There is more than a pretty smell in air fresheners
Have you ever wondered why most cleaning products do not have an ingredients list? The reason given is that it is the companies trade secret formula. If they put the ingredients list on the product then their product would be copied.I find that reason weak, very weak. It is all about companies having the upper hand in the consumer market. No matter what company is making the cleaning product the formula is pretty much the same. The thing that varies would be the amounts of each chemical in the product. Hence why brand names may work better than the off brands.
Here is a link to an article about an US Senator is trying to get a bill passed to make it mandatory for all cleaning products to have a full ingredients list on all cleaning products.
The major companies that make cleaning products say that they test each ingredient to make sure it is safe to use. What they don't mention and may not test is what is the effect of using each chemical for years. What does that do to us? And what about the combination of chemicals, does that cause a bad effect on us? So many questions that companies do not have to answer.
I had a lengthy conversation with two ladies awhile back about how using air fresheners, furniture polish sprays, hairspray, perfumes, and such can effect area rugs and furniture. If you use such products in your home they get absorbed by your area rugs and furniture.
Let's say you are cleaning your wooden coffee table, the first thing you do is spray the table with cleaner. The over spray lands on your rugs, your couch and you also breath it in. Over time it does build up. The best way to use spray cleaners is to put it on a white cotton towel first then wipe the table.
That is how ALL sprays and spot cleaners should be used. Put the cleaner or spotter on a white COTTON towel then BLOT, DO NOT rub in circles. Cirlces cause pile distortion to happen and then you are stuck with that flaw in your rug.
I have mentioned many times to clients that if we had two of the exact rugs with the same wine spill they would react differently to cleaning. There are too many variables between what the rug owners clean with in their homes with, spray in the air, the food they cook and what part of the city they live in.
We once had a couple bring in their 8x10 Viscose area rug after red wine got spilled on it. They were playing Wii and found out that when the game says make sure your arms are not near items and people, that you should make sure of that. The only thing they did was blot up the wine and put salt on the spot. We were very successful at removing the wine and the clients was very happy. If they had used anything else the results could have made the wine spill a permanent stain.
A few months later the same couple was having a dinner party and the dog wagged his tail and knocked over a full glass of red wine. Again they blotted and added salt. In comes the rug again for cleaning. This time some of the wine had stained, not enough to jump out at you, but enough that the clients knew it as there.
Same client's home, same rug, maybe not the same brand/type of red wine equals different cleaning results. Cleaning products, air fresheners, scented candles, using the plug in fresheners, and even perfume all can effect the air quality in your home, your furniture, and your area rugs. David Suzuki wrote this article about air fresheners not being so fresh.
I did a bit of looking online on why there were no ingredients list on cleaning products and found a whole new horror. I found out that a lot of the things we use everyday contain bad chemicals that have been linked to cancer, breathing problems, and in children-death.
Before you freak out, like I almost did, and throw every cleaning product, shampoo, and such out Pause.......Breathe........Assess.
We cannot all live in the middle of the woods protected from all the bad things as good as that may sound. Everything can kill us if we over indulge, we just have to start being more aware of what is in the products we use, the food we eat and buy better products. Not only will that make our home better it will make the world better too.
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary
