This Sustainable Earth by Staples® All-Purpose Cleaner and Refill made its way to me via the nice folks at Staples, along with one other item that I will be reviewing in the near future. I thought it would be a good time for a review of a nice desk cleaning product that is also environmentally friendly since this seems to be the time of year we start to see those research articles telling us how our desk is dirtier than a toilet.
As you can see from the back of the bottle, the product has been designed as part of the EPA’s Design for the Environment Formulator Initiative, which gives it a little more of a legitimate leg to stand on as compared to some other “green” products that just loosely use that term. I will point out though that one of the ingredients listed is a corn-based ethanol, which as a fuel source has its obvious issues, so hopefully in more moderate use as in cleaning products, it isn’t so bad.
After using this product a few times now, one of the things I really like about it is that it lacks the harsh characteristics that you usually associate with cleaning fluids. In a completely non-recommended and accidental test, I spilled a big splash of this stuff on an open cut on my finger and immediately braced myself for the inevitable burning that was sure to come, and to my surprise it didn’t happen. I’m not a chemist, so I can’t state with any authoritative background that my little accidental test actually means anything, but it does seem to me that of the ingredients used in this cleaner, they certainly can’t be all that harsh. But please don’t go pouring cleaning supplies in any open wounds to do our own tests, it clearly isn’t a good idea.
Now that we all promise not to pour this stuff into open wounds, lets take a look at the above result on the cotton towel that I used along with the Sustainable Earth All-Purpose Cleaner when I cleaned my desk. Remember how we talked about our desks having more germs than our toilets? Well there may not be a way to quantify the filth that is on the towel above, but I can assure you that it came off my desk that looked sparkling clean, so think about that next time you sit down at your desk. It really was surprising to me to see how much filth came off my desk when I used this because I thought it was relatively clean, but it also goes to show that this earth friendly cleaner doesn’t cut any corners when it comes to its ability to clean. In addition to being pretty darn effective on dirt, and not stinging open wounds, it also has a pretty mild and pleasant scent, unlike some other cleaners.
Do yourself (and those who sit around you) a favor and look at that desk that you think might be clean…now that you know it probably isn’t, hit your local Staple’s and pick up some of this Sustainable Earth by Staples® All-Purpose Cleaner and Refill to clean up your act.
