past 10 years. When my husband, Chris, and I decided to hire a cleaning service, we wanted to continue to carry out our beliefs,” says Jo Cook.

The Cooks have four bathrooms in their Chandler home. Before they switched to natural products, the couple disinfected their four bathrooms with a popular commercial spray.

“I have asthma and couldn’t breathe after using it,” she explains. “I’ll never go back to those kinds of products.”

After their three children moved from home, the increasingly busy owners of Blooming Arizona Landscaping turned to Earth Maids, a green-cleaning business based in Chandler.

Cook reports that the service delivers excellent work and that the price is commensurate with traditional cleaning services.

Gentle clean

Angela Thornton, owner of Earth Maids, seen here with her crew at Inner Vision in Chandler, uses
scent-free and natural products in her cleaning business.

“Americans have been accustomed to thinking that we must clean with toxic chemicals. It’s just not true,” asserts Angela Thornton, founder and president of Earth Maids. “In fact, we don’t need them at all and natural products are more efficient in so many cases.”

Most of Earth Maid’s cleaning products are scent-free or have the option of fragrances from natural plants. Peppermint-scented soap mixed with baking soda is a favorite.

“It’s a great cleanser that smells out of this world,” Thornton says. “We take 36,000 breaths a day so it’s important that they be clean breaths.”

Thornton also touts the use of microfiber mops and dust cloths. She says that microfibers make it possible to clean with just plain water.

Thornton, a mother of seven, says she conceived the idea of Earth Maids while traveling to and from a hectic job with a major international corporation. She was already cleaning her own home with natural products so, a little more than a year ago, she started her green cleaning business. Today, 11 employees travel in the company’s four Toyota Prius hybrid cars. Discounts and free recycling go to customers with desert landscaping or who carpool.

Thornton says she is on a mission to teach others that green cleaning is effective and safe.

“Toxins can deteriorate the health of many, but are not always implicated, as they do their damage slowly over time – unlike a bullet whose damage is immediately obvious,” she says.

Naturally bug free

Karl Theodorson of Lady Bug in the East Valley says his company provides “environmentally responsible pest control.”

Sharon McKenzie and Michelle Pousson care for 32 animals in their Chandler home. Living outside are 16 neutered and spayed feral cats, a tortoise and rabbit. Dogs wander inside and out to the fenced yard. Smaller creatures, such as birds and fish, live indoors.

When they were looking for a pest control company, they turned to Lady Bug Pest Control Specialists.

“It is safer, in general, for pets,” McKenzie explains. “They only spray in areas where there are bugs, not in the broad areas such as the grass. Our animals use the grassy areas quite a bit, and we want it to be free of pesticides.”

Karl Theodorson, Lady Bug in the East Valley, tags his company as “environmentally responsible pest control.”

He explains that insects typically take up residence in areas such as gaps between houses and patios. The company uses a less-than-typical amount of chemical and aims a narrow stream into targeted areas. Indoors, they use diatomaceous earth to repel insects.

“Customers say they want our techniques and product choices because they do not want their kids, pets or themselves exposed to unreasonable amounts of highly toxic chemicals," says Theodorson. "These techniques are more effective in controlling pests because we take the extra time to apply the products.”

This fall, the SanTan Essential area will have yet another source of organic and natural produce and products when a new Whole Food market opens it doors on the southeast corner of Ray and the 101. The new Chandler location, the third Whole Foods in Arizona, will be about 60,000 square feet.

Bill Cano, the new store's manager, says that Whole Foods continues to expand as health conscious and environmentally concerned consumers turn to the type of goods on which the natural market has built its reputation. He adds that for Whole Foods, sales of natural cleaning products alone are up 22.6 percent from last year.

Whole Foods Market's do-it-yourself clean green alternatives
Excellent nontoxic ingredients can replace harsh chemical cleaners and many of them are already sitting on your kitchen shelf.

Air Freshener
4 oz. distilled water, 2 oz. rubbing alcohol, 30 drops of essential oils of choice. Combine in a carefully labeled spray bottle.

Carpet Freshener
In a container with a tight-fitting lid, combine one cup crushed of dried herbs such as lavender or rosemary with a teaspoon of ground cloves, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and two teaspoons of baking soda. Shake well, sprinkle the mixture on carpet, let sit for one hour and then vacuum.

Copper Cleaner
With a rag or sponge, coat dirty copper with an even layer of ketchup. Allow ketchup to penetrate the tarnished metal for approximately 20 minutes. Rinse with warm or hot water and buff to a shine.

Disinfectant
Combine 1/4 cup powdered laundry detergent, 1 tablespoon borax, 3/4 cup hot water and 1/4 cup pine oil. Slowly stir the detergent and borax into the water to dissolve. Add the pine oil and mix well. For bathrooms, use the mixture full strength. For kitchens, dilute with water.

Drain Clearing Agent
Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda in and around the drain opening. Pour in a cup of white vinegar and watch it bubble. Repeat if necessary and flush with hot water.

Glass Cleaner
Combine 1/4 cup vinegar and one quart of water. Plain club soda also works.

Grease Stain Remover
Cover stain with a mixture of borax and water. Rub in and wipe off. Rinse well.

Grease removing solution
Lemon juice.

Kitchen disposal freshener
Drop in a few lemon wedges and flip the switch.

Laundry bleach
A 1/4 cup of lemon juice and some sunshine. Use the lemon juice in the washing machine's rinse cycle. After clothes have spun, hang in the sun to dry.

Multipurpose cleaner
Combine 1-teaspoon borax, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon dishwashing liquid, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 2 cups hot water.

Mold remover
Saturate a sponge with vinegar and scrub the moldy area. Rinse well.

Oven cleaner
Make a paste of equal parts salt, baking soda and water. First, wipe away any grease and scratch off burnt spots with a scouring brush or steel wool. Then, apply the paste, let stand five minutes and wipe clean with a damp rug. Scrub if necessary. Do not allow baking soda to touch heating elements or wiring.

Rust remover
Sprinkle salt on the rust and then squeeze a lime over the salt until it is soaked in the juice. Let the mixture sit for up to three hours. The leftover lime rind can be used as a handy scrubber to remove the rust. Another option is to rub the rust with balled-up aluminum foil that has been wet with water. Watch out - aluminum foil scratches chrome.

Silver cleaner
Rub the silver with toothpaste; wipe off tarnish, rinse and dry with a soft cloth.

Tile floor cleaner
Mop floor with solution of one to two teaspoons of liquid dish soap dissolved in three gallons of warm water. Rinse with one cup of white vinegar in three gallons of cool water.

Toilet bowl cleaner
Combine a cup of borax with 1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice to make a paste. Apply paste to the inside of the toilet bowl and let it sit for one to two hours before scrubbing.

Wall and wallpaper cleaner
Dissolve 1/4 cup borax in a gallon of hot water. Stir to blend. Use a sponge or rag.

Window Cleaner
Mix 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water. Add five drops lemon oil or, if you like suds, five drops of an all-natural dishwashing liquid.

Wood floor polish
Mix 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup vegetable oil. Rub on floor and buff with a clean, dry cloth.

Wood furniture polish
Mix olive oil 3-to-1 with vinegar or 2-to-1 with lemon juice.

Louise Gacioch is a writer who lives in Chandler with her husband and a garden of flowers and vegetables.

Chandler resident "Flash" Gordon Murray is a card-carrying super hero who began his photography career at age 8.