As a user of the original Simple Green for more than 17 years I wanted to do a review for a company that I was familiar with.  When I noticed Simple Green had a “new” Naturals line I approached them about it and they graciously provided me the opportunity to test the products out.

Not All Natural Products Are Created Equal

Most of the time when I receive things to review I use the item for about a week before writing about it. But I have discovered that once in a while something will come up later down the line that I wasn’t expecting.  One case in point is diaper cream.  Not long ago I reviewed some diaper cream while my son actually had a mild diaper rash. It worked great and that was that.  Then just last week my son got sick and developed the worst diaper rash he’s ever had. Well, the diaper cream didn’t work well enough and I was forced to go back to what I originally used. After a few days his rash cleared up. Thank goodness.  Of course that doesn’t mean I will stop using or recommending the natural stuff, but now I know that in extreme cases I have to resort to something stronger.

Such can be the case for any natural product.  It may work today on everything you test it on, but a month down the line when you encounter a different situation, the outcome is not as great and you resort to your old non-natural products.  This can be quite disappointing and expensive at the same time.

How Many  Back-Up Cleaners Do You Own?

I think you will agree that most of us have at least several different types of cleaners hanging out under our sinks. Some of them you probably consider “back-ups”.  The “well if nothing else works, this will”.  Well for me, my back-up has always been the original Simple Green.  I have always treated it like Gold.  I know that sounds funny but just like you, I like to try new products and enjoy a variety of different scents, packaging etc. and am not immune to all the marketing of products that goes on.   In the end though, Simple Green, for which I have never even seen a commercial for, has never failed me.  The original is a concentrated cleaner and has a very distinct smell, which has always reminded me of black licorice.  It can clean just about anything, that’s why I’ve always saved it for tough jobs.   Some of the wide variety of things myself or my friends and family have actually used it for include:

*Removing stains (especially grease) from clothing. This includes motor oil and other really tough stains.

*Cleaning golf balls that have been stuck in mud for months in order to re-sell them. (Absolutely NOTHING cleans them better).

*Stripping the wax from floors.

*Cleaning outdoor lawn furniture.

Simple Green Naturals

When I received the Naturals line I have to admit that I was a little worried that it would smell like the original. Although it’s a nice scent, after years of use, my mind associates it with certain things, which doesn’t necessarily include a clean bathroom.

First off I want to tell you that the packaging is fantastic.  The bottles are all 100% recyclable, which is a requirement for me in this day and age.  You will also notice right away that all the spray cleaners do not contain dyes. So they’re all clear.  They are color coded by the color of ink on the bottles, which I thought was pretty cool.  So you just grab the red one for cleaning the carpets, the blue one for cleaning glass, etc.  It may seem silly to bring up such a thing but for me a big turn off is bottles that are filled with “New!” “Amazing cleaning power!” and tons of different colors that may attract kids.  Simple Green stays true to their roots and keeps it simple with these bottles.  Another thing of important note is, the spray bottles actually have this little thing you pull out from the very end of the spray nozzle (Where you typically turn it to off/spray/stream), that makes the products “foam”.  I myself haven’t seen that before and thought that was pretty ingenious.

But Do They Work??

Now, all that being said.. you’re probably wondering if the products actually work!  Well, I really had to restrain myself from sitting here and giving you a complete run-down of each and every product.  I will tell you though that after many weeks of use of each and every one. THEY ALL WORK.   Here is a quick overview:

Dish Washing Liquid – It works just as well as all of the expensive, well-advertised brands and much better than the cheaper generic versions.  A few differences being:  The shape of the bottle.  It’s interesting, different and fits into certain spots around my sink a lot better.  It’s just nice to not look at the same ol’ same ol’.  The citrus scent is also not overwhelming in the least and has not dried out my hands.

Liquid Hand Soap –  Same as with the Dish Washing Liquid, this bottle is more rectangle shaped. I love it because it fits perfectly behind my kitchen faucet. It’s a bigger bottle than most soaps, has lasted longer, dried my hands less, and because of the size of the bottle I find it easier to use.   The smell is extremely mild but still removes any scent and dirt from your hands.

Multi-Surface Care – My favorite cleaner out of all of them. I love it and won’t be without it from now on.  It cleaned EVERYTHING.  When my son was recently bit by a spider I went through the whole house and started cleaning.  The doors, the walls, everywhere.  It actually cleaned the dirt off the doors in my house, along with my painted dressers, and old wall paneling without removing the paint.  That is a first!  Every single thing I have tried so far has taken the finish off our paneling.  This cleaned it and removed all the food my son throws at it, without doing that. I have literally went through more than 1/2 the bottle in less than 3 weeks.  But that’s not because I had to use a lot.. that’s because I got over-excited to find something that works on all the spots I couldn’t clean properly before.  If you try nothing else, try this cleaner.

Bathroom Cleaner – The Bathroom Cleaner does an excellent job. I didn’t even have to buff out the faucet to a shine. A simple sponge, water and the cleaner did a great job.  The scent is a little strong for me but that’s probably because our bathroom isn’t ventilated and I tend to gravitate towards more lemon-scented cleaners for the bathroom. However, you may love the scent.

Glass and Surface Care – The Glass and Surface Care did a wonderful job when I started cleaning all the windows in our house.  We have a porch that includes about 8 full size windows, so believe me, I really tested this out.  I cleaned the storms, the sills, the frames and everything in-between.   I used to work at the Hilton when I was young, where they would come behind you and make sure there wasn’t one streak on the mirror or window.  They were absolute fanatics about the cleanliness of the rooms.  This cleaner would definitely hold up to their standards. Best of all, no ammonia smell!

Floor Care – The floor care was the first thing I tried out. As soon as I received the cleaner and my son went to bed that night I headed for the bathroom floor. I have to admit that I don’t clean it that often simply because it doesn’t show a lot of dirt.. or so I thought.  I was nervous about the smell because it contains patchoulli. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it’s a sort of woodsy, natural smell.  I had a room mate that wore it for years so whenever I smell it, I think of her.  Oh and did I mention I dislike that smell? Ugh.   Thank goodness once I actually started using the cleaner the smell dissipated very quickly. It only left a light clean woodsy smell and nothing overwhelming.  Oh and even though I thought that my floors weren’t dirty.. I was very wrong!  It did a great job proving that.

Carpet Care – When you have a toddler who knows how to remove their own diaper but doesn’t quite know how to make it to the bathroom in time, you know that you’ll have plenty of opportunity to use carpet cleaning products.  Unfortunately all the ones I am aware of are so strong that I don’t usually bother and so I stick to regular soap and water.  Luckily this carpet cleaner has a barely noticeable scent, and I’m glad to say that it works.  I don’t usually throw away old cleaners simply because I feel it’s a waste to do that, but in this case, that’s what I did.  Now when my husband insists on using carpet cleaner I don’t have to run from the room for an hour.

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About Simple Green Naturals

Simple Green Naturals are 100% naturally derived, with ingredients originating from nature: chicory, coconut, corn, palm, naturally occurring minerals, salt and sugar, and water. Nothing else.  You can read all about them HERE

You can also read how five of the Simple Green Naturals products received a Green Seal Certification right HERE

About Simple Green, Sunshine Makers, Inc. and the EGBAR Foundation

Simple Green started over thirty years ago, way before it was ever “cool” to go green, or be environmentally responsible.   You can read their story right HERE.   You can also read HERE about the EGBAR Foundation, which stands for Everything’s Gonna Be All Right.  Simple Green not only creates great products, they help care for the environment.

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Giveaway (Now Closed)

Simple Green has generously offered to give one of my readers the very same products I received.  That’s 7 products in all from the Naturals Line.  Dish Washing Liquid, Liquid Hand Soap, Multi-Surface Care, Bathroom Cleaner, Glass and Surface Care, Floor Care, and Carpet Care

To enter do any (or all) of the following but make sure that for each one you do you leave a separate comment. Each comment counts as one entry. Please leave your correct email addy, especially if you do not have a blog. If I have no way of contacting you, your entries will be deleted before I choose the winner.

Required
* Go to the Simple Green website and let me know of at least 2 products that you’d like to try. It doesn’t just have to be in the Naturals line.

Earn Extra Entries

1 Extra Entry –

*Go to the EGBAR Foundation page and tell me something you have learned
* Stumbleupon this post (Leave your acct name in a comment)
* Digg this post (Leave your acct name in a comment)
* Blog about this giveaway (Leave a link to the blog post)

You can Digg and Stumbleupon by clicking the “ShareThis” at the bottom of this post

1 Extra Entry Per Day –
* Follow me on Twitter @detroitmommy and then Press the Green Retweet button at the top of this post. Then leave me a comment w/ a link to your tweet.  You can come back each day and retweet. Just make sure to leave a comment each day you do it!

5 Extra Entries –

*Read my post HERE , click the “This sheet works” pic at the bottom and check out the quick video. Comment on this post with 5 separate comments that you did it (I will be checking). (Ie: #entry #1,  entry #2, etc.)
* Click the ShareThis button at the bottom of this post and add this page or my blog to your Technorati favorites (Leave 5 separate comments. Ie: Technorati faved comment #1, #2, etc.)

Giveaway is open to US Residents, 18 yrs of age or older. Any posts not including the requested information will be deleted. This giveaway ends: Sunday September 13, 2009 12am EST. Winner will be contacted and announced Monday September 14, 2009. In the event the winner does not respond within 3 days I will choose another random winner. I will be using random.org to do this.

And the winner is…

#261 – Amy

Congrats!

Thank-you to all who participated.  Now that you know about the large variety of great products Simple Green has to offer, and what a wonderful company they are, I hope you’ll check them out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

And a big thanks to Denise @ Simple Green for giving me the opportunity to review these great products and offer this giveaway.