In a nutshell, antibacterial disinfectants help kill germs on the surfaces in our homes. They’re pretty easy to recognize because their labels say they disinfect, kill bacteria or sanitize. Their active ingredients and formulations go beyond simple cleaning. They kill or control the growth of microorganisms, including food borne bacteria...
A Tribute to Soap
The history of soap dates back to Ancient Babylon. (A medical document from about 1500 BC describes combining animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to form a soap-like material used for treating skin diseases, as well as for washing!) For thousands of years, technologies have evolved to create the soaps...
The Easiest Energy-Saving Cleaning Tips for Your Household
Saving energy doesn’t have to be hard! In fact, when it comes to cleaning, it’s pretty easy, if not easier (and less time consuming). Check out these tips and share yours in the comments. Unless your laundry is very soiled or is stained with blood or other contaminants, wash in...
Cleaning Product Ingredient Info: Solvents
One of the many ingredients in cleaning products are solvents. Solvents are ingenious, actually. These amazing chemicals help give cleaning products the right thickness and help other ingredients stay mixed. They can also help prevent liquid products from freezing in cold climates. Want to learn more about solvents and the...
Fun and Games with Surfactants!
In cleaning, surfactants – short for surface active agents – are a group of chemicals that change how water behaves, so that we can clean more effectively and efficiently. Surfactants reduce water’s surface tension, meaning that droplets won’t simply bead up on countertops, clothes, and dishes, but will spread out...
Stop and Smell Your Foyers
Answer: They are the ingredients in cleaning products that make our homes smell fresh and pretty. Question: What are fragrances? While some products have no scent at all, others include a mix of flowers, fruit, trees or essential oils (among others). ACI’s kid-friendly narrated website – www.explorationclean.org – was created...
Doing These 3 Things at Home Can Help Protect the Oceans
Thanks to WorldOceansDay.org, people around the world are celebrating the oceans by hosting activities and events to protect our shared resource. To honor the ocean on this and all days, the cleaning product industry would like to remind everyone of small ways we can change our habits to help make...
Did You Forget to Clean This?
ACI’s latest National Cleaning Survey revealed some interesting facts about our cleaning habits or lack of them! We learned that about one-third of us don’t believe we are cleaning everything in our homes often enough. So, we thought we’d provide a few fast and easy tips for cleaning up around...
When Your Home Looks Good, You Feel Good…
Did you know that 65% of participants in the American Cleaning Institute’s (ACI) 2019 spring cleaning survey report a feeling of accomplishment or satisfaction after spring cleaning? 36% report feeling like an “Award Winner”—feeling extremely accomplished. 29% report feeling like a “King or Queen”—satisfied in his or her own castle....
How Long Does it Take to Spring Clean?
Exciting news! More people than ever are spring cleaning this year. According to ACI’s National Cleaning Survey, 77 percent are diving in. Our top priority is clear – windows – followed by closets, drawers, and clothes, ceiling fans, blinds/curtains, and carpets. How long does it take to clean our windows,...