Use Eco-Friendly Car Cleaning Products for a Healthier Home

Did you know that every time you wash your car in your driveway or at the curb that you could be washing toxic chemicals into the environment that are harmful to you, children, pets, and wildlife? These same chemical car cleaning products could then travel from your property into the environment, our water systems, and fresh water resources, causing health problems for humans and marine life alike.

The truth is that we don’t often think about where the dirt goes after it leaves our vehicles. Most, commercial car wash companies have to think about this issue since they are required to filter the water leaving their facilities, yet for consumers, there are no such regulations. There are nearly 30 million people in our country washing their cars at home every day, using between 80 and 140 gallons of water each that can then take with it the toxins that are so harmful for human and marine life alike.

So what is in our car cleaning products and water runoff that makes this such a concern? Well, there are many toxins to be concerned about when considering your regular vehicle vanity routine:

• The soaps, waxes, degreasers, sprays, wipes, and polishes you use for cleaning your vehicle may contain non-biodegradable, hazardous detergents that are harmful to fish and other marine and wildlife. Detergents are surfactants that destroy a fish’s external mucus layer that protects them from parasites and bacteria. Fish that come into contact with water that contains 15 parts per million (ppm) or more of detergent will likely perish.

• The National Water Research Institute (NWRI) has categorized car debris as a major source of heavy metals, grease, oil, and rubber that gets pulled into the environment and our water supplies. In fact, three-fifths of all samples of road runoff contain potential, confirmed, or severely toxic components.

• Synthetic phenol-based surfactants (chemicals used to get cleaning supplies to rinse off easily with water) used in many car cleaning products have been labeled by the US Environmental Protection Agency as potential endocrine disrupters. As such, these can wreak havoc with natural reproduction systems in the fish colony, causing the population levels to decline.

• Another potential car wash pollutant is benzene. This is a flammable solvent that is poisonous if ingested and therefore a danger for pets and children.

That’s just a quick summary of some of the dangerous substances that enter our waterways when we wash our cars and allow untreated water to run away into our storm water system.

You can do something about this problem by using a nontoxic, plant and water-based, waterless car wash system. This has two main benefits. First, it will eliminate the need for water, which means you won’t be releasing oil, grease, and other automobile fluids into the environment. Second, if you choose a natural, plant-based product, even when the rain washes your car, the substance will not cause environmental damage.

Laura Klein’s Green Car cleaning system is the perfect solution. All of the products in this line are water and plant-based and biodegradable, they are nontoxic, not caustic, and contain no petroleum solvents, phosphates, nitrates, enzymes, sulfates, or silicates. These are truly green car cleaning products.