Here at Tree Hugging Family, I mainly advocate making your own homemade green cleaners. Not only is it easy to make simple green cleaners, but very cost effective. That said, there will always be folks who want to buy, not make cleaners, so I figured we should take a look at which store bought cleaners are actually green.
The number one rule for choosing a green store bought cleaner is – read your labels. A pretty waterfall or little green leaf means nothing. Ignore fancy ‘green’ packaging and read your labels.
Terms you want to see on a cleaning bottle include:

Ammonia …read more

Product tried: Biokleen Automatic Dish Powder
Test washes completed: At least eight or ten; we’ve been using it a few weeks.
Cost: About $9-10.00 at my local grocery store, for 32 oz., which is 64 loads, but I’m betting it comes out to more loads then that. Also, I found it at Drugstore.com for a great deal, just $6.59. That’s an outstanding price considering the amount you get.
Website: Again, remember that before I mentioned how Biokleen has a lame website. I still dislike their website. Here’s what I said before (and it still stands).
I’m very disappointed in the Biokleen website.
First off, their …read more

In conjunction with our popular green sins poll in the sidebar, we’ve been discussing your green sins this month, and this particular green sin actually causes a green mess! However, only 4% of voters say they still use detergent with phosphate. Round of applause.
Makers of laundry detergent in the United States, Japan, Canada and some European countries no longer include phosphate as an ingredient. I know many people with clean clothes, so phosphate-free laundry detergent must be working.
Including phosphates in dishwasher detergent is still popular in the US and other countries. That doesn’t make sense to me. The practice was …read more

Product: Biokleen All Temperature Laundry Liquid from Biokleen
Cost: Around $9 for 64 oz which equals 64 plus regular loads or 128 HE (high efficiency) loads.
Basics according to the Biokleen:

“Our Laundry liquid removes the toughest dirt, grease, stains and odors, yet is gentle enough for cloth diapers, delicate fabrics and hand washables. Rinses clean without leaving residue on clothes that can irritate skin or ruin fabrics.
Naturally controls stains and odors.
Makes a great pre-treat for stains.
All of the Biokleen liquid and powder laundry products perform well in many different water conditions, including hard water.”

Website:
I’m very disappointed in the Biokleen …read more