DIY Network

Clean Cleaner Clean Cleaner From "Talking Dirty With the Queen of Clean" episode DQOC-119

Figure A

Kim Krisstoff is a self-admitted fanatic about nontoxic cleaners (figure A). He's also president of Gemtek Products, a company that makes environmentally safe cleaners.

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	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D

Upon assuming the presidency, one of his first orders of business was to discover which ingredients were safe and which weren't. From there, he went on to develop policies to guide the company in the manufacture of safe, environmentally friendly cleaning products. Now considered to be a very different kind of chemical company, Gemtek makes its products from plants, including soybeans, corn, linseed, cottonseed, sunflower and jojoba (figure B).

Most household cleaners can be made from these natural products, including bathroom cleaners, laundry and dish detergents, floor cleaners and even personal-hygiene products like toothpaste. At the stage where Gemtek's products are ready for the consumer market, other companies are still adding ingredients known as "builders" to their products. Ingredients such as foamers to enhance foam, fragrance, colorants and thickeners are all used as advertising facets of the products. These ingredients have nothing to do with cleaning, but they have everything to do with a product's image.

Natural products work because the broad range of plant seeds contain surfactants (figure C), particular substances -- including fats, oils, waxes and alcohols-- that act as natural solvents and detergents. Product chemistries can rely on these basic construction materials to do a good job of cleaning.

The primary benefit of plant-based cleaners is the facts that they are not only environmentally safe but are also safe to the skin. Bearing in mind that the skin is the body's largest organ and that whatever we use to clean with is actually being absorbed by the body, the beauty of natural cleaners is their lack of agents harmful to the body. They are also safe to breathe, since they have no fragrance (figure D). Although smell can be important, we have been trained to believe that something has to smell in order to be clean (when actually a clean smell has no smell at all!). In fact, the pith of oranges, a current favorite fragrance in cleaners, produces both citracine and delimining, both toxic agents that should be avoided. Even mosquitoes avoid these substances.

Plant cleaners are naturally and readily biodegrade into the soil and environment, leaving no remaining residue. They don't react with other chemistries to polymerize or create off-gassing that we could smell, nor do they harm or react with surfaces, including our skin, fabrics, carpeting and textiles.

Not only do natural cleaners do the actual cleaning work, they can even be a better economic value than chemically enhanced cleaners. So remember, less really is more when it comes to cleaning.

Tip: Make a homemade air freshener by mixing 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon white vinegar and 2 cups of water. Pour in a spray bottle and shake well before using.