Around the time of writing Home Made Eco Friendly Cleaning Solutions I heard about a company called Norwex and their motto appealled to me because it’s ‘Cleaning Without Chemicals’.  I am so glad I attended a Norwex product demonstration and now after getting my supplies and putting them to work in my messy house…I’m ready to report my findings. 

Their trademark product is antibacterial microfiber.  You can find microfiber cloths at a local dollar store, but they will not contain the silver agent that traps bacteria in it’s fibers. The Norwex cloths are approx. $14 each, and worth every penny. And this is coming from the person at the party asking the Norwex rep “But how does it clean without using a cleaning agent?” and ” How do you know your counter is actually clean?” I asked the same question a few different ways and at the time did not understand the disinfectant process whats-so-ever.  Well now I get what the big fuss is about. Not only are you saving money on sponges and cloths, but you don’t need commercial cleaners anymore! Until you try a cloth, you won’t believe it, but you can tell the item you’ve cleaned is actually bacteria free and clean.

In my quest to eliminate harmful cleaners from my household, this solution is remarkable. Here is an example of the power of the microfiber cloth.  About 6 months ago, my kids went nuts in the bathtub with those crayons that write on the bathtub wall. Normally, I wait and buy SOS pads to scrub off this mess, because you really need something with some tough cleaning power. I didn’t buy the SOS pads because they are not Eco friendly, I waited and used my microfiber cloths. They worked awesome with removing the caked on crayon…it easily rubbed off! Also, now that I have the concern about Isabella’s skin reacting to cleaning residue after I’ve cleaned the tub, I can happily clean it without worrying about a flare-up. And if your kids like to help you clean, hand them a microfiber cloth! They can go for hours wiping things down, as you aren’t exposing them to any chemicals.  Simply clean the cloth by rinsing with warm water and hang to dry in between use.

My cloths also work well on windows, although I know Norwex carries a specific window cloth for this purpose, I love the fact the cloths don’t leave streaks and I don’t get the headache after spraying Windex throughout my house. It is amazing that these cloths only require water to work. You need to make sure the cloths hang dry in between use so they don’t start to smell. I made that mistake, but after I ran it through my dishwasher, it was fine.

My other great Norwex discovery is their dish washing liquid. It is phosphate free and biodegradable and works awesome! I always worry when the water doesn’t get really sudsy…I thought that was a sign the dishes weren’t really getting clean. Well I know from my How Hard Is Your Water? article that it’s the sudsing agent (surfactant) that can be so harmful in our waterways. So it’s okay when suds aren’t billowing from my kitchen sink or washing machine. <smile>  The Norwex dish washing liquid works really well and rumour has it that the liquid can remove clothing and carpet stains also!

Next on my Norwex list?  Antibac Window Cloth to polish my windows.  At the Norwex party I attended, they speared butter on the window and wiped it off easily with the cloth.  Looks like a great investment and no more Windex headaches for me!  Also their mop systems look amazing, their Sanira Toilet Brush System, and one product I’m very anxious to have - Mattress Cleaner!  I think Oprah traumatized everyone with her special about germs, household dust mites, etc. a few years ago.  Did you know you are supposed to vacuum your mattress regularly?  The last time I did that was the night before I had the twins.  With this product, you spray it on the mattress, vacuum one last time, then the dust mites attack each other…gross but at least they are gone.  You repeat this process twice a year.  I can keep up with that and I can’t wait to try out more Norwex products…I can’t believe cleaning can be this exciting!