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What you need to look for when hiring a green cleaning service

Kim Renta
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More and more people are becoming aware of the harmful side effects of the caustic chemicals found in standard cleaning products. As a result, there’s been a growing trend in exploring the idea of green cleaning. Green cleaning is a great way to clean your home, protect your health and the health of your family, and care for the planet.

By definition, green cleaning is the process of using organic, eco-friendly products to clean your home in place of traditional chemical-based cleansers. The result? A clean, healthy home that also helps protect the environment. 

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But with more and more busy people looking to hire professional cleaning services, there’s been a growing need for greener options. So why should you look to hire a green cleaning service? Let’s explore.

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Top reasons to hire a green cleaning service

  • Better for the planet: Professional green cleaning companies use eco-friendly products made with all-natural, biodegradable ingredients. In contrast, traditional cleaning services employ conventional cleaning products that contain toxic, hazardous, and non-biodegradable ingredients. 
  • A healthier choice for your home: A softer cleaning method, without harsh, toxic chemicals, green cleaning increases the lifespan of upholstery and carpets and is less harsh on wood flooring, furniture, and painted walls. 
  • Better for children and pets: Have little ones—both the two and four-legged kind—that like rolling around on the floor? The strong cleaning solutions typically used to clean carpeted surfaces leave behind harsh chemical residues; however, a green cleaning service will use organic solutions to clean and freshen carpeted surfaces without caustic chemicals.
  • Improved indoor air quality: Traditional cleaning products can result in more indoor pollution than you’ll find outdoors. Known as volatile organic compounds, these harsh cleaning products evaporate indoors, reducing your indoor air quality, not to mention the strong chemical smell that can aggravate breathing conditions, including asthma. 
  • Less wasteful: Many green cleaning services use microfiber towels rather than paper towels for wiping down surfaces. There are several advantages to microfiber—they easily attract dust and pick up significant amounts of germs and bacteria, they absorb more liquid, and their natural ability to clean reduces the need for solutions, thereby lowering the environmental impact on landfills. Plus, microfiber cloths can be washed, sanitized, and reused—much better for the environment than wasteful single-use paper towels!
  • More affordable than you might think: Although green cleaning products and equipment once cost more than standard cleaning items, costs have come down considerably, with green products costing the same, and in some cases less than standard cleaning products.

Look at these factors when considering a green cleaning service

  • Make sure the company actually provides green cleaning services. Sadly, some companies claim to provide green cleaning, but their services are less than green on closer inspection. Your decision to “go green” is a valid one, and you should ensure that any cleaning service you hire is 100% compliant. 
  • Ask your prospective cleaning service which green products they regularly use for clients and why. If they don’t have a full list of products to handle every cleaning task, they may not be the green cleaning service you want to hire.
  • Read reviews online and ask for references from current customers. Letting someone into your home requires trust and confidence, and until you have personal experience with the company, you’ll need to rely on the opinions of others. 
  • Keep a watchful eye during the first few cleaning sessions. Do you smell harsh chemicals after your home has been cleaned? Chances are your green cleaning service hasn’t been honest about the type of cleaners they use. 
  • As with any cleaning service that you hire, the result should be a fresh, clean home. Don’t let any green cleaning service tell you that green products don’t clean as well as their conventional counterparts and use that as an excuse for a less-than-clean home. 

Hiring any cleaning service to work on your home is a big decision, but making the switch to a green cleaning service should not only give you a cleaner home but a healthier one as well. With so many incredible eco-friendly green products available, and more and more people opting to go the green route in other areas of life, it’s only a matter of time that green house cleaning services are the standard, rather than the exception. Follow our tips, and you should be able to find the perfect green cleaning service for your family’s needs.

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Kim Renta
Kim Renta
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kim has written for Bloomingdales, Movado, and various e-commerce wine sites. When she's not writing about wine and…
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