How Wholesome are Mrs. Meyer's Cleaners?

A Reader Writes The Green Guide:

I wondered if you had a review or information on the Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day line of home cleaners. They smell so wonderful and appear to be much better than others, but the preservative is not listed.

Thanks,

Susan Groves

The Green Guide Responds:

As an industry standard, many manufacturers of household cleaning products refrain from releasing exhaustive ingredient lists to preserve industry secrets, and Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products happen to fall into that category. As a result, getting information about the exact ingredients from the company can be difficult.

Regarding the preservative you mentioned, it is, unfortunately, synthetic, the exact make-up of which is considered proprietary. However, a company representative informed us that it is used in very small amounts, .08 percent to be exact. Other ingredients of concern in these products are ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), a boosting agent that also acts as an allergen and mild skin irritant, and sodium citrate, which, although naturally derived, can still cause allergic reactions.

On the plus side, all Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products feature entirely plant-derived surfactants. Surfactants help cleaners penetrate the surface of a stain more thoroughly, and Mrs. Meyer's surfactants are free of synthetic materials. Also free of synthetics are the geranium, lavender and lemon verbena scents used to make these "aromatherapeutic" cleaners, well, therapeutic. The scents come from a mixture of essential oils, helping to put your mind at ease, to a degree, when it comes to the amount of synthetic material you're washing down the drain. As a caveat, some people are sensitive to essential oils and can have allergic reactions to them. All of the ingredients used in Clean Day products, synthetic or not, are biodegradable, so they pose less of a threat to the environment. And the eye-catching containers are recyclable.

In general, Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products pose a lower risk to you and your family's health than their harsher, chemical-laden brethren. They contain no solvents, phosphates, chlorine or petroleum distillates, and their numerous plant-based ingredients give them a leg up on the competition. Be wary of the synthetic ingredients, and also avoid the company's hand soaps and lotions, which contain hormone-disrupting parabens.

For truly safe cleaning supplies, Grassroots Environmental Education, an EPA-funded group dedicated to educating people about toxic pesticides and cleaners, has published a list of approved products on their site at www.grassrootsinfo.org/approved.html. Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products are not presently on their list. And as always, you should visit The Green Guide's Household Cleaning Supplies Product Report for other least-toxic cleaning products and natural cleaning suggestions.