When it comes to living green I will be honest, I am more about saving money than anything else. About a month ago I attended a women’s event that featured two workshop speakers. The first workshop was about cleaning. As soon as I heard that word and saw her display of bottles and cloths, I started to tune her out. If there is one area in my life that I have never been willing to change it’s my cleaning routine. I like my chemicals!
Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with natural or healthier ways to clean. It’s just that I am a big fan of my bleach and my Pledge. I was half-listening to her talk when I heard something about saving money. That made my ears perk up.
The woman was demonstrating how a single cloth could do a better job than a dusting spray. How could anything clean better than Pledge? She explained how the dust particles get caught in the cloth, instead of flying all over. Then, I thought about how expensive Pledge is. It seems like every-other-month I am replacing it. And when my kids use it, forget it. I once caught my daughter using the Pledge spray to spell her name on the dining room table! But the cloth the woman was using could be washed and reused. Now that got my attention.
She went on to demonstrate a couple of other cloths and how they could be used on various household objects. She finally sold me when she mentioned how ordinary rags begin to smell over time. I knew what she was talking about. Even after washing them, my dust rags still had an odor. The woman explained that the smell was bacteria. Great, here I was washing my dishes with bacteria-filled rags. I was sold. Surprisingly the cloths were not as expensive as I thought they would be.
Not too long after that workshop I was talking to someone who has used these cloths and she was going on and on about how well they clean and how she never would have believed it had she not seen it for her own eyes. So not only did the product help save money and the planet, but it also did a good job cleaning.
The product is Norwex. I discovered the secret behind the cloths is that they are made of microfiber, which is a blend of polyester and polyamide. The fiber in these cloths is 1/100th the size of a strand of human hair. Talk about tiny. The material can hold up to seven times its weight in water. While traditional rags tend to smear dirt, microfiber cloths act like bionic sponges that remove a lot more dirt and bacteria.
Being able to machine wash these cloths was like the icing on the cake. No more expensive cleaning products and no more chemicals. I consider it my contribution to a better environment.
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