Simple Green is the brand name of a line of cleaning products manufactured by Sunshine Makers, Inc. Their flagship product is Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner. It is popular both for its versatility and for its concentrated formula, which makes it a highly cost-effective cleaner per unit of volume. Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner comes in a variety of scents.
Ingredients
Simple Green does not provide a complete list of ingredients for its cleaners; in a letter to Women's Voices for the Earth, it attributes this policy to fears of piracy. It does post a Materials Safety Data Sheet and claims that its flagship product is nontoxic, biodegradable and bleach-free.
Household Uses
You can use Simple Green for most basic household cleaning tasks, including walls, windows, countertops, bathtubs and tile, toilets, sinks and floors. You also can use it as a laundry detergent, to pretreat laundry or to wash you car. Check the product's dilution chart for a guide to the proportions you should use for each cleaning task.
Other Products
Sunshine Makers also offers Simple Green products specifically formulated to deal with dog and cat odors and to clean stone, stainless steel, concrete and carpet. There is also a hand soap and a cleaning wipe.
Greenwashing Concerns
Women's Voices for the Earth and other environmentalist groups have recently criticized Simple Green for "greenwashing" their products, or misleading consumers into thinking Simple Green is more ecofriendly and nontoxic than it really is. Of central concern is the compound 2-butoxyethanol, a solvent and surfactant. Butoxyethanol has been shown to cause cancer in lab animals exposed to high doses, according to the National Toxicology Project, and in lower concentrations it causes mucous membrane irritation in humans. The State of California has declared it a hazardous substance, but this refers primarily to the safety of industrial workers who might be exposed to high concentrations.
Simple Green Naturals
Partly in reaction to concerns over ingredient disclosure and toxicity, Sunshine Makers launched its Simple Green Naturals line of cleaning products in 2008. Sunshine Makers posts full safety information and ingredient lists on its website for the Naturals line, and also claims that all Naturals formulations are nontoxic, biodegradable and contain only natural scents.
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