Dear cleopatera, No, there is nothing wrong with non-antimicrobial (regular) hand dish soap. Handwashing with regular dish soap or regular hand soap will remove over 92% of common germs from hands when used as a hand washing soap. Using well-formulated antibacterial hand soap will remove 99.9% or greater common germs from hands (not from your dishes!); however, using anti-microbial hand soap does not necessarily translate into a protective health benefit in the household setting.

Dear Greenstep,
Choosing a natural laundry product should not mean that your wash quality suffers. While we can not speak for other natural brands, when we develop a new laundry detergent we benchmark our performance against leading conventional brands.

Our objective is to formulate our products to perform at parity to, or better than, leading conventional brands. The reason that we do this is because we know that it is not enough to make environmentally preferable products, they have to work well too!

This is a difficult question to answer because the science about the health risks of chlorinated water exposure is inconclusive. There are studies that have linked the byproducts of chlorination with a slight increase in bladder cancer and other health risks, but the findings are disputed because they are inconsistent.[1-5]

Dear Catt,
The reason why corn- and soy-based ingredients are common in natural products is because they are abundant, and therefore cost-effective, sources of oils and polysaccharides that can be converted into ingredients that function as solvents, surfactants, foaming agents, thickeners and water softeners.

Dear S. Keefe,
The antimicrobial effectiveness of non-chlorine bleach depends on the active ingredient, the conditions of use, and the microorganisms being targeted. Many non-chlorine bleaches, including ours, use hydrogen peroxide as an active ingredient, which is able to kill microbes when used at appropriate concentrations and applied in appropriate ways. Proper use of an antimicrobial is key to its effectiveness. That is why products registered for use as antimicrobials contain specific instructions that must be followed for the product to be used safely and effectively.

Dear Mom of Lex,
To remove mold and mildew from clothing without using bleach you can opt for non-chlorine bleach such as Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Bleach that uses hydrogen peroxide or percarbonate1. Soak the moldy area in enough non-chlorine bleach to saturate the fabric for 15-30 minutes and then launder as usual.

Dear Aly - I can certainly understand the confusion about the need to kill germs. Germs can cause illness, are on things that we touch every day, and can be transmitted by touching people and surfaces. The reality is, washing hard surfaces with soap and water removes about 80% of common germs, which is sufficient for most purposes.

While using an anti-microbial surface product removes at least 99% of germs, killing germs through general surface disinfection is not necessary as it does not usually translate to a health benefit. [1-7]

Dear jengarn86 - The best thing to do for the environment is to repurpose as much as you possibly can. For example, you can repurpose broom and mop handles as curtain rods. As for your sponges, synthetic sponges can’t be recycled, but sea sponges and natural sponges made from vegetable cellulose are biodegradable and can be tossed into a compost heap.

Dear Liz,
The terms soap and detergent are used synonymously, but in actuality they are very different ingredients. In the most basic terms, soaps are made by mixing a fat (vegetable oil or animal tallow) with caustic soda (lye or potassium hydroxide), a process that has been used for hundreds of years. Detergents, also called surfactants, are created by various chemical reactions between natural or synthetic ingredients to create a new chemical.

Dear Zayapooh00995,
Conventional glass cleaners are typically comprised of water, water softener, cleaning agents, solvents, fragrances, dyes and preservatives.