Detergents, Soaps and More

​​In your home, you usually have one prime, important goal in mind: Keep your home clean and healthy. 
 
To do that, it takes a lot of thought. Not about your technique… but about the products you choose to clean.
 
When you wander the cleaning supply aisle at the store, the options are endless. The list of ingredients is long and the descriptive words are confusing. A scientist working in a laboratory may know what those ingredients are, but they are a complete mystery to you.
 
What do you really need to know? Here are the basics.
 
Detergent versus Soap
 
Most of the products you use are “detergents” — they are man-made or synthetic. They clean great, and usually don’t leave a sticky residue. Soap, however, is natural and cleans great as well, yet can leave a sticky residue if not rinsed off completely. Choose either one, but keep in mind the residue issue. You don’t want to clean and then have the sunlight show you a white, sticky residue.
 
Surfactants
 
This weird word you might have heard of is the active cleaning agent. It means “surface active agent” and put simply it “makes water wetter". Think of a waxed surface, the water beads up. Yet if you add a little dish detergent, which has surfactants, the water spreads out. Surfactants allow water to penetrate surfaces, which is how we clean.
 
pH
 
pH can be confusing, but it doesn’t have to be. It measures how alkaline or acidic something is. A lemon is of course acidic. So is coffee, tea and most foods. Most cleaning products are going to be alkaline, the opposite of acidic. When you have an upset stomach, you reach for an antacid, because the alkalinity in the antacid will counteract the acid that is upsetting your stomach. Cleaning is like that, balancing pH, in addition to using surfactants so water can do its job.
 
But the bottom line when it comes to choosing products? Choose a reputable brand. And when you really want to know what’s best for your home when it comes to cleaning… contact your favorite cleaning company. They have the intel.

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