Good Afternoon All,

After reading several of the comments to this article, I decided it was time to conduct a little about sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS).

What I found were numerous references to a fraudulent email circulating for years claiming SLS is carcinogenic. Two of the more prominent responses were found on the websites of the American Cancer Society and Columbia University Health Services.

Here is the link to the ACS reference:

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/MED/content/MED_6_1x_Shampoo.asp?sitearea=MED

Columbia U. Health Services:

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2189.html

Based on this information, it appears that the claim that sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is untrue.

Just working to help keep information flowing and hopefully straight :-) .

Thanks,
Jim Hickey

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Steve,

While Basic H is an ok product, its made from coconuts, a coconut derived soap made from SLS, soduim laurel or laureth sulfate. This is the major ingredient in Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyers, Ecover, Earth Friendly and Clorox Green Works cleaning products.

The problem with all of these products, the household cleaners, the laundry supplies, etc is that SLS is a known carcinagen. Its the ingredient that makes everything suds up. Its also in most shampoos, liquid hand soaps, and body washes. I was even in the dollar store the other day and found it in not one but two different vitamins. magnesuim and Iron pills! Needless to say I floored and wondered why the heck anyone would put that stuff in a vitamin that is ingested.

I know this because as I was switching over to green cleaners, I read the cleaning labels and at first ignored the "coconut derived biodegradable cleaning agents". Then I got curious one day when I spent a small fortune on them and went to their websites.

Anyway, your best non-toxic "soap" is either a liquid castile or a bar of old fashioned lye soap or other homemade oil soap. For household cleaning, the lye soap works best where as the oil soaps are easier on the skin.

And if I may say, I'm getting kind of tired of reading your non advertising comments about Shaklee stuff in the cleaning articles on here. No offense but it's pretty much always the same things said. I like reading the comments because there are often other good tips

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I can solve all of your cleaning issues with one single ingredient; d-limonene.

d-Limonene is expressed from the oil and peel of the Citrus Sinensis fruit. Orange terpenes are a super-concentrated multi-purpose cleaner and degreaser that is 100% natural, biodegradable, safe, and non-toxic.

You can see full applications and details at www.GreenTerpene.com

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Mirrors in bathrooms I clean mine with a wet face flannel(wrung out) add a small amount of hair shampoo to it and wipe over mirrors,not only keeps them clean but also stops them steaming(fogging up) after a shower.It only has to be done every 4-6 weeks.

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All of the suggestions are really good ones. But if any of you have ever had to go hiking or camping I found a perfect cleaqner for everything. Dr.Bronners soaps. It comes in many different scents like spearmint and lavender and you can use it on anything. I found it is good for doing the laundry, and cleaning my body and hair. That's a good deal when you don't have a lot of money but you want toget clean. I have found it at Whole Foods Stores and at EMS outdoors goods places.

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Clorox "Green Works" that's a contradiction in terms. Clorox is one of the worst offenders when it comes to animal testing and polluting there is. If you don't want to make your own cleaning products, there are other companies out there to choose from besides Clorox, that are 'earth' friendly.

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I have used all of recipes here-and they all work great. The soft scrub works great for showers-everything rinsed really clean. It's nice to know what you put in your cleaning products-and it's also nice to have a house than smells clean-and not full of chemicals!

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Hello Shannon: Why spend more $$ than you need? The Clorox green line is 4 ounces for an all purpose cleaner. That makes only 7 (28 ounce bottle) mixes of all purpose cleaner. The Shaklee Basic-H takes only 1 tablespoon to do the same thing. www.shaklee.net/steve and it saves on the plastic thrown away. Shaklee is a leader in the environmental movement since 1960 when the H was introduced. Bill Clinton said some real nice things about Shaklee. Many organizations and people in the movement hold Shaklee in very high regard in this field. Stuff works, company is very responsible, the cost is less than 20 cents per gallon solution and there is no smell. Yes I have used it for 26 years and would love to tell you more. Steve

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Well, I am surprised you have asked. As we have discussing that on another "thread". Here is one comment:
Steve, thanks for the info. FCOD is "fixed cut off date" for ingredient testing on animals. I didn't know much about it until now. I was just sort of shocked that people got upset about Ecover but said nothing about the Clorox products mentioned. I have seen their products in stores and I know it's a start for them but I will NEVER support Clorox no matter how "green" the product is. They are one of the worst when it comes to animal testing and polluting our earth/children etc.

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What type of liquid soap or detergent are you using?

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