Love this
A couple years ago I ran across an advertisement for a natural/green all-purposey cleaner (not Caldrea). The gist of the ad was that this brand's "fun new scents" made cleaning fun. At the time, I laughed - derisively - because they didn't smell all that terrific, and certainly not amazing enough to turn cleaning the kitchen into something fun. Now, I still wouldn't call cleaning the kitchen or bathroom "fun," but Caldrea actually comes close. Most importantly, I'm impressed with how well it cleans. That's a hazard of using green cleaners; they take out all the harsh chemicals to make them safer for you and your families and your environment, but it was those harsh chemicals that actually cleaned. (Toilet bowl cleaner is a good example. I refuse to get a gentle, natural toilet bowl cleaner. The brand I use is like 400% hydrochloric acid. It actually smokes when you squirt it in the bowl. Forget natural; that stuff rocks.) Caldrea, at least the countertop cleaner, works as well as a traditional all purpose cleaner. It's a higher-surfactant formula than I'm used to seeing, which means that it gets sudsy and cuts through grease, and you seem to need less of it than you do regular cleaners. Which is good, 'cause it ain't cheap. Don't let the "countertop cleaner" name fool you, either. It's very all-purpose. (In fact, I have no proof, but I suspect it's really their all-purpose cleaner diluted. So for that matter, you might just want to get that and dilute it yourself in an empty spray bottle to stretch your dollars.) The other thing I like is the fragrance. I have the Sea Salt Neroli one, and it's very nice. If you know what neroli smells like and you're buying it based on that, you might be disappointed; I bought this because I like neroli's scent so much and it kind of missed the mark. The fact that I'm giving this cleaner five stars, though, should point out that even though it's not quite true to neroli, it's still a very pleasant scent. It's exactly the right strength, too. It doesn't overpower your house for days like, oh, Pine Sol or something, but it doesn't immediately evaporate, either. It's a very pleasant, clean smell - not chemical or cloying - that is just strong enough for you to catch a hint of it an hour or two later when you walk through the kitchen. My point to telling you about the "makes cleaning fun!" ad is that this is the closest I've ever come to actually enjoying myself cleaning. Not that it's any less of a pain, but I find myself a little more motivated if it means that my kitchen gets to smell pretty afterward. I do suggest trying this. It's expensive, true, and usually efficacy is really the only thing I'm after in a cleaner, but this is efficacious with a fun little reward at the end: a delicately-scented house. PS: I haven't tried the basil blue sage flavor yet, but if it's as nice as the sea salt neroli, I'll come back and say so. Edit: So I ordered the Basil & Blue Sage fragrance...and it drove me crazy! I *knew* that smell. I just couldn't place it! I got as far as realizing that it was another cleaning product I was smelling, so I went in the bathroom and started inhaling. (I probably wouldn't recommend sniffing all your cleaning products in one go, either, but I was on a mission.) And I figured it out: it smells almost - not perfectly identical, but close enough to trigger the memory - like Murphy's Oil Soap. Now, I like Murphy's Oil Soap. It's good stuff. I even kinda like the smell, which is pretty unique if not instantly delightful, since it reminds me quite a bit of childhood...though I can't say it's particularly inspirational when it comes to motivating me to clean my house. But seriously? Murphy's Oil Soap works just fine, so if I wanted my house to smell like it, I'd go out an buy it at a third of the price of Caldrea. This Caldrea cleaner works just as well as the Sea Salt Neroli, so I have no complaints about its ability...but for Caldrea prices, I want a scent like I described above: one that I can't get elsewhere. Caldrea = fail. Not bad, but not worth the price when there's a near match on the store shelves. Read more