Review and give-away: CLR cleaning products

Years ago when we moved into a new house, there was a bottle of CLR left behind by the previous owner. At the time, I thought that it must be horribly toxic if it actually cleaned calcium, lime, and rust, as the label promised. Imagine my surprise a few months ago when I was on the Environmental Working Group's website where they rate various cleaning products based upon the health and environmental impact.

The original CLR gets a grade of A, which is extremely rare on EWG's site, and the CLR Kitchen and Bath Cleaner gets a grade of B, which is still pretty good and not that common in the world of commercial cleaners. Only 7 of the 217 bathroom cleaners rated have an A, and only 22 received a B. Both products are also biodegradeable, which is important to me because we have a septic field where all of our waste water goes. It's one reason I use things like vinegar and baking soda for most of my cleaning.

Like many people who live in the country, we have a well, and in spite of spending big bucks on a water filtration system and a water softener, our water is still high in mineral content and creates a cleaning headache in the bathroom. CLR really does get everything clean, even after a couple of weeks of neglect.

You might wonder why The Thrifty Homesteader, who loves vinegar and baking soda for cleaning, is telling you about this product. Well, I've always said that vinegar and baking soda will clean most things, and that's true, but if you happen to have something that is more challenging to clean, I would prefer you choose a safer commercial product that works. Considering the fact that 56.7% of bathroom cleaning products get a grade of F, and another 19.4% get a grade of D from the EWG, you have a 3 in 4 chance of using something really toxic if you buy a product to clean your bathroom.

So, when the makers of CLR asked me to review their product and give away a couple of bottles on my blog, I agreed. If you have a cleaning problem that needs something tougher than baking soda or vinegar, you can enter to win a bottle of each of these products. (Sorry but only those with US addresses are eligible.) There are a variety of ways for you to enter. Details are below.

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