Ok… So maybe you’re the type of person who wants to use greener, safer, and non-toxic products to clean your house, but you don’t have time to go on Pinterest and wade through the gajillion pins related to “DIY Household Cleaners.” Maybe you’re the type of person who detests the smell of vinegar because your mom used it to clean up vomit when you were a kid (that’s me)! Or maybe you’re just lazy and dumb (also me)!
If you fit into any of those categories, have I got some awesome new products for you! They’re called “Better Life”, they’re not too expensive, and they work very well.
Quick background story:
The Better Life products were created by two friends who had just become new parents around the same time. They were chatting about all the insane ingredients in household cleaners and were worried about the health and safety of their children. So they, one of them being a formulation chemist, decided to make their own products and take their idea to the T.V. show “Shark Tank”. And poof! A new line of non-toxic cleaning products were born.
Table of Contents
The Better Life Promise
In order for the products to get their personal stamp-of-approval, the company requires that:
- Better Life Products are safe for people and pets if swallowed. All products are made with plants, vegetables, and water with no fragrances, dyes or harmful chemicals of any kind.
- They are safe for the Environment containing no ethoxylate which is common in most cleaning products. Anything carrying the Better Life Brand must also biodegrade double the rate of the industry standard.
- The Green Cleaning Product MUST Work better than conventional products and outperform the Name Brands using harmful chemicals.
My Experience and Review
**Note** I purchased all of these products on my own and was not asked by the company to review them. I’m not that famous…YET.
All of this sounded great to me, short of their use of terms like “plant-derived ingredients”. I’m always wary of language like that because guess what else could be called, “Organic and plant-derived?” Sodium…Lauryl…Sulfate (derived from coconuts). But putting that aside, I decided to try three of their products.
Simply Floored – Floor Cleaner
This…stuff…works. All I did was squirt some of it on my kitchen floor and attack the floor with a mop. I couldn’t believe how much grime it picked up! On top of that, it smelled great. No hint of vinegar and no overpowering fragrance that feels like it’s ripping apart my nose hairs… Just a very light, clean hint of citrus. I was very impressed.
A++
What-EVER! – Multipurpose Spray
This one is my favorite! Again, the scent was perfect. It’s so light and fresh without being overwhelming that I wanted to spray it on everything. I’ve used this to clean kitchen and bathroom counters, my stove top, tables, glass counters, etc. and it really, really works. Sometimes (during finals) I admit that I occasionally allow my kitchen to decline into a mess of piled-up dishes, old food on the counters, etc. WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE ME???
But even with those issues, I’ll spray What-EVER! on everything, and it picks up the old gunk like a pro. This is my favorite product from Better Life. You can use it on practically everything and it is a natural disinfectant! Here’s a quick video of the Better Life guys demonstrating how much bacteria What-EVER! kills in comparison with Lysol:
A+++
Dish it Out – Dish Soap
Sorry Better Life dudes, this is where I was a bit disappointed. Again, this stuff smells great. It also keeps me from having dishpan hands (maybe now I’ll catch me a husband)!
However, when it comes to performance, this does not remove grease and baked-on foods as well as other dish soaps I’ve tried. I need to use way more of this product to get the same amount of cleaning power I get from other products. It gets the job done, but you need to use a lot of elbow-grease and muscle power to scrub away grease and/or crusted-on food. So while I like it because it’s non-toxic and smells great, I’d really love it if they went back to the drawing board on this one and revved up the cleaning power.
I’ll still use it because it’s a good alternative to all the other harsh dish soaps that contain SLS and other irritating ingredients.
B-
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m in love with this company. I love the message and the story behind their development. I’m also pumped that more companies are attempting to make non-toxic products that:
- Actually work
- Have cute labels (I’m shallow)
- Actually smell good
- Are developed with some real science behind them
They have many, many, many more products that I’m definitely going to try in the future, so I’ll keep ya’ll posted. If you’d like to check out more of their products, ingredient labels, and their story, check out their website: http://www.cleanhappens.com/
I’ve purchased most of their products through Amazon, but I’ve also found them at local health-food stores. You can also purchase their products at Target!
Now go clean up your gunk…ya nasty!
