Comments on: Clorox. Green Works or Greenwashing?

By: Ginny

Ginny — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:18:34 +0000

I see a parallel between a chemical company like Clorox selling a line of “green” products and a Big Food company selling a line of “organic” foods. It might make some consumers feel good to buy that line, but it doesn’t mean that the mindset of the company has changed.

By: SY

SY — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:42:50 +0000

My sister and I have been having allergic reaction for months but still haven’t nailed down what is causing it. One thing I notice is I usually get the reaction after doing the dishes (we both do dishes). Sure enough we switched to Green Works a few months ago. I have been thinking if it’s the detergent but nobody would believe it. After reading the comments here I’ll stop using it to see if it will go away.

By: Mary Kay

Mary Kay — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 07:43:58 +0000

I have had swollen and irritated eyes for months and I now attribute it to the Greenworks
Dish Detergent and spray cleaner which I have used liberally throughout my household.
Other family members report similar symptoms. I will discontinue use now that I have
read your blog and others. Does anyone else have long term eye damage from using these
products. thank you

By: Kat

Kat — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:20:56 +0000

I think I just figured out why my 4 year old has had hives for 4 days! She always likes to help me clean and she wanted to clean my bathroom on Monday. I had just bought this product and didn’t think too much about her helping me clean. On Tuesday morning she woke up with hives from her neck to her feet and she fainted when she had got up! Went to the ER and she was given Benedryl and steroids. Well, it’s now Saturday and she still has the hives. If she isn’t better by Monday we are going to the doctor. I’m throwing this stuff away!!!!!!
I decided to look this up (the only new cleaning product I’ve used) and I’m so glad this info was here! Thanks!

By: Emediex

Emediex — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 04:52:52 +0000

BTW– I found this site while searching for “Green Works Clorox hives rash” on Google.

By: Emediex

Emediex — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 04:52:15 +0000

Went to the Emergency room last night with terrible hives and a headache that got worse as the hives grew and grew. This was after 48 hours of experiencing hives. The medicine the doctors gave me seemed to calm things down and I was OK for most of the day. Then, tonight, I cleaned the kitchen (and killed some ants!) with my new, Green Works from Clorox and broke out again with even worse hives, headache and a weird “heat” emanating from my torso (I don’t have a fever.)

Then I starting thinking about the fact that I bought Green Works for the first time four days ago, thinking that it was “all natural.” What a joke!! This stuff is a poison. I put it outside and will take it in when I take my toxic household items to my town’s toxic waster drop off.

By: Rachel A.

Rachel A. — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:55:34 +0000

I use the Clorox Green Works bathroom cleaner for the first time this week and the next day I broke out in horrible hives. I have allergies so I didn’t connect the hives to the Green Works right away, but it was the only new item I had been exposed to. For four days I had hives, and on day five I decided to look into the Green Works. Sure enough I found that other people were having hives and skin reactions. On the site 100Organicskincare.com I found the following info “a quarter of the items in the Green Works line also include Sodium Lauryl Sulfate-which the company describes as a “coconut-based cleaning agent.” That may be true, but, coconut or not, SLS has long been criticized by the scientific community for its not-so-natural effects: the American College of Toxicology described SLS as a know skin irritant in a report published more than 20 years ago.”

After seeing all this I re-cleaned all the areas I had used the Green Works on (with a different cleaner) and my hives went away. I threw the Green Works away, and if the hives don’t return then I’ll know it was caused by the Green Works.

By: GA Master

GA Master — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:03:02 +0000

There is one issue that I would like to challenge Clorox on and it something that no one seems to have caught so far. That is the glycolic acid ingredient in the GreenWorks Natural Bathroom Cleaner. It is true that glycolic acid is found naturally, however the concentration in any natural source is very low. It is found in far too low a concentration and would be far too expensive to extract for use in a cleaning product. DuPont makes a very large amount of glycolic acid and their product and process is based on petroleum feedstock. In fact DuPont’s website site states:
“Although Glycolic Acid occurs naturally as a trace component in sugarcane, beets, grapes and fruits, DuPont synthesizes the product through a purpose built manufacturing process in Belle, West Virginia.” (http://www2.dupont.com/Glycolic_Acid/en_US/)

Even high quality glycolic acid that is used in the cosmetic industry as an anti-aging and exfoliating compound is not derived from a natural source. With the exception of one company, CrossChem, which makes glycolic acid via a bacterial fermentation process, no glycolic acid can be considered natural or even naturally-derived. The cost parameters for using CrossChem glycolic acid in a cleaning product is not economical. My understanding is that most of CrossChem’s glycolic acid is used to make polyglycolic acid which is used to make sutures, a very high value medical product. (http://www.crosschem.net/70_solution.php)

My assumption is that either the glycolic acid in this cleaning product is so low that it’s insignificant (less than 1% for a cleaning product is insignificant) or that the glycolic acid is actually petroleum derived. Clorox claims that there is no petroleum based ingredients in these products, I believe they are misrepresenting themselves and greenwashing in this regard.

Can we challenge Clorox to find the source of their glycolic acid?

By: Alyse

Alyse — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:23:52 +0000

I have broken out in a rash twice. The first time it started on my eyelids and spread to my neck and stomach. About a week later, it started on my face and spread to my arms and legs..it was worse than the first time.

I suspected my greenworks dish soap that I had recently bought and saw an allergist today. I really think it was th soap…waiting to see if it comes back, I threw out the soap a few days ago.

By: tina b.

tina b. — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:11:00 +0000

I am sorry to see this article since I really like the greenworks products-alot-and thought they were green and a good choice. I guess I’ll also try the basic H and some other long term green products. thanks for the post.