A Method for a Clean Home (and a Clean Earth!)

There is nothing like having kids to make you uber-aware of what is lurking in your cleaning products. I’ve never had the urge to lick the windows on our French doors or rest my face on the bathroom floor, but for some reason, my children seem to have no problem with doing these.  While the mere action often grossed me out enough, thinking that my children might be ingesting harsh chemical from a cleaning product I used on those surfaces worried me even more.  Enter Method.  I have come to love Method cleaning products for a number of reasons: 1) they work hard against dirt, 2) they are easy on the earth, 3) they are affordable and 4) they are easy to find.  My love-affair with Method started when I used their Best in Glass window cleaner – along with a microfiber cloth, it finally gave me streak-free windows, a clean minty smell and less worry when I saw tongues and faces pressed against the glass.

Recently I had the chance to try out some of Method’s newest additions to their collection.

All-Surface Cleaner:  For $4 you get a multi-use product that can be used on tile, marble, sealed wood and metal while providing the aromatherapy benefits of lavender, cucumber or pink grapefruit (or unscented if you choose).  With the All-Surface Cleaner and Best in Glass, I can clean almost my entire house.

Smarty Dish:  Available in pink grapefruit or go naked, I had mixed experiences with these non-toxic dishwasher tablets.  Dishes were clean, but twice in my dozen uses, the Smarty Dish tablet got stuck in the soap dispenser which left a gummy mess in the dispenser and dishes that hadn’t been washed with a detergent.  If the tablet doesn’t fit in your dispenser, try this advice I just heard from a Smarty Dish fan – just throw it in the bottom of the dishwasher.  According to her, it works just as well.

Foaming Hand Wash:  I don’t know if there are clear benefits of foaming hand wash versus regular liquid soap (and a Google query didn’t provide many answers), but I do know this: when my 3-year old washes his hands with liquid soap, one squirt of soap coats his hands with sticky goop that both wastes soaps and takes tons of water to wash off.  Method’s Foaming Hand Wash not only comes in a great selection of scents (we tried and were happy with Eucalyptus Mint), but the wide-base shape keeps the container from tipping when you’re dispensing soap and the nozzle pumps out just enough soap to wash your hands without wasting the soap or the water to wash it off.  Plus it pumps out bubbles – and that makes everyone happy.

Le Scrub and Lil Bowl Blu: I’m a sucker for witty product names and honestly, anything that makes me smile while cleaning – be it a great scent or a funny name – wins big points in my book.  But ultimately a product has got to work to win shelf space in my house.  So I put Method’s bathroom cleaning duo – Le Scrub and Lil Bowl Blu – to the test. Le Scrub gets its umpf from finely milled marble and borax.  It does take some elbow grease, but with refreshing scent of eucalyptus mint surrounding you, I didn’t mind the work. What I found is if you have relatively new surfaces you are using it on (tile, tubs, sinks, etc.), it works great as I discovered at my neighbor’s house, but if like me, you have an ancient tub that has lost its seal and is begging to be replaced, Le Scrub doesn’t perform quite as well.  Lil Bowl Blu on the other hand cleaned effectively, leaving only a nice smell in its wake.

Overall I was pleased with my Method cleaning experience and am looking forward to checking out their Method Baby line (watch for the review in the coming weeks) and some of their other cleaning products – like their brand new Dilutable Cleaner.  Are you already a fan?  What’s your favorite Method product?

Tagged as: cleaning, eco-friendly, Green Aware Mom, green cleaners, green products, Method