Question from Donna

I have serious MCS and much trouble finding a safe car. After finding a 1998 Toyota 4 Runner with leather seats, I waited a year for the fragrance from the interior “detailing” to subside. I have used it joyfully for 2 years.

I needed a simple oil change and took it to a Toyota dealership. (My regular mechanic has an old, oil-burning stove in his service bay in the winter, which is problematic for me. )

The night I picked up the car I immediately experienced ENT problems, and after several short outings, I was extremely ill with chemically-induced porphyria. I don’t smell any odors or see any evidence of a spill.

A possible culprit: they gave the car a courtesy car wash (exterior only). When questioned, the service manager said to flush out the fresh air intake grill below the windshield with lots of water, as soap residue can remain there and infiltrate the car’s interior.

I have been so ill and am devastated at the loss of my vehicle. I know the automated machines can use pre-soaking, washing, and rinsing agents with loads of chemicals. I would not have consented to it had I been there but am also astonished at how invasive and long-lasting the result has been.

Have others had this negative experience with a commercial car wash and how did they neutralize the interior of the car? I have washed everything, and am now proceeding with steam cleaning the air vents and placing activated charcoal containers in the front seats. Please help with any shared experiences and/or ideas. Donna in Distress

Debra’s Answer

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Over the years I have received a lot of questions about Shaklee products. Shaklee recently reformulated, repackaged, and renamed their cleaning products into a new line called “Get Clean”–which has a cleaning product for every need in your home–so I thought it was time to take another look at them.

Shaklee has been well-known for their biodegradable Basic H since 1960, but I have not recommended Shaklee products in the past because I was not able to obtain ingredients lists or MSDS sheets. I still couldn’t obtain ingredients lists, but I did get MSDS sheets and took a look at their website.

In general, the Get Clean cleaning products are advertised to be natural, biodegradable, fragrance-free, and super-concentrated (which makes them very economical to use and reduces a lot of packaging). And, Basic H2, has so many uses, it is truly a wonder of a multi-use product.

Shaklee states that their Get Clean products “do not contain hazardous ingredients.” More specifically they state

• No napthalene


• No kerosene


• No formaldehyde


• No phenol


• No cresol


• No lye


• No hydrochloric acid


• No sulfuric acid


• No petroleum distillates


• No benzene


• No ammonia


• No paradichlorobenzene


• No sodium hydroxide


• No butyl cellosolve


• No phosphoric acid


• No chlorine

0 ingredients that are hazardous to humans.

0 chemicals like phosphates, chlorine, and nitrates that are harmful to the planet are in Get Clean.

0 volatile organic compounds, chemicals that produce noxious toxins and air pollution, are in Get Clean.

Their MSDS sheets do list a few items under “hazardous substances” but there are either minerals, which are considered hazardous because of dust exposure (not toxicity), enzymes (I don’t know why they are considered hazardous) or in the case of the one substance I would consider “hazardous”–ethyl alcohol–are present in very small amounts and is made from plant sources (this is not stated on the MSDS or the website, but I have an email from Shaklee stating this is so).

I have a small sample of the Basic H2 and it basically smells like nothing.

There are no ingredients listed on the labels (which are on the website, by the way, for each product), the “Product Bulletin” for each product tells some of what the products are made from. Basic H2, for example, is made from corn and coconuts; Nature Bright Laundry Booster and Stain Remover is made from natural enzymes and oxygen bleach.

Shaklee says their products are “safe for the planet” because:

• Sustainably sourced natural ingredients


• Biodegradable


• No phosphates


• No nitrates


• No borates


• No animal testing


• Recyclable packaging


• Recyclable wipes


• Recyclable dryer sheets

In addition, Shaklee has zero impact on global warming by offsetting 100% of its greenhouse gas emissions. They were the nation’s first business to be certified Climate Neutral.

And their world headquarters utilize the latest energy-efficient designs and sustainable resource materials. They also print on recycled paper, recycle, offer telecommuting, encourage use of public transportation, and more. They have received many awards for their environmental efforts.

Shaklee does not test its products on animals.

After all these years, I’m happy to have finally gotten some information on Shaklee products I can review, and having done so, decided to put these new Get Clean products on Debra’s List as “earthwise” cleaning products.

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Question from Julie Westbrook-Finch

I am gradually changing over to natural products, but I have a question about safety.

I know you can’t mix certain things like bleach and vinegar due to causing toxic fumes so how long after using normal bleach in the toilet do you have to wait before changing over to using something natural like borax and vinegar or a natural toilet cleaning product? Do you need to wait a certain amount of days without using bleach before its safe?

This question also applies to putting bleach down drains and plugholes, how long do you need to wait before using natural products so they don’t clash and make toxic fumes?

Thanks,

Julie Westbrook-Finch

Great Britain

Debra’s Answer

You’re not supposed to mix bleach and vinegar together, but I don’t think there would be enough bleach left in a toilet to react with vingar after one or two flushes. If you want to be super-cautious, wait a day or two before using vinegar.

Drains would clear as soon as you flow water through them.

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Question from Eric Talaska

Hello, this is my first entry here. I appreciate this service Debra provides. I have a concrete slab floor with oil based floor paint on it that is 2 years old. It has surely outgased toxic fumes a lot already. How do I keep it from outgassing or otherwise releasing toxic fumes or chemicals? Is it better to remove it and then start over with something nontoxic? If so, how do I safely remove it? If leaving it on is recommended, what can I put over it that would keep it from outgassing? Thanks.

Debra’s Answer

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Question from Cindy Walker

Hello,

My husband and I are really trying to go organic and natural all the way.

Now there is one big problem. For years we have been having pesticides sprayed in our basement, etc. You see, many years ago when we moved into this home, it was rampid with centipedes. It started in February 1995. I would get up in the mornings and since I arose earlier for work, would use the bathroom on the other side of the house. Every morning there would be many centipedes in the bath tub. This went on for months and I would always tell my husband about this. Finally, months later on a Sunday morning, I showed him at least 9 centipedes and body parts laying in the tub. Uggh! Thats how we got into pest control.

Now we want out. If anyone has any suggestions about anything natural to put around the house, basement, it would be greatly appreciated. These critters come up through all the drains, in the tube, bathroom sink and kitchen sink. They hang on the ceilings and pretty much like to take over the house. If it was not a lovely house, I would have been outta here long ago!

Thanks much and appreciate any time to this matter.

Cindy

Debra’s Answer

Readers?

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Question from SLJ

I admit I like to use Febreze now and then to refresh the fabrics in my house. However, with a dog and two cats I now would like to explore alternatives. I haven’t seen any natural substitutes that are safe for fabrics and smell nice. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Debra’s Answer

I haven’t seen any such products, but I don’t see EVERYTHING 🙂

Readers?

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Question from Mindy

I washed my sleeping bag in the bathtub and the outer surface of it must still bleed color (it is blue) and when i finished soaking it, it stained the tub (which had been refinished over a year ago). I tried bon ami with the rougher surface of a sponge and it didn’t seem to work very well. Then I tried using a wet pumice stone which I read about in a household cleaning book I have and it seemed to start getting some of it off, but not completely.

Do you have any great solutions for this that are non-toxic and will restore my tub back to the pristine white, not that the blue is ugly?

Debra’s Answer

This seems to be the week for getting sinks and tubs white (see next entry below). Readers?

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Question from Derba Mills

Here’s a link to a video of the recent CBS Morning Show clip about the danger of drycleaning solvents. It’s definitely worth a minute.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2507419n

This is why it is important to use a green dry cleaner, like us!

Debra’s Answer

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Question from Katy Swanson

Hi Debra-

I work for an environmental non-profit in Jacksonville, Fl and one of the individuals that have been working with had a question about the ingredients in MAAS metal polishes. I have reseached the website and found no information regarding what they are using to get results that are apparently “amazing” on all kinds of tarnished metals.

If you have heard anything about these product or the ingredients in these products I would appreciate any sharing of information. I do not feel comfortable recommending a product that does not disclose this information, especially if they are toxic or environmentally and socially harmful, but maybe i am not looking in the right spot.

Thanks for any help and your time.

-Katy Swanson

Debra’s Answer

I went to the MAAS website and they had neither ingredients nor MSDS posted, so I called. They offered to fax me an MSDS sheet, but my fax isn’t working, so the person who answered the phone read the “Hazardous Ingredients” section of the MSDS to me over the phone.

The hazardous ingredients in this product are calcinated alumina, hydrocarbon mixture, and triethanolamine. Triethalnolamine is a petrochemical of moderate toxicity (see Environmental Working Group Ingredient Report on Trienthalonamine). I’m most concerned about the hydrocarbon mixture, which could contain any number of petrochemical solvents with varying toxicity, which could change from batch to batch. The calcinated alumina is basically aluminum.

I would suspect that this product has a strong odor from the solvents. I wouldn’t use it.

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Question from Cindy

Debra, I thank you for your site!

I need help. I live in a very old house and the floors need to be replaced, there is old ratty carpet and lineoloum tiles that have holes and the kitchen is very old hardwood which I dont know if there is a product I could put on it to save it, as I am very chemically sensitive. It was coated with poloyurathine years ago and was beautiful (when I first moved in). I later had a severe chemical exposure, which Iam doing all to recover from. I dont know how to purchase a floor and to be sure of getting the best–that wont outgass.

I want hardwood flooring for the rest of the house. my husband want to go to Lowes and purchase tile (Lineloum) for the living room since it is the worst.he said perhaps if we let it outgass in the garge or attice a few months it would be ok as we did do that with the bathroom years ago. I have put this off till it is no longer a option to just leave it..Please anyone help. I have suffered so much I pray I can find a good floor I wont react to.

I’ve been looking at www.naturalhomeproducts.com and they have hardwood flooring that seems to be very “green” friendly but I dont think I can afford it plus they ship it and you have what you have. I dont want something I cant use. Their flooring is called “junkers”.

Can i get something from lowes that has no formalhydeand low-or prefably no voc’s.

Please help. I am sincerely in need and frightened!

Debra’s Answer

There are several questions already on the blog that have answers which can help you.

Q&A: Flooring has some brands of flooring recommended for people with chemical sensitivities.

Q&A: Wood Floor Bargains has some suggestions for places you can purchase the least expensive prefinished hardwood floors.

Type “flooring” into the search box at my website’s search engine for more information on flooring.

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