GREEN CLEAN: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home [Paperback]

Linda Mason Hunter (Author), Mikki Halpin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 20, 2005

There is a revolution going on in America—a green revolution. The latest front is the home, as households across the country adopt new ways to keep their homes clean and healthy—and ways to do it that are good for the environment. Green Clean is the definitive, step-by-step guide to cleaning better while using nontoxic, ecofriendly products. Room by room and stain by stain, Green Clean breaks environmentally conscious cleaning into simple principles and easily mastered techniques that let readers set their own goals and develop their own cleaning plan. Also included are recipes for safe, simple, and economic cleaning solutions and the lowdown on the best eco-friendly cleaning products on the market today. Green Clean is an indispensable reference for today’s home.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Linda Mason Hunter, formerly an editor with The Des Moines Register and Rodale Press, has authored several books, including The Healthy Home, which the New York Times dubbed "a sort of Whole Earth Catalog for the home." She is the founder of Healthy Home Designs, co-founder of GreenHome.com, and is currently working on a new edition of The Healthy Home, to be published in Fall 2005. Mikki Halpin is a freelance writer and editor who writes frequently about environmental concerns. Her most recent book is It’s Your World: If You Don’t Like It, Change It: Activism for Teenagers. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Melcher Media (May 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595910042
• ISBN-13: 978-1595910042
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #540,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #90 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Home Improvement & Design > How-to & Home Improvements > Power Tools

More About the Author

Linda Mason Hunter (born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1946) lives in Des Moines, Iowa and Vancouver, BC. Formerly employed by The Des Moines Register, Meredith Corp., and Rodale Press, she has free-lanced for the past 25 years writing, scouting stories, and supervising photo shoots for major national publications. In addition to writing and editing, she plays piano, paints in oil pastel, and is host of "The Green Zone" on KFMG 99.1 FM in Des Moines, streaming at www.kfmg991.org. See www.hunterink.com and www.threegreenrats.com, as well as Linda Hunter and Three Green Rats on Facebook.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 75 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn how to green your cleaning routine! October 1, 2005

By C. Wong

Format:Paperback

Green Clean provides an excellent resource to greening your home environment. The book briefly begins with the history of cleaning, the toxic chemicals that are contained in our modern cleaning agents, and an introduction to green cleaning including the tools needed and steps to the process. Next, the book dives into a room-by-room green guide to cleaning. Included are how to clean different types of surfaces such as walls, floors, countertops, sinks, appliances, furniture, carpeting and clothing. The latter part of the book talks about storage, disposal, and recycling of hazardous household products including a handy chart with the type of product listed with the best way to dispose of it.

Many recipes for creating your own cleaning products such as an all-purpose cleaner, carpet cleaners and deodorizers, dishwashing, disinfectants, drain cleaners, floor cleaners, air fresheners, furniture polish, laundry detergent, metal cleaners, window cleaners, oven cleaners, sink, toilet and tile cleaners. There is a stain guide for how to get out tough laundry stains naturally as well. Additionally, a product guide along with resources and readings are included.

This book includes an index and is made out of durable synthetic paper. You could leave the book in the bathroom and not have to worry about it getting wet and ruined. Using the tips and recipes contained in the book can save your family money, but more importantly you'll learn how to green your environment. I had already been using cleaning products similar to those recommended (baking soda and vinegar can do wonders) and find they work excellently, and I do not have to worry about having toxic cleaning products in my house near my child and dogs. Overall, I learned from this book and highly recommend it to anyone looking to green their cleaning routine.

C.J. Wong, M.S.(Biology), M.S. (Lib. Info. Sci.)

Editor, Organic Family Magazine

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money March 29, 2008

By Mary K. Tran

Format:Paperback

I purchased Green Clean after reading the positive reviews from this Amazon site. I was so disappointed in this purchase that I only made it half way through the book and had to come on line right away to warn others of this useless publication. The first half of the book details why you should clean green, as I am a novice to green cleaning I felt I would learn at least something new I had not heard before. Unfortunately, this was not the case as the author's state well known issues with our societies over use of toxic substances and the hazards of many of the chemicals on the market today. Not only was the information common knowledge and very basic but the authors stated these points over and over again in relentless fashion until I gave up reading the book in a linear fashion and moved on to try to find information regarding the actual cleaning of my home. This publication offers few recipes on creating your own homemade cleaners only about 10 real pages of recipes in a 200 page publication and short changes the readers by simply encouraging them to just buy green products already on the market. To make matters worse I felt the advice given on cleaning in this text condescending and ridiculous. Who doesn't know to hang up towels to dry, to attend to stains immediately if they can, or how to sort laundry? Green Clean seems to me better suited for a simple website than a publication, I recommend you save your money or purchase Better Basics for the Home.

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! June 16, 2005

By Erika Larson-Bean

Format:Paperback

This is an excellent resource for those of us wishing to remove the pollutents from our homes. The authors give detailed information on exactly what is in those 'wonder products' we currently use, like dishwashing liquid, floor waxes & cleaners and innumerable other items we use on a daily basis. The information in this book will shock you, prompt you to change the way you clean and give you the necessary tools and information to not only purchase SAFE products but create your own and live a 'greener' life.

Creating your own cleaning products is not only less expensive then purchasing premade cleaners, but you KNOW what went into them!! You know how safe they are; for example - would you rather accidently drink windex and hope for the best? Or accidently ingest home made window cleaner (club soda)? Did you know that dishwashing liquid is the number one cleaning product accidently ingested by children? I didn't. And even though my cleaning products are kept well away from my 2 year old son, it is possible that accidents happen and I am not willing to take that chance.

This book is filled with information so that you as a consumer can make informed choices about what you will and will not tolerate in your home, the chances you are willing to take with cleaning products and how to change what you use...and even our impact on the planet.