I just wanted to respond to a comment that Rose left on my Sanitizing Toys post. She is concerned about my advocating the use of Clorox on your baby's toys. She says,

I’m really surprised that Stephanie Brown suggested using Clorox Anywhere to sanitize toys….children put toys in their mouths and clorox is toxic. For someone who gives out this information on the internet, this is just unacceptable to me that she would suggest this. Hasn’t she heard of all natural products that won’t harm your children or anyone for that matter???

Rose, I understand your concern. Know that I personally use natural products in my home every day (Ecover, Whole Foods 365 brand detergent, Biokleen, etc.) and cover organic food and natural baby products here on the site. But it's not my job to just test and cover the natural stuff. Clorox made a claim about this spray ("Safe to spray on things used by pets, children, etc.") and I wanted to test it out... It contains enough bleach to kill germs, but it's not even enough to take the color out of clothing (and I literally poured the stuff on a dark towel). This spray is not simply undiluted, straight bleach (which as you pointed out, is very toxic). Those household bleaches are about 6 percent sodium hypochlorite. This spray is just .0095 percent.

Even if it were stronger, if you use it like you're supposed to (which means that you allow it to air dry) what you're left with when that tiny amount of bleach evaporates is basically table salt. And not much of it, either. In the case of this spray, it could barely be classified as residue.

In addition, this process of using diluted bleach on hard surfaces and allowing it to air dry before use is practiced in nearly every restaurant, deli, etc. They dip dishes and utensils in a bleach and water solution that is much higher than what is in this spray, in fact. And what's left after is a knife that won't give you or your baby salmonella or something worse.

Even full strength bleach isn't without its place in my crunchy granola home. If a disaster hits and I have no power to boil water, it's bleach I'll be using to make my family's water safe. I love my Ecover, but it can't do that. ( I wish it could!)

So, I fully support efforts to make a home as chemical-free as possible, but it's not for everyone. I can say with confidence that this product is closer to that particular goal than most of what's out there on the market today.