In recent years, a variety of ways to green our homes have received increasing attention--from installing low-flow toilets and building with eco-friendly bamboo, to switching to fluorescent light bulbs and separating recyclables from our daily trash. But one often misunderstood aspect of going green is green cleaning.
What Exactly is Green Cleaning?
To some, green cleaning means visiting the neighborhood supermarket and buying anything labeled "Go Green." The problem with this is federal law does not require manufactures to list the ingredients of cleaning products. So who knows what chemicals are really in there.
To others, cleaning green means throwing toxic household cleaning supplies aside and making eco-friendly products at home from ordinary soap and water, baking soda, or vinegar and lemon juice. On the surface, this isn't a bad idea. But while these home-made cleaning solutions help the environment and make everything look and smell cleaner, what are they actually sanitizing?
Vinegar and lemon juice et al may in fact have promise in cleaning without using toxic substances. And they may also be beneficial for some health purposes. But they do not do nearly as much as claimed. If you have a cleaning solution recipe that is chemical-free but doesn't kill germs and bacteria, what good is it? Is your home safer? Will your child become sick if he plays on the carpet that you cleaned with vinegar where the family pet urinated?
A Little Water and a Little Electricity
A new product designed to clean, sanitize and deodorize almost any surface while minimizing harm to the natural world has made its way to the United States. It's called a vapor steam cleaner.
Like the more familiar steam cleaner, vapor steam cleaners kill germs and bacteria on contact without the use of chemicals that harm the environment and our families. But unlike steam cleaners, vapor steam cleaners use very little water and do not degrade the surface of what is being cleaned. Additionally, because vapor particles are smaller than steam particles, vapor can reach and sanitize areas steam cannot.
Vapor steam cleaners were developed and patented years ago in Italy by a small group of manufacturers. Today, vapor steam cleaners are as common in Europe as the vacuum cleaner is in the United States. Vapor steam cleaners were slow coming to the United States mostly because of an electrical issue. The standard electrical outlet in Europe packs 220-240 volts, twice the standard household voltage here. It was only after vapor steam cleaners were reengineered for 110 volts that they crossed the ocean.
A Knight in Shining Armor
It has been said that our homes are more polluted than the outside, and household chemical cleaners are partly to blame. To consumers with a strong interest in child-safe, environmentally-friendly green products, vapor steam cleaners are a knight in shining armor.
The technology behind a vapor steam cleaner is simple. Using less than a gallon of ordinary tap water, vapor steam cleaners create a low moisture vapor that carries heat to the surface of what is being cleaned. The heat combined with light agitation does all the work.
Vapor steam cleaners come with a variety of accessories that allow the heated vapor to focus on the surface of what is being cleaned while applying a brushing action to release dirt and grease. They are designed for an unlimited number of applications, from walls and floors to ovens and countertops. Because cleaning with vapor eliminates all chemical residues, whatever is cleaned stays cleaned longer. And because so little water is used, cleaning with vapor is virtually "mess free" and dries almost instantly. In contrast, traditional steam cleaners often leave a surface sopping wet.
Conclusion
All in all, on the basis of huge interest so far, it is clear that vapor steam cleaners will attract more and more eco-conscious buyers and play a more important role in cleaning our homes and workplaces while safeguarding the environment and our health. Because vapor steam cleaners save money by reducing the need for sponges, mops, buckets, paper towels, expensive chemicals, etc., they virtually pay for themselves in a couple of months.
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V.K. Dunlop is vice president at 1-800-GO-VAPOR.com. 1-800-GO-VAPOR.com is headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. With commercial customers that include hospitals, healthcare clinics, supermarkets, restaurants, fast food chains, corporations, auto detailers, universities and the military, and having sold vapor steam cleaners--including our best selling Ladybug product line--to households in every state in the United States, 1-800-GO-VAPOR.com is moving fast to educate consumers and businesses that finally, there's a feasible, environmentally friendly alternative to chemicals.
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