It’s the first official week of Spring and the perfect time to tackle your cleaning routine – even before you start. Today, we’re talking all about detoxing your cleaning supplies and strategies with founder and owner of a Cape Cod based cleaning supply company!
Every time I used to walk down the cleaning aisle at the grocery store, I tried to power walk through it and grab whatever I needed as fast as possible. The smell was overwhelming, always making me sneeze as I paced through it. As the latest product came out, the bright colors attracted us to purchase them, with their promises of cleaning your home and leaving it spotless and germ-free. What we didn’t know was how harmful all the chemical-based cleaning products are to our bodies – how even getting a splash on your skin was dangerous, as your skin would absorb it quickly. Think your home will smell amazing with the “Tropical Sea Breeze” scent? If by amazing you mean an overpowering fake scent made up of chemicals and fragrance, than go ahead and live that Tropical life. Not only are you breathing in this harmful chemicals, but they are going into the environment, polluting our waterways and making a negative impact on ozone depletion.
For the past two years, I’ve slowly tried to do an overhaul on the amount of chemicals used in our home. Specifically, our cleaning supplies. Thankfully, I had a chance to meet Devin Donalson, founder of The Optimist. Made right on Cape Cod (in Cotuit), she’s bringing cleaner cleaning products to our homes – now’s your chance to virtually meet her!
What moment did you realize you wanted to start a green cleaning company?
I suffered an asthma attack from one of the leading “green” cleaning sprays and took a look at the label and realized I would practically need a chemistry degree to understand the ingredients. This was the ah-ha moment where I saw there still lacked truly safe cleaning products and complete transparency. I wanted to be more then just another green product and implemented the recognizably test for all of our products. We print our ingrinets that are easy-to-recognize as safe on the front of our packaging and even teach how to clean without chemicals in our makers kit. We have taken green cleaning open-source so that it is easy to know our products are truly safe.
Why is green cleaning so important to you – and why should it be important to the general population?
What are some of the dangers of regular cleaning supplies found at the store?
Traditional cleaning products are full of long lists of chemicals to avoid and it can feel overwhelming to know what is safe. These ingredients include parabens, phthalates, preservatives and synthetic ingredients and that can have terrible health consequences long term and also be very irritating immediately when you use them. Fragrance is a big danger as you have no idea what chemicals it is hiding. We only use pure, food grade essential oils that not only have great cleaning benefits but also smell amazing. The traditional glass cleaner we grew up with is ammonia based and this continues to off gas in your home long after you are done using it. An easy switch is to a vinegar based product like our Bright Side natural glass cleaner. You will still get a streak free shine and vinegar helps to purify the air in your home.
People wonder – do green cleaning products actually WORK? What would you say to them?
The Optimist Co. products can be found at Rainy Day in Vineyard Haven, Martha’s Vineyard or ordered online at The Optimist. These photos were provided by The Optimist Co. Opinions are 100% my own, from my experience using the products for the last two years.