Let's Talk Allergies

When Green Cleaning Products Aren’t Green

Happy Earth Day!

People talk so much these days about going “green”. They look for ways to do more with less, to preserve natural resources, and cut dependence on petrochemical based products. If you have had any experience with green cleaning products, you know that you can pay a premium price for a product that doesn’t work so well as the conventional product.

Sometimes, even if the green cleaning product works, it might not be so green after all. I know I am not the only one that has picked up a bottle of one of the major brands of “green” all purpose cleaners (you know the generation) thinking I am using the best cleaner with the least minimal impact and ingredients. But, have you ever actually read the list of ingredients on these cleaners? Here is the ingredients in one all purpose cleaner:

Aqua (water), lauryl polyglucose, decyl glucoside and lauramine oxide (plant-derived cleaning agents), sodium gluconate (water softener), sodium carbonate (mineral-derived alkalinity builder), methylisothiazolinone and benzisothiazolinone (preservatives).

Wow! Talk about a mouthful! If you can’t say it….don’t use it!

I compared it to the list of ingredients in EnviroRite Multi Purpose Cleaner. What a difference! The Multi Purpose Cleaner only has 4 ingredients listed. I can pronounce all of them. How does, water, palm kernel based surfactants, and vegetable-based glycerine sound for simple? No preservatives and the last ingredient has the most complicated name “naturally derived alkaline builders” that adjust the pH.

This Earth day, keep it simple, keep it truly green, and keep it clean! Use green cleaning products that are actually green!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store
1-800-771-2246

AC Filters and UV Lights Don’t Get Along

Well, you learn something new every day. That is for sure when you work at The Allergy Store. Today I learned how ac filters can be damaged by ultraviolet light.

Today, we had an interesting customer call. The pleated, disposable air conditioning filters they purchased some time ago are starting to crumble. AC filers are not supposed to crumble.

For as many years as we have been selling pleated, disposable ac filters, I have never heard of the filtering media crumbling. We discussed the situation at length so that when I phoned our manufacturer, I could give him a full report.

When I spoke with the manufacturer, he was also stumped. However, he asked me one important question, “Does she have an ultra-violet light installed so that it is shining on the filter media area?” I had not thought to ask her this question. He went on to explain that the filter media in the disposable electrostatic filters is 100% polyester. He says they use no cotton or wool fibers in the material as they do not want to encourage mold growth on the filter media.

However, polyester can be destroyed by exposure to intense ultraviolet light.

I phoned the customer back to ask if she had UV lights in the area of the filters and she told me “Yes”. The filters were installed with a UV light shining directly on them.

Mystery solved! She is moving the ultraviolet light so that it will not shine on the filters.

We all learned something. As well as our custom-made, pleated electrostatic disposable filters are made, so they can’t stand up to continuous ultraviolet light.

Wishing you the best of health

Cheryl Krause

AllergyStore.com

800 771-2246

Barbie and Dust Mites

Happy Birthday Barbie!

I just got an email reminding me that it is Barbie’s birthday today. I can’t believe I forgot. She was born March 9, 1959. She is still looking good after all these years. Ever wonder if Barbie and dust mites have problems?

I don’t mean that Barbie has dust mite allergies. Barbie never seems to have allergic shiners; and my daughter’s Barbie dolls never once complained of a runny or stuffy nose. But once we had a customer that thought she had a problem with Barbie and dust mites.

Barbie and Dust Mites

A few years ago, we had a customer who thought her daughter may be allergic to her toys. She was especially concerned about her daughter’s Malibu Barbie. She thought the girl would be devastated it she had to stop playing with her Malibu Barbie because of dust mites and allergies.

Little girls do love their dolls. They also like to sit on the floor when they play with their dolls.

I reassured her that unless her daughter was allergic to vinyl, she was probably not allergic to her Barbie doll. We discussed her daughter’s room and based on what she told me, I suspected the problem was an allergy to dust mites and dust in general.

Dust Collectors in Kid’s Bedrooms

Her daughter also collected stuffed animals, had lots of books, drapes and carpeting. All of these are dust collectors. For a child or adult with allergies, the fewer dust collectors in the bedroom the better. Read rest of Article

Wishing you the best of health

Mike Krause
AllergyStore.com
800 771-2246