Seventh Generation Glass & Surface Cleaner, Ruby Grapefruit & Herb Scent, 32-Ounces Bottle (Pack of 8)
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Customer Reviews of Seventh Generation Glass & Surface Cleaner, Ruby Grapefruit & Herb Scent, 32-Ounces Bottle (Pack of 8)
Customer Review: Perfect for its Niche - but Keep Other Cleaners Too
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I am very much in favor of environmentally safe products, for many reasons. They're safer for us humans. They're safer for our pets. They're safer for our environment! This should be the direction that all of us head in.
I therefore had very high hopes and expectations for the Seventh Generation Glass and Surface Cleaner. People have been cleaning surfaces for thousands of years. You would hope in all of that time that we'd become the experts in how dirt interacts with water, how bacteria work, what is sanitary, what is pleasant smelling.
Unfortunately, there's a reason that some of those modern mysterious substances are in some of the products we use.
First, we compared the Seventh Generation on various glass surfaces against standard other glass cleaners out there (Windex, etc). The Seventh Generation did smell gentle and nice. Its application was more watery and less "slippery" than the other products. No surprise - most commercial glass cleaners contain chemicals which aid in that slipperiness, which helps your rag slide more easily over the surface you are cleaning. You had to rub with a bit more vigor with the Seventh Generation in order to get the same level of shine. It was possible in the end to get the same level of results, just with a little more work on the natural side.
Next, we went onto common household surfaces. Again, we compared the Seventh Generation against other standard commercial products. Again, the gentle aroma was a definite plus in the Seventh Generation favor. The same slidely issue presented itself. The Seventh Generation was more like washing the surface with a wet sponge, vs a sliding cleaner which made the task more easy. It also tends to wear out the paper towels more quickly for the same reason.
The cleaner also does not have the high power of other cleaners. It would move around some types of stains, but not easily lift them. It took a fair amount more work to get a stain up off. In some cases it would not lift it at all, while other cleansers would do the job.
I do want to comment that this cleaner isn't *meant* to take the place of a bleach or ammonia style cleaner. However, you should be trying to minimize your use of those cleaners anyway. Yes, you can have a bottle of that for when it's really needed, but in general for health reasons you should keep your use of these to a minimum.
That being said, you should keep your use of ANY chemical-filled cleansers to a minimum for the same reason :) And for the general clean-up around the home, this product is quite fine. You might use a few more paper towels, but if you're going the environmentally nice route, you'll switch to rags anyway which won't really wear out. It might require a little more elbow grease, but heck, most of us could use a few more calories burned each day. You can keep the more powerful things in the back of the cabinet, but this way you can use them only when you really have to, rather than every single day for typical clean up tasks.
Finally, out of the pack that was shipped to us, two of the bottles leaked. This made the box soaking wet, the invoice a soggy mess, and of course lost a fair amount of product. It seems they need to do a better job sealing up their bottles before they send them out.
Customer Review: Nice, but not a substitute for more powerful cleaners
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Let me first say I'm a cleanaholic. I'll try just about anything that makes an adequate claim to clean more efficiently, thoroughly, or quickly. It doesn't matter to me at all if the chemicals therein could strip the skin off a hog. I'm not chemically sensitive at all; to me, you know a cleaner is really working if your lungs are burning (jes' kidding bout that.) I just put on my hazmat suit, grab the cleaner, and get to work.
So this Seventh Generation cleaner was a complete novelty to me. I tend to avoid "green" cleaning products, mostly because of the little I've experienced them - and heard from friends and relatives - they don't do the job.
I figured I'd start light with the cleaner. I used it to clean the bathroom mirror and sink. Now I don't use bar soap, so I don't have soap scum residue in the sink. There are, though, the usual droplets of toothpaste, etc. that can make cleaning a little more involved than just wiping down the area.
The vanity and faucet were just recently replaced. The faucet is a pewter type, and I've been careful about whatever I used on it to keep the finish.
Surprisingly, the Seventh Generation cleaner worked better than I expected. It took some work, maybe more work than I'd have with Fantastik (the Oxy Fantastic is my favorite general cleaner in a spray bottle), but not that much more work.
The scent was a delightful surprise (I LIKE scented products, so the more the better if the scent's a good one.) The faucet was unharmed by the spray. The sink eventually shone. Even more surprisingly, the mirror cleaned up very nicely, even better than when I use Glass Plus.
The one thing that was odd was that the paper towels shredded much faster and left a lot more paper towel lint behind than usual. I buy two types of paper towels: the cheapies I use in the kitchen for just drying the hands, and the better quality paper towels for cleaning. I accidently picked up the cheapies instead of the higher quality towels for use in the bathroom, so I thought that might be the reason for the lint factor.
My kitchen is fairly grease free at the moment, but I tried the Seventh Generation on the inside of the microwave, which has a few splatters. Sad to say, it took a LOT of scrubbing to get the splatters off. I then tried it on my gas cooktop. It was okay, but did little to get rid of the grease droplet I found, just kind of smeared it around.
I'd say it was a pretty good glass cleaner, and it'd be useful for that. If you have light cleaning to do, it's fine, and it sure smells nice. But heavy cleaning? Greasy stuff? Really dirty mess?
Seventh Generation isn't going to replace your heavy duty cleaners. It's just too lightweight. But for what it does do well, mirrors, lightly dirty surfaces and the like, yeah, it's fine.
Customer Review: Chemical sensitivity? Just want to avoid toxic VOCs, dyes, and fragrances? This is your glass cleaner.
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
For reasons unknown, I developed chemical sensitivities over the last few years. All that means, basically, is that the common toxic additives used in so many of the products with which we come in daily contact affect me more now than they did in the past. Chemical fragrance agents, artificial dyes, volatile organic compounds -- all relative dangers to even the most healthy amongst us.
There's value to being green, but "conservation" and "environmentalism" have been reduced to (for reasons good and bad) politically loaded words. I won't spend much time considering the greater environmental footprint of Seventh Generation as a business, or their Ruby Grapefruit & Herb glass cleaner as a product. I just can't speak intelligently to how it is produced, shipped, or even packaged. I can speak to the immediate environment (that of your home, car, work area, etc.) impact, and whether or not it has consequences for someone with chemical sensitivity issues -- I am, on that front, much like a canary in a mine.
I'm ecstatic to report that I have no reaction whatsoever to this product. One more opportunity to replace toxic chemicals in my home with a non-toxic alternative, allowing (literally and figuratively speaking) all of us here to breathe a little easier.
Perhaps the best news is that I don't feel there's any fall-off in the efficacy of the product, as compared to its toxic counterparts. I cleaned half of our back door with the Ruby Grapefruit & Herb, and the other half with what may be the most common brand of 'normal' glass cleaner. Neither side streaked, both cleaned effectively (I have three German Shepherd Dogs, so the glass on our back door gets plenty of nose prints, saliva, and muddy paws), and even as I got right up on top of it after spraying, I had no reaction whatsoever to the Seventh Generation product. It carries a crisp, clean, and vaguely citrus smell. A much better smell, I believe, than the alternative, though certainly this is a subjective area of consideration. It may have been a thinner liquid than the other (which claims to be drip-free), so it did run just a little bit where I had over-sprayed, but I have no complaint there as I was ready to go with a paper towel to wipe it all down.
Forget all the buzzwords: 'Green,' 'VOCs,' and the like. This product represents an opportunity to trade toxic for non-toxic, without sacrificing efficacy, without forcing you to spend more, all the while (perhaps) also helping the greater environment. I'd love to come up with a "but" for the sake of a well-rounded argument, but I just don't have one. Seventh Generation has a new (and appreciative) fan, at least when it comes to this particular product. Five stars without a second thought.
Customer Review: We All Loved It
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Given that this product is shipped in cartons of eight, I thought I'd be generous and pass a few bottles along to friends who have different living situations from each other, as well as from me (one does maintenance in my apartment building; she REALLY knows from cleaners). My rationale was that several different opinions would make for a more thorough and comprehensive review, and I think that objective was achieved.
First, all of us really appreciated the fact that we were able to clean without being asphyxiated by noxious chemical fumes. No headaches, no coughing, no nausea (admittedly, I tend to be more sensitive to these things than most). Just a pleasant, non-overpowering fragrance that never sickens, no matter how long you've put off cleaning.
And speaking of that, I used this product on some pretty grungy (read: neglected) surfaces and was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. I live on a busy, ur-Midtown Manhattan street which means that my windows are usually filthy. Not only did Seventh Generation cut through the grime easily, but it did so without streaks as well (a minor miracle in my case). I'm also happy that it seems unlikely to harm the pigeons that roost under my balustrades and which I feed. I found it to be good on kitchen surfaces, too, possibly requiring a bit more elbow grease than mainstream cleansers, but not much.
It bears mentioning that not one of my friends has found that more effort is necessary; this is undoubtedly due to the fact that they're all much better homemakers than I am. Not only do they all like Seventh Generation, but they plan to continue using it in the future (in fact, one friend already uses other Seventh Generation products because as the mother of a young child, she's concerned about chemical residue in her home). It's a nice, effective multi-purpose cleaner.
As other Vine Voices have noted, one cleaner won't do it all, and two things this particular product can't handle are dirty bathtubs and sinks. Unfortunately, unless Seventh Generation develops the equivalent of the spray that Dow manufactures, I'm going to have to continue inhaling at least some nasty fumes during the course of cleaning.
I like this product so much that I'm going to hunt down the laundry detergent and actually PAY (ouch!) to try it, given that I missed it through Vine. The label claims: "If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 32 oz. solvent based [sic] glass cleaner with our 32 oz. solvent free [sic] product, we could prevent 11 million pounds of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) from being released into the environment." If true, it's nice to know that consumers can make such a big difference by spending a bit more for a product that really does an excellent job.
Customer Review: I've made the switch!
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
After using several different eco-friendly surface cleaners, this one came up with promises of streak free glass and ability to clean most surfaces. Seemed worth a try, and I have not been disappointed.
Scent: while I was intrigued by the idea of fresh citrus around the house, this cleaner really does not have much of a smell, and does not leave a lingering smell when you are done cleaning. Personally, I prefer no smell left behind. What does clean smell like? To me, complete absence of smell. I'm not a fan of bleach or pine cleaners, for many reasons, overpowering smell being one of them.
Cleanliness: 5 stars. I have cleaned glass and it is far superior to the blue spray-on cleaners. For the last few years my preference has been special cloths with water only, but this works just as well and is a lot less work. I use it regularly to clean my bathroom and kitchen counters. During kitchen cleanup, I use it all over and it works great on countertops, stovetops, kitchen table, and the fronts of my appliances. I even used it in my (not that dirty) oven! OK, its not as powerful as oven cleaner, but it wiped up some small spills easily, which kept me from having to use the energy consuming self cleaner. I used it on the interior of my car and it worked great. Have not yet tried it on the dog, the biggest source of dirt in my house.
Ease of use: just like the rest of the surface sprays out there, it has a stream or a spray option. I prefer spray, but its nice to have the choice.
The down side: no cleaner can be all things to all people, and while I think it is a fantastic surface and glass cleaner, it does not have the power to disinfect. I don't believe you have to have a germ killer in your kitchen to keep you healthy or stave off superbugs, but I like something more potent in the toilets. Might be all in my head, but thats me. Also, its not powerful enough to remove soap scum. For showers and tubs, you need a bit more.
Why only 4 stars? While I love this cleaner, and have switched to it permanently, I wish they could send it to me in 1 plastic spray on bottle, with biodegradable refill containers. It might make me believe a bit more in their commitment to the earth. But you have to start somewhere, and this is no compromise. You get a great cleaner at a good price. Good value; highly recommended.