Two new spring cleaning products safe for homes and the environment

As someone who endeavors to eliminate toxic chemicals from my home environment, I am always eager to try out new green and chemical-free products. I recently had the opportunity to sample two up-and-coming brands, Green Grab and PHur, and here is what I found.

Getting on my green

Grab Green brand, or GG as it is abbreviated, makes a full line of cleaning products, including dishwashing detergent pods, degreasers, liquid hand soap, air fresheners, laundry detergent — and something interesting I had never tried — cookware and bakeware cleaner pods.

Starting with the most interesting and unique product, the cleaner pods are made to get the cooked-on nasty mess off the bottom of stainless steel and enameled cookware and glass and aluminum bakeware. It is not recommended for copper or Teflon.

It just so happened as I was trying out these products I had made hot chocolate for my son, and I had deposits on a sauce pan that I scrubbed and scrubbed and could not get clean. I followed the directions and tossed the pod into the cookware and added hot water and then used a utensil to swish around and dissolve the pod. I let this sit for about 10 minutes. Then I used the same scouring pad as before, but this time the hard crust on the bottom of the pan and the ring around the side came off.  It worked great.

On to the laundry detergent, the Stoneworks laundry pods truly worked to deeply clean my clothes, eliminate odors, remove stains and soften the fabrics, and they worked with my HE washer, which is important because often these pods do not dissolve in these types of washers. As a bonus the packaging is environmentally friendly, printed on Kraft paper using water-based inks.

All GG products I tried have pretty heavy fragrance, and while the fragrances are very pleasant, such as tangerine with lemongrass or rose petal or vetiver — the last of which I was unfamiliar with but learned is a blend of grass, patchouli and black currant essential oil’s. The scents are strong, so those sensitive to perfumes may find them overwhelming. To be fair though, after the product is used, i.e., after the laundry is done, the scents were not overly evident.

All of green grab products are made from naturally derived ingredients, non-toxic formulas, and are phosphate chlorine and dye free. In the three-in-one laundry detergent pods, I was pleased to see the product fulfilled on its promise to make clothes bright, and it did this without optical brighteners or chlorine.

In keeping with the companies policy of full transparency, Grab Green dedicates half of the back of its packaging to listing the natural ingredients and explaining what they do, four instance, “Sodium carbonate peroxide — cleans, remove stains and brightens.”

The secret agent of disinfecting

The next product I tested was a new one with a new concept in cleaning. The PHur system kit is based on the science of PH, which involves an eco-friendly water + salt + science formula that the inventors painstakingly tested over several years and have now registered the product as a proven disinfectant with the EPA on both Federal and State levels.

The PHur System Kit includes cleaning water, disinfectant, an on-the-go disinfectant, and a microfiber fiber cloth.

The kit involves a simple three-step cleaning process, which includes spraying on the cleaning water and agitating the surface to be cleaned with a microfiber cloth, then spraying the surface with disinfecting water.  No rinsing or wiping required. The last step is walking away and letting the system do its job.

I recently had an unfortunate opportunity to try out the system when a stopped-up toilet caused a foul mess in my bathroom. My handyman plunged and unclogged the toilet but he splashed sewage water on the floors and wall. As the bathroom has polished wood floors, I did not want to use any chemicals that would strip the finish, and as the bathroom is small and enclosed with no window and a fairly ineffectual exhaust fan, I did not want to spray a bunch of fumey chemicals in the room.

I applied the water and disinfectant as directed, and I am pleased to say the lingering odor in the room is gone and the floor and toilet looks clean and shiny. I admit though I cheated on step three, which is walk away. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the mist on my wood floor, so I wiped it up with the cloth.

Both the Green Grab and PHur system are products I would recommend. They work as promised, and they give the peace of mind of cleaning without leaving behind poisonous chemicals.

Grab Green products are sold in major retail stores, on the www.grabgreenhome.com site, on Amazon.com and through several other online retailers. A sample bundle of products runs $11.25 plus $6.99 for shipping and handling. The PHur starter kit is $30.95 and can be ordered online at https://phurwater.com/.