Before becoming an ALL STAR: I worked outside helping maintain flower, shrub, and perennial beds.
Career Ambitions: I want to own my own home.
Why she wanted to be an ALL STAR: Because we use all natural cleaning products.
Favorite part of the job: I enjoy working in an environment where I be of service to people.
Something you may not know about Libby: I enjoy knitting and spending time with my grandson.
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I’m always amazed by the sheer number of folks who think household bleach is a cleaning product. Just the other day, I had another professional in the green cleaning world tell me that they will, “Usually use green products, but for first cleans and very nasty things like greasy stoves, we’ll get out the bleach.”
Bleach for grease? Really?
We’ve talked about alternatives to chlorine bleach on this blog several times. It’s poisonous, may cause certain types of cancer, smells horrible, et cetera. But it’s also just not that great of a cleaning product. There, I said it. Let me get on my soapbox about some common myths- and uncommon truths- about Chlorine Bleach.
1. Bleach is a verb that means “to remove color from.”
Common household bleach, sodium hypochlorite, is an oxidizing color remover. It works by changing color molecules called “chromophores” into non-colored molecules. “Oxidizing” is the same chemical process that rusts steel, turns fat rancid, and causes great damage to cellular membranes (which is why it’s an effective disinfectant).
2. Bleach is not a degreaser, surfactant, or detergent.
It will not cut grease or soap scum any more effectively than your average spray cleaner. It is caustic, so it will eat through certain types of soils, eventually. But you’d be better off using a true degreasing product like citrus-solve, or other d-Limonene natural product.
3. Bleach is the number 1 cause of poisoning cases in the U.S.
According to the Nation Center for Injury Prevention and Control, chlorine bleach was responsible for more calls to poison control than any other product. The quick stats:
- 218,316 reported poison exposures in 2005 were from household cleaning products.
- Hypochlorite (bleach) was the source of 54,433 poisonings in 2005; 25% of the total
exposures from household cleaning substances and the cause of 8 deaths. - 121,498 children under the age of 6 were poisoned by household cleaners last year.
4. Chlorine Bleach is useful for ONE thing!
I’m a huge advocate of natural and safer cleaning products. Most of the time I will use a different type of oxidizing bleach product such as Sodium Perborate, Sodium Percarbonate (marketed as “oxy-clean”), or Hydrogen Peroxide. But Chlorine bleach really can’t be beat for very stained whites, and even I use it occasionally.
However, as a disinfectant, and a house cleaning product, it is outdated and the risks far outweigh the benefits.
Thanks for letting me vent.
I LOVED this! I can relate completely, can you? 
Courtesy of Healthy Child Healthy World
This is why we are proud to be Fort Collins’ original 100% Natural Green Cleaning Service. Learn more about our products HERE.
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
Local Maid Service Helps Disabled Heroes
Local Fire, Police and US Military Benefit Through Non-Profit Organization
(Fort Collins, CO) 06/28/10 – Giving honor to veterans and service members can
happen every day of the year if you really put your mind to it. While many people enjoy long
weekends and holidays like Memorial Day, Independence Day, or Veteran’s Day, one company
decided that every day was worth giving honor, and decided to do something about it.
All Star Cleaning Services, a local maid service provider serving the Fort Collins,
Loveland, Windsor, and surrounding areas is dedicated to serving local heroes all year long by
providing free house cleaning services through Cleaning for Heroes. Cleaning for Heroes is a
non-profit organization that connects maid services across the nation to deserving individuals
who have been injured or disabled in the line of duty. Cleaning for Heroes is dedicated to
providing house cleaning services, at no cost, to disabled and elderly members of the United
States military.
Here is an interesting article from Re-Nest – Clean Your Bathtub with a Grapefruit and Some Salt.
I have often used lemon juice in my homemade cleaning products, but this is an interesting use for produce that I don’t think I would have thought of.
See the full article with recipe HERE.
The discussion in the comments is interesting too – which is the lesser of the two evils for the eco-friendly – to “waste” food to clean your home, or to use manufactured products (a.k.a chemicals?)
Enjoy!
Before becoming an ALL STAR: I worked a lot of customer service jobs, Sam’s Club being the most recent. I held many positions at Sam’s including cashier, grocery department, clothing, and hardlines.
Career Ambitions: One day I would like to own my own cleaning company!
Why she wanted to be an ALL STAR: I wanted to be an All Star because I love to clean and I love getting to know people.
Favorite part of the job: My favorite part of the job is getting to do the Cleaning for a Reasons. It makes me feel so good being able to help people out who really need it.
Something you may not know about Christine: My favorite thing is cleaning the most absolutely dirtiest houses, because it is so awesome to see how clean it can look in the end!
Quality Assurance Manager Laura!
Before becoming an ALL STAR: I was working retail while going to school to become a physical therapist.
Career Ambitions: I plan to become a physical therapist, and hopes to someday work for a professional sports team as a trainer.
Why she wanted to be an ALL STAR: I had been very interested in the green movement. Working for a green company seemed to be a good career- before-my-career/ job change!
Favorite part of the job: My favorite part of the job is getting to know our clients. It is like becoming a part of many families all at once.
Something you may not know about Laura: I grew up on a beach and enjoy surfing and scuba diving.
Good contractors are really, really hard to find. When I find a great one, I want to scream it from the rooftops!
I bought my first house in February. I was over the moon – it is everything I’ve ever wanted in a house – huge yard, mature fruit trees, large garden, enough bedrooms for the whole family - it was perfect! So we bought it.
Fast forward to three weeks ago – I woke up one morning to water gushing out of the cracks in my driveway. Uh-oh. Welcome to the joys of home ownership, right? I was beside myself though. We had barely been in this house for 6 months, and I could tell right away this was going to be a budget buster.
Luckily for me, a co-woorker was quick to recommend Dano with Independent Plumbing Solutionsbefore I had a chance to hit the phonebook. I could not have been more blessed to have found him. Dano and his crew responded quickly, diagnosed the problem, and very patiently explained what had caused this nightmare and what all of my options were for moving forward.
I have to tell you – I am a very anxious person. Dano not only took the time to explain things to me in plain english (I’ve rarely found a contractor who will,) but he calmed me down. He reassured me. And he never, ever, made me feel like I was over-reacting or slowing him down with my game of 20-questions.
In the end, he came in early and under-budget. Dano has found himself a customer for life in me, and I hope that next time you have plumbing needs of your own (hopefully not of the emergency variety) that you will consider giving him a call too. After all, good contractors are extremely hard to find.
Dano can be reached through his website:
Or by phone at 970.556.1377
A new study from the international scientific journal Environmental Health has found a correlation between house cleaning products and breast cancer in women.
To the All Star Crew, this is not news, but just another confirmation of our mission as a company. From the summary article:
The use of cleaners including air fresheners and mold removers doubled the risk of breast cancer in women who used them most often … because they contain “endocrine disrupting chemicals” or “mammary gland carcinogens.” (emphasis added)
Endocrine disrupting chemicals, such as triclosan, are a personal vendetta of mine. The worst offenders, as the article noted, are air fresheners. Modern air fresheners are full of chemicals that are properly considered neurotoxins, because they actually affect the olfactory centers of the nervous system.
Many carpet cleaners in Fort Collins and around the country use artificial fragrances in their products which have the same damaging chemicals in them. At All Star, our carpet cleaning products are completely free of artificial fragrances or any other synthetic chemicals. Our customers often remark at the (lack of) scent in our products, often noting that “it just smells ‘clean,’ but I can’t put my finger on what it smells like.“