Green Isn't Always Clean

We use green cleaners, as I think I've mentioned, but I've realized something slowly over the last year or so: the house just isn't clean. The dishes never get as clean, the tub doesn't either. The toilets get dirtier faster. Basically, green cleaners just don't clean. I should add, as well as petroleoum-based toxic cleaners. No surprise there, really, since the toxic cleaners kill just about everything. Which is, of course, one of their problems. Now, sure, the green cleaners get things clean enough and, if I used them frequently, specifically more frequently than I would clean with other commercial cleaners (i.e. more than once a week), the house would probably be cleaner than it is. But I don't want to double my housework just because I want to be green. So, I have come to a cleaning compromise, of sorts, once a month, everything gets the poison; the rest of the month, it's the green stuff. And I was amazed at how shiny things became: the scum in my dishwasher disappeared (when vinegar rinses and citric acid hadn't helped), as did the stuff in my bathtub grout. Mama scrubbed all the green-not-so-clean pots and they shine again. It's not ideal but it's what I have if I want to be green and clean for now.