Eco-friendly cleaning does not mean any more that we have to put up with poor results in order to protect the health of our families. Under the pressure from better educated and well informed consumers, chemical companies are coming up with a range of cleaning products that are safe for our health and good for the environment, and still do a great job?

Our homes are veritable wells of toxic chemicals: oven cleaners, carpet cleaners, sofa deodorizers, bug repellents, hand disinfectants, room fresheners, and so many others. All of them leave at least a trace residue, in the air, or on our skin. Our kids and pets are the most exposed to those chemicals, since they are closer to the floor, and, being much smaller, are less able to fight their effects. In 2000, household cleaning products were responsible for 206,636 calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers, 120,434 of them involved children under six.

Many of the chemicals we use on every day basis are toxic. The most dangerous are drain cleaners, oven cleaners, and toilet bowl cleaners. Corrosive chemicals in those cleaners can cause severe burns on eyes, skin and, if swallowed, on the throat and esophagus. All products containing chlorine bleach and ammonia are also highly dangerous because they produce fumes that are highly irritating to eyes, nose, throat and lungs. They can be deadly for people with asthma, lung or heart problems. Some oven cleaners contain chlorine and ammonia or ammonia and lye, which, in contact with acid from other cleaners, can forms toxic chlorine gas.

Natural cleaning is, fortunately, gaining popularity and cleaning product manufacturers are responding with a range of natural, non-toxic, often plant based products.  For example, Biokleen has received a prestigious Tree Hugger Best of Green Award for 2010, for the Best Cleaning Product.

More socially responsible household cleaning service companies are now using only plant-based cleaning products, or new cleaning methods that do not need any chemicals, like oxygenation, or ultraviolet rays. They are also making other effort to ensure environmental protection, such as use of biofuels, involvement in the community activities and various national and environmental charities.

It is ultimately our job to keep our families safe. We do want our homes to be clean, but we need to stop using products that are dangerous, what means that we need to educate ourselves about the alternatives. In order to avoid exposing our dearest to dangerous toxic materials, we need to read the labels carefully before picking up a product in the store. Organic, or ‘green’ cleaning products are still more expensive than the regular, mass produced ones because the market for them is still small. But, the difference is not big enough to make it worth risking health.

When choosing a cleaning service for our home, choosing an eco-friendly cleaning service assures that not only our family will be safe, but that the environment will be protected as well.