speaker-0 (00:01)
And it's also way, way cheaper. Yeah, you're going to be shocked. You're going to crap your pants.

speaker-1 (00:05)
Ding ding ding. Stay tuned.

Chalking collo- boy. Well that's not what I need to

speaker-0 (00:16)
The mood just fell.

Hello cat! Hello different- I'm doing well, I feel like we always start with like weird-

speaker-1 (00:27)
How are you doing?

I know, I'm like, hello, right, yeah, there's always like a mid-North Atlantic accent, because we're self-conscious.

speaker-0 (00:37)
Yeah, I think it's just an insecurity thing. Yeah. So the last time we chatted, I was about to head to the Netherlands and I'm happy. Yeah. That sounds wrong. I'm not happy to report that I'm back, but I made it back. Congratulations. Yeah. Well done. I did it. ⁓ But it was great. And I actually did chat with my friend's neighbor who works in sustainability stuff. ⁓ Isn't that funny? It just happened to be...

speaker-1 (01:02)
Awesome!

speaker-0 (01:07)
I mean, yeah. Yeah, it's Kiznet.

speaker-1 (01:09)
I kind of

in the Netherlands, kind of like, that's a legit job there.

speaker-0 (01:16)
Yeah, he does like investing, but sustainability investing. Impact. ⁓

speaker-1 (01:20)
Yes, if you environmental

sustainability and governance.

speaker-0 (01:25)
Well, it's actually different, I learned from him. Impact investing is much more real because I think ESG is kind of a...

speaker-1 (01:35)
Yeah, it's kind of a, it might be a green hooey.

speaker-0 (01:38)
Yeah, I think it depends on the company, but anyway, that was kind cool. And yeah, it seems like the whole country is way more interested in sustainability and everybody bikes. It's so quiet. I mean, it's just so strange because you're in downtown and it's like, not Amsterdam. Yeah. Amsterdam is bigger, but where they were living, it's...

speaker-1 (01:59)
bicycles.

speaker-0 (02:06)
a small basically village and it was so quiet just because there aren't cars.

speaker-1 (02:14)
Yeah,

like the freeway down the street, right?

speaker-0 (02:17)
Yes, exactly. ⁓ So it was really eye-opening, although it was kind of interesting. And I want to look into this. I was talking to her neighbor about how much plastic packaging they use in the grocery store because I was sort of blown away by how much there was. Every single thing was wrapped

speaker-1 (02:37)
Just wrapped in plastic.

speaker-0 (02:39)
Yeah,

and I mean, we do that here in the US too, but it was just sort of surprising. And I guess they recently passed some sort of law, certain fruits and vegetables can't be wrapped in plastic anymore. But this guy, her neighbor was saying that like 95 % of plastic gets recycled in the Netherlands.

speaker-1 (03:00)
even plastic films and things.

speaker-0 (03:02)
Yeah. And I was like, that's insane because I think it's like 5 % in the US. yeah, I really want to look into that, but it was cool because they had these really easy recycling little facility, little like, what would you call them? Yeah. And she said it was like a big tub in the ground. So it was like this huge underground bunker where it fit a bunch of stuff. But then up on top, it was just this little slot that you throw in your glass. And yeah.

⁓ so yeah, that was, it was really cool. It was cool to see.

speaker-1 (03:35)
That's great. I mean, that's really exciting.

speaker-0 (03:38)
Yeah, so we'll definitely whenever we talk about recycling, we'll look into that.

speaker-1 (03:42)
Yeah,

what other countries are doing it.

speaker-0 (03:45)
And if they're doing it better.

speaker-1 (03:47)
Yeah, which they probably... Okay, I'm sorry. I have to pause. My dog just busted into the room and opened the door and then left. I just gotta close the door. He just doesn't like close doors. It's against his religion.

speaker-0 (03:50)
Yep.

and then lap it.

hilarious.

speaker-1 (04:13)
Twist in.

speaker-0 (04:14)
Okay, so we have a pretty big episode, which is surprising given the topic.

speaker-1 (04:22)
Yeah, was assuming it was going to be like a one and done like, I know.

speaker-0 (04:27)
homemade all purpose cleaner is what we're talking about. And you'd think it'd be like, what is it? Is it good?

speaker-1 (04:35)
Yeah, who's it murdering? How?

speaker-0 (04:39)
How

can you? Yeah, move on. Well, no.

speaker-1 (04:43)
Well, I have a question first. Yes. How is it different from homemade glass cleaner?

speaker-0 (04:49)
Okay. Well, that's the interesting thing. And I have a definition of all purpose cleaner for you. ⁓ goody. Okay. Yeah. So the cool thing is that since we do research, we each research different episodes, I feel like we go down different rabbit holes. So it's kind of nice, right? Like we cover different things. So yeah, I think, ⁓ I mean, I will answer how it's different than how many glass cleaner. Yeah, we can just get into it if you want. Yeah. All right.

speaker-1 (05:13)
Okay.

Let's dance.

speaker-0 (05:18)
Do the Samba.

speaker-1 (05:20)
All purpose cleaner samba. Yeah.

speaker-0 (05:23)
So first off, name my sources.

speaker-1 (05:29)
⁓

speaker-0 (05:31)
I, oh God, see, it's so funny when you edit this stuff, because now you realize how annoying your sound. Yeah, you're like, yeah, exactly. Um, okay. Sources national library of medicine for the all purpose cleaner definition. And I use the environmental working group for, um, ratings of all purpose cleaner and a few other products that I talk about. The spruce has a really good, I like it's always the same.

speaker-1 (05:37)
god, stop clicking my tongue.

We love this, Bruce.

speaker-0 (06:01)
I know. We just, they're just so good. they have their eight best all purpose cleaners where they rated just sort of regular standard all purpose cleaners that you could find at most stores. Three DIY all purpose cleaner options from insider that I looked into. ⁓ consumer reports, I use them, ⁓ they talked about vinegar, using vinegar on stone countertops and how you're not supposed to. You're not supposed to. Surprise. Yep.

Then I looked into a different article from countertopspecialty.com about hydrogen peroxide on countertops. So you'll see. ⁓

speaker-1 (06:39)
Okay.

I'm

like, what is happening? How many?

speaker-0 (06:46)
I know, I'm telling you, this is a big, big episode. Then I use the kitchen for Castile soap, because I don't know if you remember, I said I was going look into Castile soap. Yeah. And so the kitchen, I use them for Castile soap, a couple articles about Castile soap and a recipe for Castile soap, all purpose cleaner. Okay. I also use Dr. Bronner's website, which is a Castile soap, basically the one that you know, Castile soap.

speaker-1 (07:15)
We all know Dr. Bronner's.

speaker-0 (07:16)
We are. I also looked at the, okay, so I looked at the National Library of Medicine twice, but for two different reasons for this episode. The other one was for antibacterial properties of peppermint, which is fascinating. Uh-oh. Yep. It's no comment. We're going to get there. I know. And then I looked at Bob Vila and I figured he would know of anybody if you can use.

speaker-1 (07:33)
giving in to the essential oils.

speaker-0 (07:46)
cast steel soap on hardwood and he gives us the answer. And then I use it Amazon and Target for prices on products. So what is all purpose cleaner? The National Library of Medicine says all purpose cleaner can be used for different cleaning tasks in and around the house. So it's mostly used in the kitchen and the bathroom, specifically for floors, sinks and toilets.

speaker-1 (08:12)
Okay.

speaker-0 (08:13)
Yeah. So it's kind of funny because this article at the National Library of Medicine went all into all purpose cleaners and they like, they said, consumers place high demands on all purpose cleaners. They want them to have surface protection, residue free drying on clean surface, good skin compatibility, easy handling, appropriate foaming behavior.

speaker-1 (08:30)
idea.

I'm gonna put that in my Bumble profile.

I would like appropriate foaming behavior. I'm sorry, please continue.

speaker-0 (08:48)
so much. And then you could also put this in your Bumble profile.

speaker-1 (08:49)
haha

Just

list all of the, like, I am looking for... compatibility. It's the perfect man.

speaker-0 (08:58)
Good skin compatibility.

easy handling

speaker-1 (09:05)
Yes. Residue-free drying. Yes.

speaker-0 (09:07)
I love it. Residue free.

And the last one is pleasant scent.

speaker-1 (09:14)
100%. That is so all of my dating profiles. I'm updating them right now. Totally. on them in six months and I'm just going to go in now and just put that list in. I love it so See if anyone notices. They're like, are you describing All Purpose Cleaner? I'll marry the first man who asks me that.

speaker-0 (09:31)
Totally, totally. Love it so much. ⁓ You'll have to link to that whenever you change it.

speaker-1 (09:40)
Now you're asking me to get back on the dating apps. is worse than death.

speaker-0 (09:43)
No, no, no, no, no. That's no fun. Although I met Joe on OkCupid, but that was back when OkCupid was normal. It was great. Yeah, it really was. But now it's, I hear, not great. I haven't used it.

speaker-1 (09:51)
Yeah, okay, keep it

Because they're just match.com. Okay, we're not discussing the sustainability of dating apps. That's in season three.

speaker-0 (10:05)
Yeah,

totally. Okay. So all purpose cleaners can come in liquid spray form or as like wet tissues. So wipes.

speaker-1 (10:12)
Guessing that's the least sustainable option, but I'm not gonna say anything.

speaker-0 (10:15)
Yeah, I actually didn't look into them to be honest, but yeah

speaker-1 (10:18)
Yeah,

because it's just like, hey, use your own paper towels and quit throwing things away.

speaker-0 (10:22)
Exactly. Listen to the Unpaper, Unpepper Tal episode.

speaker-1 (10:28)
Spagati Noddle.

speaker-0 (10:32)
Okay, so all-purpose cleaner. So just like a lot of other cleaners can contain, this is from the same NIH, not NIH, National Health. What is it? National Library of Medicine.

speaker-1 (10:43)
National Library. Make up an acronym. Any acronym will do.

speaker-0 (10:47)
So they contain surfactants, which I talked about in laundry detergent, which is basically just soap. They contain builders, which is like citric acid, which is basically like lemons, ⁓ citric. Yeah. Hydrotropes and solvents, which to be honest, I didn't look that up and I don't know what that is. But that's in there. And a lot of them have additives like dyes, fragrances, preservatives, skin protecting agents.

speaker-1 (11:05)
Yeah.

speaker-0 (11:18)
And water. So all of these things that I just listed are between like maximum, like one to 10%. Oh. Water is 75 to 95%. Yeah. So that means that you're paying tons of money. mean, actually it turns out to be tons of money compared to what you could pay if you DIY it, spoiler alert.

speaker-1 (11:32)
Holy cannoli.

speaker-0 (11:45)
tons of money to buy and store water. So this sort of leads into my next bullet point, why would you want to make your own? First reason, I mean, I just said it, you're, you know, buying water and storing water. Number two, you can control what's in it. So,

speaker-1 (12:03)
Mm-hmm.

speaker-0 (12:10)
the same National Library of Medicine study examined all-purpose cleaning sprays. It's amazing that people get paid to do this. So happy, but. Yeah. So they found that you're using this, a default. I don't know why I wrote 364 times per year on kitchen countertops. It's supposed to be 365 because that's how many days there are, but that's okay.

speaker-1 (12:16)
I know.

You were like, I'm taking away leap year. And they're like, that's not actually how that works.

speaker-0 (12:37)
April Fool's, nobody cleans. Okay. Yeah. So you're kind of using this stuff every day. So that's a pretty big exposure inhalation on your skin, that type of thing. And I looked into my favorite, the environmental working group, which rates products like household products on a scale from A to F based on their toxicity and their aquatic toxicity and all of the above. Yeah.

speaker-1 (12:47)
sense, yeah.

speaker-0 (13:04)
All purpose cleaners get a D or an F then an A through a C. So most get a D or an F that are on the market. There are some decent ones. Yeah. So there are some decent ones, but there's going to be other reasons why you definitely don't want to bother. Yeah. So the funny thing is some of the F's were called like a lot of the ones with bleach in them got F's and I think it's just because of the bleach. Ecodaisy got an F.

speaker-1 (13:09)
Okay.

guesses.

speaker-0 (13:35)
Yep. So EcoDaisy multipurpose cleaner got an F. A few of the scents of one called Grab Green Countertop Cleaner got F.

speaker-1 (13:44)
Green Hooey!

speaker-0 (13:45)
Yes, it's Green Hooey, exactly. And then Greenworks, which did we talk about Greenworks before?

speaker-1 (13:51)
No, I don't think we have, but...

speaker-0 (13:53)
It was a different brand. was a different green. Yeah. Different green. Who cares? It's all the same, but green works naturally just derived all purpose cleaner with lemon. Got an F. So it's like, it's like all these damn brands are not actually. Yes, exactly. So the other interesting thing is that some of the top rated all purpose cleaners aren't safe for contact top rated in a sense of like the spruce liked said that they work really well. They're not actually safe.

speaker-1 (14:08)
capitalizing on the greenwashing.

speaker-0 (14:23)
for contact with food surfaces, even though most people use them in the kitchen.

speaker-1 (14:28)
So don't use it on your cutting boards, just on your.

speaker-0 (14:31)
Right. But even countertops is like, think about how much food actually.

speaker-1 (14:36)
Yeah,

it falls down and yeah, or just, you just put the onion there for a minute while you.

speaker-0 (14:40)
Yeah, or your hands or whatever.

speaker-1 (14:42)
Yeah, yeah. Just licking the countertops.

speaker-0 (14:45)
Yeah. All right. So that's one big reason is you can control what's in your all-purpose cleaner. Another reason is it's simpler. So what I have found is I make my own and I have for like a year. honestly, a huge reason was because I was so tired of remembering to order the stupid thing, the one thing that does the, well, this is multipurpose, but it does like a couple things. And now it's like I can have a couple of ingredients.

and just mix them together. takes two seconds and exactly. So there's less extra packaging if you're buying, because I just reuse the same bottle over and over. And it's also way, way cheaper. Yeah, you're going to You're going to crap the pants.

speaker-1 (15:17)
also use it for other things.

Ding ding ding. Stay tuned. King

Kalu- boy. Well, that's not what I needed.

speaker-0 (15:43)
The mood just fell.

⁓ And also the DIY, in my opinion, the DIY stuff can work just as well. So, I mean, yeah. Okay. Let's talk about DIY all purpose cleaners.

speaker-1 (15:59)
you ⁓

⁓

speaker-0 (16:10)
Three options from Insider plus an extra one that I'm going to say I recommend and you'll understand why. So real quick, vinegar and water. ⁓ these? these. One half cup distilled white vinegar in two cups of water. You can add a little lemon essential oil if you want a better scent. Okay. Pros, it's affordable. It kills some germs. It annihilates hard water deposits.

speaker-1 (16:39)
plates.

speaker-0 (16:39)
Yeah, I put that word in there because no joke vinegar is amazing at that. It cuts through dirt, it works well. Some cons, vinegar doesn't disinfect completely, so it does a little bit, not completely.

speaker-1 (16:53)
I mean, okay, we can talk about

speaker-0 (16:56)
I know that's a whole debate, right? Right. And we will probably get into it. We're going to get into it, Kit. Yeah. Yeah. You shouldn't use it on wood, tile or grout because the acid can damage it. And according to consumer reports, you shouldn't use vinegar on natural stone countertops because it can eat away at the protective layer and then it's a porous surface. I was using it on my countertops for a long time and then I was like, ⁓ shoot. Then I learned this.

So yeah, so there's that. The next option they give you for a recipe is Borax plus vinegar. I'm going to pass on the Borax because it gets a D from the environmental working group. Yeah. So they do say that you can swap it with baking soda, which is, an A. So.

speaker-1 (17:38)
Okay, yeah, fair.

Okay. It's so funny. Okay. Yeah. guess Borax has like cancer issues, right?

speaker-0 (17:51)
I don't know. I don't know exactly what it is. I thought that was... Yeah, I just know it's a lot more potent. It's more intense than... caustic maybe? Yeah, even than washing soda. It's like one of the more powerful cleaners. So I don't know what's in it though. So for this, so for the baking soda one, this is my least favorite to be honest. You use a quarter cup vinegar and one cup of baking soda and then you apply it to the surface sort of like a paste, I think.

speaker-1 (18:20)
Okay.

speaker-0 (18:21)
And then you wait five minutes and then wipe it away. So the pros are it's affordable. You can use it on most surfaces. I think it's fine to use on, no, it's got vinegar in it. Anyway, use it on most surfaces. might be okay, but, and then it also can help remove stains if you leave it on long enough. Yeah. But you have to make it each time you want to use it. Right. Cause it'll.

speaker-1 (18:41)
so it is great.

go bad or dissipate or whatever. Yeah.

speaker-0 (18:48)
Yeah,

so it's not a spray, it's not something you can store, which I don't love, because who's going to do that?

speaker-1 (18:53)
I mean, when I need to clean a pan for the record, just throw vinegar and baking soda in it.

speaker-0 (19:00)
Yeah, which is so interesting because actually the two, that's probably why you can't store it because the two counter balance each other kind of. Like they actually cancel each other out.

speaker-1 (19:12)
Yeah,

they interact. mean, they create a reaction that the foam.

speaker-0 (19:16)
Yeah.

So it makes sense. I do that for other things too, but yeah. So yeah, you can't like store it, which is annoying. But hey, if it's not, I don't know. I just can't imagine cleaning my counters with that every day. Yeah. So it's not, it's also not a full disinfectant. So, ⁓ the third one is kind of interesting. I would have never thought to do this, but it's hydrogen peroxide.

speaker-1 (19:40)
another bubbler.

speaker-0 (19:41)
A bubbler. Gotta love that bubbly. ⁓ Yeah, it's just straight up hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle and you spray it. That's it. ⁓

speaker-1 (19:50)
not even though you don't even need to add baking soda.

speaker-0 (19:52)
No, not according to this recipe. You can add a few drops of essential oils if you want.

speaker-1 (20:00)
How dare you besmirch us with essential oil?

speaker-0 (20:03)
We'll see. And then you just spray it and wipe it away. So the pros for this one is affordable. You can store it obviously until you use it because it's just hydrogen peroxide. It's easy to make. You don't even have to mix it.

speaker-1 (20:18)
Yeah, just add a screw top.

speaker-0 (20:20)
Exactly. It totally disinfects. So it's a really good disinfectant and hospitals use it. I know. And it doesn't smell like vinegar, which is a pro in my book.

speaker-1 (20:28)
didn't know that.

That is a pro. And you can just squirt it in your mouth to de-bride canker sores.

speaker-0 (20:37)
There you go.

Yeah, exactly. You can use it for so many things. ⁓ You can't. my gosh, you're to be a whole new person once you come out of that kitchen.

speaker-1 (20:43)
dye your hair.

I'm just blonde. No canker sores. My new bumble profile, me, newly blonde, no canker sores, completely disinfected kitchen. You. Skin compatibility. Foaming. Whatever the foaming is. Yeah, I don't remember.

speaker-0 (20:52)
Exactly, fresh mouth.

Fresh scent.

speaker-1 (21:12)
A bit foamy consistent too, yeah.

speaker-0 (21:15)
I love it. So the cons of hydrogen peroxide is two things. You can't mix it with vinegar because it creates parasitic acid, which can irritate your skin and corrode surfaces. I didn't know this. Fair. So if you're like using vinegar to clean other stuff, you probably don't want to mix it up. No, no, it's not going to like create a bomb and explode your house or anything, but it might still. Yeah. It might make your skin a little itchy.

speaker-1 (21:31)
It's not like ammonia and bleach where you're gonna suffocate.

and your counter a little itchy.

speaker-0 (21:43)
Yeah, it's super easy. And then it's kind of the same. Also, according to countertop specialty.com, it's the same reasons as vinegar. shouldn't use it all the time on your stone countertops. So that's the other thing. So.

speaker-1 (21:46)
Super Hicc counter.

feel like the moral of the story is just get rid of your stone countertops, you weirdos.

speaker-0 (22:03)
I think

so. That could be. Mine are, I don't like mine to be honest. That sounds so bougie, but I just, we'll get into my house later.

speaker-1 (22:13)
I mean, mine are basically bathroom tile. have like, it's tiles. So like when you clean up, crumbs just get stuck in the grout. Like it's never clean and it's black. So it's like, okay.

speaker-0 (22:24)
lord.

speaker-1 (22:26)
Yeah. You can't see the coffee. At least he can't see the coffee.

speaker-0 (22:29)
There

you go. Yeah, that's the one thing about mine. It's very patterned. It's just this lady, we bought our house from this lady who she just thought she was a fixer upper and she seriously wasn't. It just so frustrating. So she sucks. anyway, okay. So yeah, more of the story. I wanted something I could use for everything. And I was so annoyed about like looking around for what the hell can I use? Cause I just, I want simplicity. I don't want to have to use 5,000 different products for.

all of the different needs. So it's multipurpose people and they also don't want it to kill me.

speaker-1 (23:02)
Mm-hmm.

Good call. Also putting that on my Bumble profile. Also, please don't kill me. ⁓

speaker-0 (23:10)
God.

I listen to way too much true crime to the point.

speaker-1 (23:14)
I know,

I know, I'm like, don't go on dates.

speaker-0 (23:16)
Okay. We're all safe. We're all fine. Okay. So I discovered Castile soap, as I mentioned. So we had owned a bottle of Castile soap for years because we used it for camping and like washing camp dishes and shampooing and stuff while we were camping, but we never use it for anything else ever. And we had this huge bottle because they come in very big bottles. You can get small ones too, if you just want to try it out, but.

speaker-1 (23:44)
I mean, why would you do that? Bible look. Yeah.

speaker-0 (23:47)
So what is it? What the heck is Castile soap? According to the kitchen, it's named after the olive oil based soaps originating in Castile, Spain. Yes. Because soap is made from fat, which

speaker-1 (24:03)
Which people don't know. It's lie, right?

speaker-0 (24:05)
It's weird to think about.

Castile soap comes in liquid or bar form. I've used the liquid one, but Dr. Bronner's is the most popular one. I've used You do. You have Dr. Bronner's.

speaker-1 (24:18)
for sure.

I have used Dr. Bronner's in the past, ⁓ I've to dilly-dally a little bit around the Dr. Bronner's fire. Mostly just because it's something to read in the shower.

speaker-0 (24:25)
I've been known.

to dabble with a bit.

For real though, I literally just wrote, it's a big bottle with a thousand words on it. Yeah.

speaker-1 (24:40)
It's got its own religion, like really.

speaker-0 (24:42)
Yeah. And that's why I was like, cause people love this shit. And I was like, is it actually good? Is it a cult and is it a cult around something good? Cause if it's a cult around something good, that's okay.

speaker-1 (24:48)
Halt.

Fine, fine.

Culture and good things are good. Yes.

speaker-0 (24:56)
So it's made from oils like coconut, olive oil, hemp oil, but they also sometimes use avocado oil, almond oil, and walnut oil. So it's all vegan. Which some subs aren't, they use animal fat. Yeah. it was created in 1948, so it's been around forever.

speaker-1 (25:11)
You check on that.

Yeah, I was like, I must have been the 70s. No. Yeah.

speaker-0 (25:21)
1948.

in the same kitchen, from the kitchen, they say that it registers at about 8.9 on the pH scale. So it's the same level as like baking soda and it's slightly more alkaline than mild dish soap. So it's like pretty mild actually.

speaker-1 (25:42)
I mean, like, is a seven, right? And that's neutral.

speaker-0 (25:45)
Yeah, there you go. So I didn't know that. I'm learning.

speaker-1 (25:51)
High school chemistry coming back to me.

speaker-0 (25:53)
Nice.

Well, at least one of us knows.

speaker-1 (25:57)
I'm looking it up right now to make sure. Okay, yeah. So the high as it goes is 14, so an eight. An egg is about where castile soap is. It's an eight. Baking soda is about a nine and hand soap is a 10.

speaker-0 (26:12)
Okay. Yeah, this is 8.9. So almost like baking soda, but. So it's great for cleaning greasy surfaces. So it's perfect for a kitchen and Dr. Bronner's website markets and the bottles markets itself as useful for 18 things. are hold your britches, washing your face, body, hands, and hair for bathing, shaving, brushing your teeth, rinsing fruit, aromatherapy, washing dishes by hand, doing laundry.

speaker-1 (26:27)
Right.

speaker-0 (26:41)
Mopping floors, all purpose cleaning, washing windows, scrubbing toilets, washing dogs, controlling, controlling dust mites, ants and aphids. The recipe for all purpose cleaner made with Castile soap from the kitchen, which is also the one I use is one tablespoon Castile soap in one spray bottle of water. That's it. And then you use it.

speaker-1 (27:05)
And then you still got that giant bottle in the shower to wash your dog.

speaker-0 (27:08)
Wash your dog, wash your kids, watch your wife. No, wait, that's different. Yes. But the big question is, is it antibacterial? Okay. Right? Because that's what we were talking about with the other. But yeah, I'm saying antibacterial because for a reason. Okay. Because I'm using a study and I, yeah, there's like a difference between viruses and bacteria. Sure. And I want to make sure I'm quoting things right. So. Let's. Precise.

speaker-1 (27:20)
Does it disinfect?

Yes, bacteria and viruses for.

Be precise.

speaker-0 (27:39)
Okay. I have the peppermint Castile soap from Dr. Bronner's because they have a bunch of different scents. Everyone, and I mean everyone who's even remotely interested in sustainability and writing about it online claims that peppermint has antibacterial properties. Have you ever heard that?

speaker-1 (27:58)
Yeah, I feel like I have, but mostly from like my friends who are trying to sell me doTERRA.

speaker-0 (28:03)
Okay. Okay. Well, it's everywhere.

speaker-1 (28:06)
Yeah, it's part of why we use it for toothpaste, right?

speaker-0 (28:10)
Yeah, I think it just smells like there's something about it that just makes us think clean. according to the National Library of Medicine, peppermint essential oil has a weak antibacterial activity.

speaker-1 (28:27)
Curses. Smells clean. Yes.

speaker-0 (28:31)
However, I didn't have a whole ton of time, so I'm trying to get this right. So as far as antibacterial, peppermint's not gonna get you there very well, but they've noticed antiviral activity with peppermint. But with a big B-U-T-T, lavender. So okay, so after I read this thing about peppermint, I was like, oh my God, we were ready about essential oils.

speaker-1 (28:49)
Mm-hmm.

I mean, okay.

speaker-0 (28:59)
Not quite to that extent, but you know, I was like, man, maybe this is annoying because I'm using peppermint for my all purpose cleaner. And I'm thinking like, I've even said to Joe before, like, this is definitely disinfectant. Right. So apparently not that great about it. But lavender is apparently active against E. coli. What? Yes. The bacteria that causes dysentery.

clinical strains of bacteria, including a bunch of strains that are resistant to antibiotics. Okay. How? I don't know. And this is essential oils. Like they were specifically looking at lavender essential oils.

speaker-1 (29:34)
hashtag science.

Not even just like the plant itself, like if you chew it up and spit it onto the counter.

speaker-0 (29:44)
Long story short, we're going to do a bonus episode on...

speaker-1 (29:47)
You

have to.

speaker-0 (29:50)
where we're probably going to eat our words and there we go. And that's okay.

speaker-1 (29:53)
Ta ta ta.

you ⁓

speaker-0 (30:06)
So Dr. Bronner's has a lavender one, a eucalyptus one, a citrus one, an unscented one, basically anything you can think of.

speaker-1 (30:13)
So do they use essential, is the ingredient essential oils and not like lavender scented stuff?

speaker-0 (30:21)
So

I did find a really cool study from these five University of Vermont students. They did a sustainability assessment of Dr. Bronner's and I was like, thank you because I don't have time for this. They actually went through each ingredient that they use in their products and they called, yeah, and they sort of studied how sustainable and non-toxic all of these things were.

speaker-1 (30:35)
Yeah.

speaker-0 (30:50)
Okay. So what I remember about lavender is that Dr. Bronner's created their own lavender strain, I think. And it's got its own name, like Lavenden or something. And I think they do make an essential oil out of it. Cause you would have to, I mean, in liquid form anyway, to mix it, you'd have to turn it into an oil. So yeah. So they're, that's what they're using. Isn't that interesting? Okay. Yes. It blew my fricking mind. Did you crap your pants?

you

speaker-1 (31:20)
Well, I have to go get the lavender soap for my undies and my chair. Not putting that in my...

speaker-0 (31:30)
Yeah, that, that.

speaker-1 (31:33)
That one can stay between us chickens, okay?

speaker-0 (31:37)
Yeah, so that was wild. right. So does it work real quick? Yes, it works. I mean, we use it on our granite countertops, our stovetop, our wooden dining table. ⁓

speaker-1 (31:41)
Wow.

and it doesn't eat them because it's an oil. mean, hardwood floors too, I assume would be fine with it.

speaker-0 (31:55)
That's

what Bob Villa says to use on your, he recommends using it on your wood floors because it's, yeah, Bob Villa, he knows what's up. Do people know, like do people younger than 35 know who Bob Villa is? It doesn't matter.

speaker-1 (32:02)
Safe. ⁓

We're going to have to post this old house. He's like who Tim the tool man was based off.

speaker-0 (32:14)
I'm sure they

I

think so. And actually I think he was on Home Improvement a couple of times. Or was it, oh, wasn't he the nemesis? Or the nemesis? I can't remember. Yeah. But that was funny. So yeah, I've been using it for almost a year and I use it on everything and it works great. And then the EWG, the Environmental Working Group, gives every Dr. Bronner's product a grade of an A, which is great, except for almond and rose because of, I think because of the scents.

speaker-1 (32:24)
supposed to be Tim's

speaker-0 (32:47)
but those get to be, so they're also great. Yeah. Okay, so onto the study. So like I said, they looked at everything, everything that goes into Dr. Bronner's and it was so funny reading this because they clearly were just enamored with this company.

speaker-1 (33:04)
And they're like, we love the- they fell into the cult.

speaker-0 (33:06)
Did, but it's for good reason because they said they reached out to them and then another company. And I think the other one was called nature's gate, but don't quote me on that. And the nature's gate were being really hard to work with. And then Dr. Browners, this is what they said. Dr. Browners quote, has no issue eliciting product and business information, which allows the public a full transparent view into their practices.

speaker-1 (33:30)
And that's one reason the environmental working group approves of companies too, is when they're open about makes sense. When you can find the information out. So, wow. God. I love them now too. I'm in the

speaker-0 (33:41)
I did too and I was like,

I was so skeptical and then I'm just like, dang it. Okay, I love them. I'm glad though, because I've been using it, but I can just go on and on. But Dr. Bronner's converted a bunch of coconut oil or coconut farms into organic farms in Sri Lanka and that's where they get all of their coconut oil from. The organic olive oil that they use comes from a Palestinian owned company called Canain Fair Trade and it operates out of the West Bank. So it's like,

owned by Palestinians running out of Palestine.

speaker-1 (34:13)
Don't tell the Texas legislation.

speaker-0 (34:15)
Well,

no comment. ⁓ Hemp oil is more sustainable than many other crops. It's produced in Canada.

speaker-1 (34:27)
Lower water.

speaker-0 (34:28)
Another good thing about this company, about Dr. Bronner's, is they're packaged in 100 % post-consumer recycled cylinder bottles and paper labels. 100!

speaker-1 (34:40)
Yeah, that is, I mean, yeah.

speaker-0 (34:43)
Most places are like 90 % maximum. They're also three times more concentrated than other soaps, so that means you can use it for much longer.

speaker-1 (34:53)
So you're not using it for just, you're not paying for the water. Exactly.

speaker-0 (34:58)
So easy answer is yeah, it's pretty damn good.

speaker-1 (35:02)
So this is a love letter to

speaker-0 (35:04)
It's so funny. I wasn't sure, but how it would turn out. Oh wait, this is where you're going to shit your pants. if you already did, that's too bad.

speaker-1 (35:12)
no!

Get the Dr. Brothers ready.

speaker-0 (35:20)
Okay, is it cheaper? All right, this is where it gets wild. Things get wild. This is Bruce's favorite all-purpose cleaner. This is a funny name, Mr. Clean All-Purpose Cleaner Clean Freak Mist. Doesn't that just kind of scare you?

speaker-1 (35:39)
Yeah, you're how many names does it need? And it's like four subtitles. It's Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean Jr. MFA, Clean Spray.

speaker-0 (35:48)
Non-PPA

fresh scent. Clean freak mist scares me. I don't like it. So this is the one that this Bruce says works the best, but it is actually safer choice rated by the EPA, which is so interesting because it sounds very unsafe. So currently it costs about $6.50 per bottle on Amazon and you can get it for about six bucks at Walmart, but I just use the Amazon to make my life easier.

speaker-1 (36:16)
the back alley where you're like, got any neck

speaker-0 (36:18)
Yeah,

in the black market, you can get it for maybe six bucks. You can save a nickel, but a large 32 ounce Dr. Bronner's bottle of any scent or whatever you call it is $15.99 at Target. So.

speaker-1 (36:36)
And that's one dash that you're putting into a 32 ounce bottle.

speaker-0 (36:41)
Exactly. So it's 32. I did the math. It's a 32 ounce bottle, 16 bucks, but you need one tablespoon. This is for... Which is a third talking about all purpose, right? Yeah. So you need a tablespoon per bottle. And Google tells me that that means it's 64 tablespoons per bottle. I think I'm getting guess it's more, but I'll go with Google. So basically one Dr.

Browner's bottle will give you 64 full spray bottles of all-purpose cleaner.

speaker-1 (37:13)
And how much does that come out to?

speaker-0 (37:14)
And

that comes out to, if you bought 64 full spray bottles of the clean freak mist, you would be spending $416. So that's a $400 savings. Holy shit sticks.

speaker-1 (37:31)
I'm just in awe. I'm staring at my ceiling like, what am I doing with my life?

speaker-0 (37:38)
Question.

speaker-1 (37:39)
buying

any cleaner at all when I could be using Dr. Bronner's, that one bottle that my roommate just kept in the...

speaker-0 (37:47)
Yes,

and it lasts for freaking ever. We've had ours, but I'm saying it doesn't go bad as far as I know.

speaker-1 (37:52)
Unless you

No. I mean, so it's oil.

speaker-0 (37:58)
Welcome. Mine hasn't and I've had it for probably five years.

speaker-1 (38:00)
Soaps can go rancid, but if you keep it in a cool dark place, you're probably okay. Well, so, okay. Another question then. So for our laundry detergent recipe, spoiler alert, episode four, could you use that? Because they say you could use it for dish soap, right? Could you just use a tablespoon of Dr. Bronner's with your...

speaker-0 (38:19)
I wonder. I don't know.

speaker-1 (38:23)
Because I would like the lavender scent. Because you just need it right, as a fact, like a soap,

speaker-0 (38:29)
Yes, was surfactant.

There was also like an alkali involved which might have been washing.

speaker-1 (38:36)
Well, washing soda. Yeah, washing soda is the alcohol. And then detergent. Detergent was the other thing, but you didn't necessarily have to have detergent if you didn't have heavy stains.

speaker-0 (38:39)
Maybe.

yeah, and then enzymes were another thing, but that's all separate. We could try it. Just we could do a test, test run. Isn't that crazy? So this is why this episode is so goddamn long because.

speaker-1 (38:50)
Yeah, maybe.

Well, didn't even notice.

speaker-0 (39:02)
I but yeah, there's just so much. It's so interesting. So I figured we should put in like a TLDR, too long, didn't read section. Yeah. And then we can. Yeah, I'm going to include that in with our granola raking. So TLDR, too long, didn't read. Use one, if you're looking for an all purpose cleaner, here's what you got to do.

speaker-1 (39:13)
we need to do granola

speaker-0 (39:27)
You're going to put one tablespoon of castile soap in a used bottle full of water and call it a day. And then you can add some thyme or thyme essential oil or just time, whatever you want, or use the lavender one from Dr. Bronner's for better disinfecting. And then wash your car, wash your dog, wash floors. Every episode we rate each product one to five granolas. One is soggy.

Five is break your tooth off. they go.

speaker-1 (40:03)
and break your tooth off.

speaker-0 (40:05)
Nobody wants that's disgusting. So yeah, you want, you want your teeth to be chipped by the time you're finished with the episode. So we.

speaker-1 (40:16)
Or your pants to be pooped. That's our new writing. Poopy pants. my God, did you shit your pants this episode?

speaker-0 (40:25)
Your pants to be pooped.

speaker-1 (40:29)
That's it.

speaker-0 (40:34)
In passive or passive tense. ⁓

speaker-1 (40:37)
That was a good question.

speaker-0 (40:39)
Okay, so my rating for this, and this is specifically the Castile soap all-purpose cleaner, is break your cheeks off.

speaker-1 (40:49)
Yeah, we should have a little.

speaker-0 (40:50)
No, drumroll. It's gotta be. It's just so... everything about it is something we can watch.

speaker-1 (40:57)
effective, inexpensive, eco-friendly. the three E's. just coined this. No, effective. you're right. Inexpensive. Put the I in and...

speaker-0 (41:05)
Expensive? mean inexpensive?

Just.

The two E's in the eye. Perfect.

speaker-1 (41:19)
Effective and expensive and eco-friendly.

speaker-0 (41:25)
eco-friendlier.

And also eco-friendly is nothing.

speaker-1 (41:32)
Right. It's green hooey. Awesome. Like my pants have been shat. I really am just going to go add Dr. Bronner's to cart and throw away every other cleaning product I own is kind what I feel like.

speaker-0 (41:44)
I know, I'm considering that too and I need dog wash.

speaker-1 (41:49)
Shaddaaad. Dog shampoo. Shampoo.

speaker-0 (41:51)
And I'm not going to buy it now. I'm just going to use this.

speaker-1 (41:54)
I used to use Dr. Browner's, it's so funny because I like the lavender scent. used to use the bottle and I would just have it in the shower and I would wash my dog and I would wash myself. But now I'm just going to put it under the sink too.

speaker-0 (42:07)
Alright, so what's going on next week?

speaker-1 (42:09)
So next week we're having two Tiffany's in a row. She's going to do homemade dishwashing detergent next week. And then we are going to finish the season, season one, episode 12. Will we eat our words about essential oils? That's good. Me too. Why not?

speaker-0 (42:23)
Woo! I hope so.

That would be so funny, we start the season off like, ugh.

speaker-1 (42:30)
essential oils and then we're like nope.

speaker-0 (42:35)
Go buy all of them. Next week is going to be really cool too. Believe it or not, I'm really excited about DIY dishwashing detergent because it sounds like something that you cannot do. So I'm going to experiment and report back.

speaker-1 (42:52)
I want to know because I am tired of buying the pods or using this cascade squirt squirt squirt. If you have a question for us, please email us as greeningupmyact at gmail.com. Thank you so much. learned a lot. I time to go get my Dr. Bronner's on.

speaker-0 (42:59)
squirts words.

Yes, thank you for listening and thanks everyone for sticking in with us for such an intense, intense hour.

speaker-1 (43:18)
I hope it was as entertaining for you as it was for us.

speaker-0 (43:21)
It

totally was. Obvious one.

speaker-1 (43:25)
All right, bye Tiffany.

speaker-0 (43:27)
Okay, bye.