My worry over being clean while being green, part 2

So now you all know about my historical mania over being clean, but what I didn't talk about yesterday was the product-end of the whole thing.

One of the first times I was really confronted with what we're putting into our environment came from my friend AblePonder, when she told me about how she was looking for a shampoo without sulfates. AP was living off-campus in a darling little house, and we were both taking that Oil & Water Use class. While talking about the expense of living off-campus and the expense of living, generally, she mentioned something about the sulfates in shampoo, and that started a domino effect in my head about the stuff I use to clean, both me and my living space.

Now, it wasn't immediate, but it got me curious, and then curiouser. I was shocked at the price sticker on "environmentally safe" shampoos and cleaning products - and especially when something is expensive, I'm slow to change. I bought some shampoo from my stylist, Shana, that was sulfate free; she was selling it because it was safer for color-treated hair (oh yes, that's another topic altogether, one that I'm afraid to start researching). But I started talking to her about it, and got more than I bargained for.

Shana had just started buying Melaleuca products, and got me to go to one of those in-house presentations (Amway, anyone?) where they convince you to buy their stuff. I was not really enthused about it, because I didn't really have an extra $50 a month to spend on something silly.

But then, of course, due to peer pressure I started using the stuff. I'll quit after a few months, I thought. But then I started taking the vitamins. I don't know if it's psychosomatic or what, but I sleep better and have more energy when I take the vitamins on a regular basis. And since I was buying the vitamins, I started trying the other stuff, too. This was around the time that I moved out of my Hillsboro Village apartment and into my Green Hills condo, and I was cleaning a LOT - cleaning the apartment to move out, cleaning the new house to move in... and I used the Melaleuca cleaning stuff to do it. It didn't burn my throat and nose, and it didn't make me dizzy, like 409 or Clorox cleanup does.

As I've used this stuff more and more, I keep being surprised by it. Using their body wash & deodorant, I don't smell at the end of the day (or the next day, since I've started alternating days on showering). I always felt like using the Olay body wash and Secret deodorant that I was just covering up my smell - but with this new stuff I really feel like I just smell like myself, not a stinky, gross version of myself.

Still, I wasn't really sold on the "Melaleuca" label... until my ex-roommate Alex moved out. Alex's dog, Chance, had assisted Alex in making the carpet in their bedroom really gross. It's pretty near impossible to keep the carpets clean anyway, what with the city dirt combined with the tar-sealed parking lot outside and the wood floors in the rest of the condo. I told Alex that he'd need to clean the carpets after he moved out. Well, Alex was pretty strapped for money, and so he and his girlfriend tried to clean the carpets themselves. They got into my cleaning closet and got out the "Sol-u-mel" stuff, which Melaleuca bills as a triple-threat stain-remover, deodorizer and cleaning product.

I sort of hate myself for raving like this (I feel like I sound like an infomercial), but that stuff is AMAZING. Case-in-point was Alex's carpet. It went from dingy-grey to the off-white "ecru" it was when we moved in! I was really stunned. Not only that, but I started using it as an additive to my laundry when i did sheets and towels - it removes smells COMPLETELY. I wash my dogs' towels and rags, there is NO TRACE of urine or "dog"smell. My friend Steph used it to wash stuff that her cats had peed on, and it also came out of the laundry smelling like new.

Now, AP uses a lot of vinegar and baking soda when she cleans, and I've taken that up, as well. Using vinegar and water on the wood floors seems to be keeping that nasty black dust at bay, and baking soda is a great laundry and cleaning additive.

Frankly, even though I'm impressed by the Melaleuca stuff, there's still a part of me that wonders if I'm not making a mountain out of a mole-hill. Would using vinegar and baking soda on everything - from my hair to my laundry to my floors - not be just as effective? And cheaper?

I'm still quite in the middle of this thought process. With the new Whole Foods & Whole Body down the street, I've been wanting to try to get away from Melaleuca (because there's a minimum to buy every month, and there's a shipping charge, both bank-breakers - and the shipping isn't a very green option).

Any suggestions for stuff that you love would be very welcome! What do you use to clean?