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,...
What is an enzyme, anyway?
Do you have a little one destined to be a scientist or who just loves learning how things work? Log on to www.explorationclean.org, a narrated site designed to teach kids all about the science of cleaning. You can check out the section on enzymes, ingredients that play a powerful role...
How Cleaning Works
Did you know that cleaning takes three kinds of energy? Check out ExplorationClean.org to find out how cleaning works, including how the different types of energy work together to get your favorite things clean.
Be Cool, Wash in Cold
Did you know that about 90 percent of the energy your washing machine uses goes toward heating the water and that many clothing labels recommend washing in cool or cold water? ACI wants you to know that washing in cold water saves energy and your clothes because proper temperatures can...
Nothing to Sneeze At
Catching a cold or getting the flu is nothing to sneeze at. Besides missed school and work days (or weeks), being sick can throw a whole household off kilter, with doctor visits and trips to the pharmacy. Cold and flu viruses are caught through the membranes in our noses, mouth,...