optionsforlife cleaning products, used properly, clean as well as conventional products 95% of the time and do so without harmful ingredients that may be found in conventional cleaners:

No heavy metals
No 2-butoxyethanol
No alkylphenol ethoxylates
No phthalates
No intentionally added carcinogens,
mutagens or reproductive toxins

optionsforlife cleaning products are non-toxic to humans.

Some tips and facts ...

Many cleaning products contain ingredients banned in 8 countries!

One of the primary active ingredients in most household and commercial cleaning products is a surfactant. A surfactant makes water wetter. Wetter water spreads across and wets surfaces better, to make cleaning easier.

For decades, common surfactants have been derived from petroleum, a non-renewable and toxic resource. One of these is nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE), and then there is the whole class of alkylphenol ethoxylate surfactants (APEs). Use of these chemicals is severely restricted in virtually all western nations except America. An enlightening analysis of their potentially adverse affects on the environment and the human body can be ordered from the Washington Toxics Coalition.

So why do many cleaning product manufacturers in America still insist on using NPE and APEs even though they don’t use them in other western countries? Because they’re cheap!

There are alternatives. Cleaning products that use plant-based surfactants, for example. Plant-based surfactants are made primarily from renewable resources such as coconuts, corn and oranges and have a much better health, safety and environmental profile.

A few frequently asked questions about our products:

Question: Are optionsforlife products safe for people with Asthma and allergies?

Answer: optionsforlife soap and detergent products are hypoallergenic, meaning they are designed to reduce or minimize the possibility of an allergic response, by containing relatively few or no potentially irritating substances. One example of potentially irritating substances are the enzymes produced by bacillus subtilis – known to cause asthmatic attacks – and widely used as additives in laundry detergents.

Non-scented optionsforlife household and commercial cleaners are safer for allergy sufferers and asthmatics because they do not contain common substances like ammonia, chlorine bleach and strong fragrances that can trigger allergic or asthmatic reactions.

Unfortunately for asthma sufferers, cleaning can be problematic not only because of exposure to certain chemicals but more commonly because of exposure to that which is being cleaned. Dust mites, molds, smoke residue, cockroach droppings, animal allergens and other substances can cause inflammation of the lungs’ airways or tightening of the airways’ muscles.

Question: Are optionsforlife products made from natural or synthetic ingredients?

Answer: The short answer is both. But, you deserve more information.

All materials, including those found in nature, are "chemicals." Water is a combination of the chemical elements hydrogen and oxygen (H2O). Air is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and other gases. Some of the chemicals found in nature are toxic, such as arsenic and cyanide. Once you break down a substance to its chemical elements you can often reproduce the substance by gathering and combining the same elements synthetically. On a gut-response level, natural molecules are assumed more virtuous than synthetic ones, but this is simply not true. Copies of a naturally occurring molecule can be made with the exact same molecular structure. Man-made molecules are no less natural than the molecules plants make or are made of. Substances or products produced by synthesis instead of being isolated from a natural source may, if desired, be identical to a product so obtained naturally. Keep in mind, however, we are not talking about synthetically reproducing an orange, for example, just a chemical ingredient in the orange.

Why would one produce a product or product ingredients synthetically? Sometimes a synthetic ingredient is a better choice for a product for one or more reasons:
1. Supply. For example, using a natural ingredient that's in short supply could wipe out what's left of it, however temporarily. Because a plant source is “renewable” doesn’t mean that it is always in great supply. So using a virtually limitless synthetic might be more responsible and cost effective.
2. Allergens. Products made from all-natural materials typically have more allergens than products made synthetically. For example, fragrances made from natural fragrance materials contain allergens at fairly high levels, while fragrances made primarily synthetically contain much lower allergen levels.
3. Safety. "Natural" products are not necessarily safe products. In fact, many natural products undergo limited or no scientific testing compared to the extensive toxicological evaluations of synthetic formulations.
4. Efficacy. Purely natural cleaning products don’t always perform as well as their synthetic, sometimes enhanced, counterparts. And, as much as consumers want safety, they also want products that work.

By the way, many people think of VINEGAR and BAKING SODA when they think of "natural" cleaning products. Commercially speaking, neither are products that naturally occur in nature -- both are processed.

Options for Life uses naturally and synthetically produced ingredients. The end products are non-toxic to humans.

Question: Are your cleaning products 100% organic?

Answer: Organic as it pertains to plants (the primary source of our surfactants) is generally understood as plants that are grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and are not genetically modified.

Since every major producer of green cleaning products gets their basic ingredient blends from chemical processors who, in turn, get their raw materials from a variety of more specialized chemical producers who, in turn, get their raw ingredients from a variety of growers (most of whom use pesticides to ensure they have yields large enough to meet the demands of all the chemical processors), there is no way to ensure -- or sometimes even know -- if the plant-based surfactants purchased by end users are derived from plants grown without fertilizers or pesticides.

It's important to keep in mind here that the major advance in cleaning product chemistry and production -- to the benefit of people and the environment -- has been the use of plant-based and synthetic chemical ingredients versus various petroleum-based ingredients.

To the credit of persons concerned about cleaning product content or origin; concern about the source of ingredients in a cleaning product has just as much relevancy as concern about the source of the ingredients in the processed food we eat. Why? Because we actually do consume cleaning products! In 26 seconds, cleaning product vapors inhaled by users reach every organ in their body.

Unfortunately, for most consumers, traditional “natural” or "home grown" cleaning products are not always convenient, efficient or appropriate. For example ...

The natural or pure soaps that grandma used were largely derived from animal fat. They didn't clean very well and, over time, left a graying soap scum deposit in the very clothing and other items being cleaned.

Vinegar and baking soda are excellent cleaning agents, but in limited circumstances. Do not try using either one on furniture, walls or floors. Vinegar is very acidic (which will dull porous surfaces over time) and baking soda has a crystalline structure that will scratch most fine, polished or painted surfaces.

And orange oil? Orange oil is produced by glands inside the rind of an orange fruit. It has a great aroma and is a good solvent -- making it good for cleaning. It is composed, however, mostly of d-limonene[1]. Limonene is a hand irritant, because it actually dissolves the protective oils in the skin. So, if you are cleaning with processed orange oil -- from organically or non-organically grown oranges -- you better wear protective gloves.

At the end of the day, most (though certainly not all) consumers and cleaning professionals want cleaning products that are convenient, easy to use, safe, effective and affordable. optionsforlife cleaners are formulated to deliver on all of those criteria.

Please feel free to add to, correct or challenge any of the above. Just email your comments to info@optionsproducts.com