I've been doing research into specific brands of Eco friendly cleaning products lately. The first to come under ecogirl's scrutiny is Simple Green. It's a tricky one, this because in essence they have three product ranges available, so it seems fair to tackle each one separately.

A little introduction seems to be the order of the day. Simple Green is a range of concentrated biodegradable cleaning products made by Sunshine Makers Inc. Now, purely for rather girly romantic notions I have to say that both the brand and the organisation names are fantastic. You feel like you're buying into some technicolor world of musicals, dancing and (sadly) some Eco friendly cleaning too.

Seriously though, the makers are first and foremost about making fantastic quality cleaning solutions for industrial use. They started over thirty years ago to make safer cleaning agents for use by business. Their aim, to make cleaners which did the job without harming workers or the environment. Being in the business of supplying industry, they would have been dead in the water if the products didn't actually clean as well as the competition. After all, consumers may be happy to compromise a little performance in the name of planet saving, industry tends not to be quite so wishy washy!

Luckily for us, Sunshine Makers are happy to supply their products in less bulky containers for home use. So now ordinary consumers can have the benefit of using their industrial strength cleaners without having to invest in a 55 gallon drum!

Looking at the customer reviews on amazon and various consumer sites it is plain to see tha the Simple Green range of heavy duty cleaners most definitely work. No complaints that they aren't as efficient as conventional cleaners. It seems that the Simple Green range is primarily a brand of tough cleaners, and secondly an environmentally aware one.

All the products come in highly concentrated packs. Consumers are advised to dilute each with from ten to thirty parts water. This means buying from the range saves up to thirty times as much packaging, materials and transportation costs than if we bought a non-concentrated alternative. Supplying products which aren't diluted to force us into multiple purchases a month is one of the most Eco ways to manufacture goods. So that's a big thumbs up so far!

Because the range was initially developed for industry and to be used in the work place it comes under much more stringent rules and regulations than ordinary household products. To be able to label itself non-toxic within the Health and Safety in the Workplace rules entails an awful lot of testing which ordinary products just do not need to do.

Great then, this means the products definitely are non-toxic cleaners. BUT, shock, horror, Simple Green test their products on animals!!! Well, excuse the exclamation marks but there are an awful lot of highly excited forum dwellers decrying Simple Green for using animal testing. The thing is, they did test their ingredients on animals. But, that was part of the US Federal Government's requirement for them to be considered non-toxic and suitable in the workplace. Really greenies, firstly things were a little different 25 years ago, and secondly, how on earth do we know anything is non-toxic? Guesswork? I don't think so! But, as the company use the same ingredients, already tested they haven't needed to conduct any more animal testing for the last two decades. Thankfully, legislation is now different and animal testing used more rarely but I still think we should give Sunshine Makers a break on this one. They did what was necessary at the time. On a side-note, many products are labelled that the manufacturer do no animal testing, but that does not mean the ingredients haven't been tested on animals by others, and the results shared with the company you are buying from.

All the products are readily biodegradable. This means not only can they biodegrade but they actually do biodegrade. Far more important that they do breakdown easily and quickly.

For me, the real reason the industrial strenth cleaners from Simple Green are not truly Eco friendly is that they are made using petroleum based detergents. That doesn't stop me using them, for the really tough jobs. But, it is a compromise. Being really planet friendly, I feel, means using less oil and that is exactly where these detergents come from.

So for a greener clean than conventional products, you really cannot go wrong by chosing Simple Green's heavy duty cleaners. They are fully biodegradable unlike most conventional brands and come in much more concentrated packs. However, this is not 100% "Save the Planet" Greeness. But then, for that kind of Eco friendly cleaning you could make do with some soapy water, or some elbow grease.

Although the core business at Sunshine Makers is producing tough but safe cleaners, they have made some move towards accommodating the darker green cleaners out there.  Recently, they have introduced an All Natural cleaning range.

In stark contrast to their core products, the All Natural range does exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak.  All the ingredients are 100% naturally derived.  Water, naturally occurring salts and sugars, plant based perfumes and plant oil detergents are what you get if you opt to buy into the All Natural range.

One thing, which does strike me as odd, is that this 'more' Eco friendly range comes in smaller pack sizes but then, they are aimed solely at the household consumer, rather than households and janitors.  I guess we can't have everything!

The All Natural range is still providing good cleaning quality.  Looking at customer reviews the products do what they should.  Yes they're not quite so powerful as the ordinary Simple Green range, but they're not bad.  Compared to other green cleaning brands the All Naturals line comes out quite well.  The thing is cleaning is pretty personal and if you've spent your life using Domestos, nothing green will ever seem quite so tough or quick to use!

But, these products work, they are safe and biodegradable AND they do not help fund the petroleum industry (well, packaging aside).  So for a greener Simple Green clean try the All Naturals range.

Obviously Sunshine Makers are a commercial concern interested in profit.  But, they do come across as a pretty green company.  They plough profits into education to ensure future generations are a little more planet aware than previous ones were. 

Plus, they only use 99.9% recyclable plastics in their packaging.  They also use a significant amount of post consumer recycled plastics to make the packaging in the first place.  They use no Styrofoam, instead using corn starch products which is definitely good news.

Of course, they're not perfect, but they're pretty good.  Buying anything manufactured and packaged will have some impact on the planet.  There are just varying degrees to what that impact will be.  Choosing Sunshine Makers will make you smile because the name is just so lovely, and because you know you are making a better choice for your cleaning.