"Green" vs "Safe"...do you want to go there..

[Mikey P]

Recent discussions on the subject got me thinking if it's really best to bring up the subject of the difference between the two terms.

How many times have you started to lecture clients on pH levels, rinse agents and gadgetry only to have them start to look over your shoulders and fade off?

Is "Eco Friendly" not good enough or does that just imply that you wont be creating Blinky the three eyed fish when you dump in their drive way?

in other words what looks better to the average concerned home owner on the side of your van..

"Safe Cleaning" or "Green Cleaning"


I asked my wife and she prefer's Green as it implies that the company is either certified to be labeled as such or they want to be..

 

[PrimaDonna]

The question we get most is "Is it safe?"...to breath, for my animals to walk on and then lick their paws, for my kids to roll around on and get on their skin....

So, I think safe carries more weight as a term with our clients. I respond by telling them we use environmentally safe products. I explain that John has been doing this for over 25 years and has to breathe this stuff in everyday so we are very conscious of what we use for his and our techs health and well being.

I equate 'green' being more about the global environment (tree huggers), Not that our clients don't care about the global environment, but they are more concerned about their own home and family, first and the world second.

 

[Jimmy L]

I tell them "Green" and use BP's Groom solutions "Vibrant" extractor formula. You see it doesn't have an odor and has a ph of around 11 I believe. They will never........................know.

 

[Bill Soukoreff]

You can't have it all and do it all. You have to choose what's best for you and your future in the biz. Green or safe or just words. Sadly, they have become marketing terms. I respect cleaners who don't hide the fact that will nuke carpets, but I have no respect for cleaners who pretend to provide safe cleaning.

I started to focus on 'safe' right from the get go exclusively for my own health. Long family history of respiratory problems. Turns out there is a small but great niche market for safe cleaning. I clean for people with chemical sensitivities and asthma which in my part for the world plaques a surprising percentage of the population. These customers are educated, savvy and usually know more about the 'chemical triggers' then the service provider. You have to educate yourself and follow strict protocols to service this market. I find it very rewarding personally and I seems to have eliminated any concerns I once had about this business affecting my respiratory health.

This means however I do not clean literally over 95% of what is out there. It was a risk I took, but I have never looked back. I use no enzymes, bleaches, encapsulating polymers, butyl's, limonenes, d-limonenes, surfactants, soaps, detergents or products with high PH. I do use huge amounts of water and the hottest temps I can reasonably get at the fibre. My onboard Kinetico is fed by dechlorinated water and I only use a very hard to get and expensive salt pellet that is not processed using surfactants. This is not necessary for most people, but I do have a small percentage of ultra sensitive customers, who have discovered their infants sensitivities are greatly exasperated by even the small trace of surfactants in soft water treated with normal high quality salt pellets.

Remember, I service a tiny, tiny percentage for the market and what I do is not for the mainstream. Just explaining what is required to provide the absolute safest cleaning possible for people with chemical sensitivities or asthma.

 

[Jimmy L]

Cleaning with just water?

 

[Chris A]

We used to promote all natural cleaning, now we don't. Nobody noticed.

 

[WillS]

Why not throw both of them on there, Green and Safe Cleaning, Safe Green Cleaning, Cleaning Green and Safe.

 

[Bill Soukoreff]

Cleaning with just water?

You would be surprised what's available. I love colloidal micelle cleaners.

 

[Jimmy L]

As in " Colloidal enema"

 

[Able 1]

Damn Bill, haven't seen you around in a while..In my best Chris Farley imitation: "you remember that time" that you posted this video for Odin working on his electric TM?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...IIHDAA&usg=AFQjCNF7BDJPlDWFh-7M26zrcWMXbaDpxw

"That was awesome!"

 

[Bill Soukoreff]

Hey Keith, that was a long time ago! Fun times for sure.

 

[Able 1]

Hey Keith, that was a long time ago! Fun times for sure.

It was AWESOME!! Perfect timing! It was one of my all time favorites!

 

[Mikey P]

speaking of green..

http://mikeysboard.com/threads/sapphire-scientific-year-end-super-raffle.281027/

 

[Larry Cobb]

Bill;

Have you thought about RO water for your sensitive cleaning.

The testing we have done shows good cleaning/rinsing ability.

 

[Papa John]

There a new word hitting the media. It's called "Greenwashing" it's actually a negative term towards the Green movment.. educated people are starting to question the term Green as well other terms such as: Eco, natural ect.. for the terms no longer mean what people thought they ment.

"Green babble is often superficial to the point of being idiotic". Dr Michael Berry.
For more info read Dr. Michael Berry's article in CleanFax.com January 2011 issue.

 

[Scott S.]

You would be surprised what's available. I love colloidal micelle cleaners.

just so everyone knows how it works and can read about it.


http://www.gemtek.com/products/safe-care/how-it-works

 

[Scott S.]

The Biggest thing that i find is that because its green doesnt make it safe, and if you have to use alot of the safe/green stuff is it green? so if you use say 5 oz of an awesome cleaner vs 36 oz of the green/ safe stuff at that point do you surpass the bad stuff with the green stuff when it comes to safe/ green/ water pollution.

Also if you use a non green ps but use a Green/safe rinse does it leave it safe and green behind? we or most of us are flushing out the soils with a rinse agent.

im using Clean Free right now, its not green, but it doesnt make me cough and doesnt have all the nasty crap in it that you find in others, using it as a ps and a rinse, works fantastic!!

 

[rjwood]

in other words what looks better to the average concerned home owner on the side of your van..

"Safe Cleaning" or "Green Cleaning"

Of the two choices, I prefer "green" but I would rather have the words Professional, or possibly, even better yet, knowledgeable or experienced on the side of my van/truck.

Of course, no single term is a catch-all for any business, so we go with percentages and to my mind the terms I've mentioned above are more general, and yet simultaneously relaxing and assertive because as much as the average customer would like to sound like they know what they're talking about, they don't really and prefer a person of experience, knowledge and professionalism to be in their home. That's why reviews are so important in the service industry.

Now, any good salesperson listens more than they speak (at least at first) because listening to potential customers offers clues if not outright determinating factors as to the language that should be employed in face-to-face communications.

Customer: I see in your advertisements that you're a "green cleaner" does that also mean that the chemicals you use are safe?
Me: Yes, the terms safe and green are interchangeable as far as I'm concerned. All of the detergents and rinses I buy are top-shelf - the best and most effective that I can find. I don't skimp when it comes to the detergents and rinses I prefer.​

I always avoid using any variant of the word chemical and I remove it from the conversation quickly and as forcefully as possible replacing it with less traumatic words.

 

[Zee]

The average customer will think they're using professional stuff because that's what their groceries store bought bottles say so.

Many times they expect us to whip out the folex and resolve or woolite too...

I just clear it up that we don't use store bought products because -evidently - they don't work. Otherwise we wouldn't be here.

As far as it being green and or safe...if that is a topic of discussion, I force the conversation to point out that what we use is about as bad or good as what they use already to wash close, car wash shampoo, dishes, etc. To point out that they are already in contact with pretty much everything...

And of course I look for the obvious brake dust and car traffic dust and smog deposit along the baseboards... To point out that the 4 lane road out there causes more health hazards than anything... (BTW I do notice along main roads, freeways, the homes are a lot more soiled...I'd never move to a house along a main road.)

 

[Carbonated Carpet Woman]

Carbonated Solutions .... "Simple. Strong. Safe. TM"
Oh yeah, and our ingredients are found on the USDA's Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list too.
Just sayin....

 

[rjwood]

USDA

Is the USDA a government agency? We shouldn't trust them, should we?

 

[Larry Cobb]

One thing I have noticed in the last 6 months or so is . . .

new "Green AND Biorenewable" surfactants that perform very well . . .

compared to earlier attempts.

Biorenewable (coming from plant sources that can be quickly renewed) is what a lot of "environmentally aware" customers are starting to require for cleaning.

Our new CitraGreen prespray utilizes one of these efficient surfactants that is manufactured from plant-based ingredients,
and also relies on a natural solvent that is also plant-based.

http://www.cobbcarpet.com/zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=5344http://www.cobbcarpet.com/zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=5344

 

[Scott S.]

I tell them "Green" and use BP's Groom solutions "Vibrant" extractor formula. You see it doesn't have an odor and has a ph of around 11 I believe. They will never........................know.

Why do i have a feeling your going to be on dateline, or some Scammer reveal show?

 

[Carbonated Carpet Woman]

Is the USDA a government agency? We shouldn't trust them, should we?

LOL! Point taken!

Still....I can drink my cleaner! How many can say that?

 

[Zee]

I can drink my cleaner! How many can say that?

Well...pretty much every single zerorez outfit with their stupid radio ads..




(although, I think Forsythe already explained how foolish that would be to actually drink zerorez's "water"...)

 

[Carbonated Carpet Woman]

Well...pretty much every single zerorez outfit with their stupid radio ads..

Touche! But we don't have stupid radio ads!

 

[mirf]

LOL! Point taken!

Still....I can drink my cleaner! How many can say that?

there is that adorable larger than life baby also

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Green/safe is a social trend label.. so we will probably invent a new word for it.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I'm grateful that CARPET is the most effective floor surface for trapping indoor pollution and inhibiting its spread and ingestion.

I'm also grateful that STEAM external extraction is the most effective way to remove them, even without detergents in some cases.

 

[Dmreed4311]

Family safe cleaning