I’m on a quest to start removing toxic, bad cleaning products from my house cleaning ritual. I’m pretty particular, however, so was not looking forward to this process. I had read about a safe, green, environmental product that could replace my current, not-so environmentally friendly products: Bon Ami was rumored to outperform my normal go-to’s, Ajax and Comet.

The skeptic in me cried – “No way”. After all, how could a seemingly simple, 5-ingredient cleaning product actually beat out a highly engineered, super-duper powerful one?

After reading up on the relative ‘goodness’ of Bon Ami, made from just 5 ingredients for the past 125+ years, I decided to give this alleged ‘friend’ a try.

The results far exceeded expectations.

THE TEST:
I decided to go big, so I took a very, very baked and blackened Pyrex glass dish from the cupboard, and set it on the counter. Bon Ami in hand, I sprinkled some of the white-ish powder into the dish, added a bit of water, and rubbed all over with my copper scouring pad. I let it soak for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, I came back, picked up my copper scouring pad, and started to scrub. And scrub. And then I began to notice that the solid patches of caramelized residue was begin to break apart and lift off of the glass surface. It was actually working.

The dish still has a little bit of residue along the edge, so still a work in progress. But with a few more rounds in the Bon Ami ring, I’m confident that this will be scrubbed away eventually as well.

THE UPSIDE:
1.) Green clean: Environmentally friendly cleaning product that proves itself again and again.
2.) New lease on life: All of my pyrex dishes and stainless steel pans are looking like ‘new again.
3.) Upper arm work-out: Soaking helps, but a good scrubbing definitely requires a little elbow grease. I have learned to swap out using both left and right arms, to get a more balanced workout.

THE TAKEAWAY:
I’m now very happy to call this yellow bottle my ‘good friend’, and we have a play date every week to clean not only dishes but house and home throughout.

THE DETAILS:
http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=6001001&query=bon+ami&searchas=TblBrands

Details about Bon Ami can be found on their site (http://www.bonami.com/index.php/products/overview/
), and the 5 ingredients are:
– Limestone
– Feldspar
– Biodegradable cleaning agents
– Soda Ash
– Baking Soda

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=3008002&query=ajax&searchas=TblBrands
Details about Ajax cleanser:
– According to the Colgate-Palmolive website, Ajax is an eye and skin irritant. The site also notes that over-exposure to the product “can cause respiratory irritation.” The site mentions that Ajax contains crystalline silica, a low-level carcinogen.
– Toxic Ingredient: Crystalline Silica – eye, skin and lung irritant, carcinogenic