Product Review: Daily Shower Cleaner by Attitude

I used to use Tilex Fresh Shower spray in my shower to keep down the soap scum & calcification on my shower walls and curtain. The stuff is fantastic and supposedly non-toxic and has basically removed my need to scrub my shower walls to remove layers of scum. The bathtub is a slightly different story but I'll get to that another time. Anyway, though I was not unhappy with Tilex, I searched for a "green" replacement, and I found a product from a Canadian-based company that produces a rather extensive green line of products calls Attitude. Attitude products have recently become EcoLogo - an internationally recognized Canadian certification approving the "green" nature of their products.

Simply called Daily Shower cleaner, I've been using this for about a month in place of Tilex. Daily Shower has a mild scent that I did not recognize but has been identified by the label as being Ylang-Ylang & Tangerine,...or was that Grapefruit (I still am not sure what Ylang-Ylang is despite all the shampoo commercials)?

I'm slightly reassured by Attitude's printed mantra that Daily Shower has no impact on aquatic life. Other markings note that it's also a vegan product, and donations are made to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for every purchase. Talk about a feel good product. I'm doing my [very tiny] part in saving the environment and still get clean, soap scum free tiles in my shower. Bonus.

Attitude products are available at Planet Organic and most recently, London Drugs has begun carry them as well. Daily Shower will run you around $5.90 for the spray bottle. Larger refill bottles are also available for the same or lesser price.

Daily Shower has been fairly good at keeping my shower tiles soap scum free and the routine is fairly simple. As soon as I step out of the shower, I spray down all the wet surfaces, and walk away. If only doing laundry and dishes were this simple.

Because I was already using the Tilex Fresh Shower before hand, I don't know how well it works with shower walls that start off with a thick layer of calcification. The instructions recommend giving everything a good scrub first if you have quite a bit of buildup. As it is, I think it's a fairly good product, and something I will continue to purchase.

I give Daily Shower by Attitude 4 hairballs out of 5. ;) Definitely worth a try.

Going Green...

In the last 6 months, I've been making more of an effort to go green in my tiny little condo. Do a bit more recycling than I used to, reduce my overall waste, be more conscious of how much energy & water I'm using and when, and slowly changing over the products in my home to more "green" products.

"Going Green" has been popping up more frequently in my infrequent exposures to media, news, and social activities. No, I’m not referring to green beer…and since Guinness is the only beer I drink and is too dark to be green, I can’t really go green there.

People are becoming more aware of the products they use, and how it impacts the environment around. Due to this awareness, a large variety of "green" products are FINALLY becoming more readily available to the average consumer.

While choosing more environmentally friendly cleaning products isn't necessarily a difficult thing, I'm finding that changing how I perceive "clean" may be. If I think about it, usually "clean" with a scent, fragrance, or perfume associated with a favorite cleaner (former Mr. Clean sniffer addict here).

In the end, that probably means it's not all that good for us, after all, a majority of traditional cleaning products will have extensive warning labels listing the negative effects to prolonged exposure or ingested. Don't even get me started on bleach.

So my question is this: No matter how effective a product is at "cleaning" our things (i.e. cleaning microscopic "bad things")...if it's dangerous to be using it by breathing too much, or irritates our skin if it accidentally touches our skin...why are we using it to clean our homes? I mean, aren't we around it all the time? Isn't it evaporating into the air we're breathing? Aren't we touching the same places we just cleaned with toxic chemicals? I don't get it. If it's not safe to touch it while I'm cleaning with it...why is it safe to touch what I just cleaned with it?

Okay...I'm probably just digging myself into a big hole, or chasing my invisible tail that I'm never going to catch. I'm not a scientific mind of any sort. I can understand logic to a certain point, but can't really follow beyond a certain level. I couldn't tell you fact from fiction when it comes to chemistry. And although information is readily available via the internet...whether or not that information is correct is an entirely different matter.

Anyway, I've digressed. No one cares that I'm a scientific idiot. My point is...I'm trying to get to the point where I don't need unnecessary chemicals and products in my home. I want to use less “stuff” that will help lessen my environmental footprint so I don't have to feel bad about my existence polluting the world (I exaggerated, I don't have that much of a guilt complex).

However, to go straight from toxic cleaning to chemical free cleaning is a little tough, so I figure baby steps will help and do equivalent replacement. I’ve been coming across a variety of different products during my half-witted, random shopping technique, so I’ll be posting reviews of the products I’ve picked up after I’ve had a few uses.