Modern Mamma Marvels

I’m not really great at cleaning. It’s not that I don’t like a clean house. I do! But with two children age two and under, my priorities aren’t necessarily focused on the bathroom sink. Clean diapers, yes. A presentable mirror, well, no. However, I accepted the challenge offered to me to review Clorox Green Works natural cleaning products. I figured it would force me to clean my bathroom. Because, uh, otherwise? Well, let’s just say it wouldn’t have been on the top of my to-do list this Saturday morning!

Maybe I wanted to do this because I now have a two year old who is using the bathroom. Not consistently. Not on his own. But he’s in there. And he’s touching things. And I want those things to be clean. And while I want them clean, I don’t want the added worry of, “What if he licks the sink? Will he pick up some bleach residue and turn into an Ewok?” Yes, I think these things. Because? Two year old kids lick sinks. And they stick their hands in their mouth before and after washing their hands. And just a myriad of other ick-factors that make you not only doubt your cleaning regimen, as in how often, but what you’re using to clean with. Oh, scary.

And so, when I got the Green Works cleaning agents in the mail, I read the ingredients. I expected a long list of words I couldn’t pronounce. Nope. Take the All-Purpose Cleaner for example:

coconut-based cleaning agent (nonionic surfactant), corn-based ethanol, , filtered water and
biodegradable preservative, fragrance with essential lemon oil, contains no phosphorous or bleach.

Coconut, eh? I can get behind some coconuts. And so, without a scary list of ingredients, my next question is, of course, your question as well.

So, uh, does it work?

I put them to test in my, uh, not-so-clean bathroom. I don’t have a long amount of time for cleaning. I need things to work quickly so I can get back to important things like reading books, over and over, to BigBrother. And rushing him to the bathroom when he announces, “BIG PEE!” And changing Poo-Splosions made by LittleBrother. And feeding him at the tap every fifth second. You know, real life things. I don’t have patience for cleaning products that don’t work quickly or require too much eblow grease. And, man, my sink was DIRTY. Ew.

Much to my delight and, honestly, total surprise, the All-Purpose cleaner did its job on the sink with no problem. Or exertion on my part. Spray. Wipe. It’s clean. I was still wary when I picked up the Glass & Surface cleaner and sprayed it on my mirror. (Which was also, uh, not-too-clean.) I honestly expected streaks. No streaks! Clean mirror! Quickly! Hurrah!

So, all right, they clean efficiently. My next question is always the deal-breaker.

What’s it smell like? You see. I don’t like perfume-y smells. I have a sensitive nose. I don’t like flowery stuff. I don’t like over-bearing clean-y smells. And these products are none of those things. I fresh, lemon-y smell that doesn’t make you gag or overwhelm you by the time you’ve wiped down your entire bathroom. Even FireDad agreed that they smell all right.

Truth be told, I love this line. Will I still use bleach on some things that BigBrother can’t yet reach? Yeah, I’m sure. But am I going to grab the All Natural Toilet Bowl cleaner the next time I’m at the store? You bet your biscuits.