Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 10, 1991 TAG: 9103110384
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By FLORENCE FABRICANT/ THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"The old-fashioned products are still the best and the easiest to use," said Sylvia Mannix, a professional house cleaner in East Hampton, N.Y. "Lots of the new products leave a scum or a film. That's why I use vinegar on tile. It's much, much cheaper than the special products they sell in the supermarket and it never streaks."
She said that she learned to use vinegar from her mother and that she taught her daughter, Karyn, a dress designer, to use it, too.
It has taken years, but the interest in "natural" products, as opposed to highly processed or chemical-laden ones, has finally started moving from the pantry and refrigerator to the area under the sink.
Among the reasons given for the renewed interest in products used many generations ago are concern for the environment, a desire to use fewer harsh chemicals in the home, and cost.
Besides practical considerations, there is apparently an emotional one. Phil Lempert, a marketing analyst in Montclair, N.J., who publishes The Lempert Report, a consumer newsletter, said "focus group interviews indicate that at stressful times like these we look for that warm and fuzzy feeling - eating meatloaf and mashed potatoes and keeping house the way grandma did."
Whatever the reasons, Heinz U.S.A. said its sales of white vinegar in half-gallon and gallon sizes increased about 5 percent in 1990 over the previous year, compared with an increase of 2 percent for other varieties and sizes.
The Dial Corp., has seen similar interest in its 20 Mule Team Borax, a product made from the natural mineral compound boron that has diverse uses as a detergent booster, whitener and roach killer.
Annual sales of Borax increased about 16 percent from 1988 to 1990, even more sharply in the latter part of 1990.
Both companies also have seen dramatic increases in requests for booklets they publish giving household hints about their products: in just one month last summer, for example, requests for the Dial booklet, "The Magic Crystal," exceeded those of the previous year.
Since Earth Day last spring, the Church & Dwight Co., which makes Arm & Hammer products, has intensified a campaign to persuade consumers that baking soda and its heavy-duty relative, washing soda, are the aspirin of household chores, all-purpose remedies.
Church & Dwight, which is introducing a refillable dispenser for its baking soda, recommends the product to clean ovens, deodorize cat litter and clear drains, among other uses.
The company said baking soda is even being used in auto-body shops as a paint stripper in place of toxic chemical solvents, and experimentally to purify municipal water systems.
"The virtues of baking soda cannot be emphasized enough," said Annie Bethold-Bond, author of "Clean and Green" (Ceres Press, 1990, $8.95).
It would seem others agree. Last year, Church & Dwight's sales of baking soda grew 10 percent, double the increases of previous years. Church & Dwight, which was founded in 1846, is the leading producer of baking soda or sodium bicarbonate in the world and the only U.S. company selling the product nationally.
Another old-fashioned, multipurpose cleaner now available nationwide in supermarkets and hardware stores is Murphy's Oil Soap, a mild, aromatic, biodegradable product made from oils derived from pine resin.
It is recommended as a wood or leather cleaner, a prewash stain remover and even a pet shampoo.
First made in the early 1900s in Cleveland, Murphy's Oil Soap was available only in the Great Lakes region until 1976, when the company began selling it in other areas. Since national distribution began in 1986, sales have increased eight-fold.
"I discovered it about four years ago," said Judith Alberty, a publicity agent in Seattle. "It's the greatest stuff in the world because you can use it for everything. Mother was surprised when she saw it in my house because she said she hadn't seen it in years."
In the Feb. 28 issue of Bottom Line Personal, a bimonthly consumer newsletter, Leslie Cerier, a fitness expert from Amherst, Mass., gave a list of uses for vinegar, lemon juice, table salt and borax for a number of cleaning chores. She said she stopped using conventional cleansers, oven-cleaners, glass cleaners and fabric softeners many years ago.
The European lines, some of which are sold in the United States in health-food stores or by mail, are facing more competition from natural cleaning products made by new American companies, many of them springing up in California, like Granny's Old-Fashioned Products and Life Tree.
These products may be safer for the user and the environment than conventional cleaning products but they certainly are not cheaper.
For example, the German-made multipurpose Ecover Cream Cleaner costs $4.59 a liter in a Manhattan health-food store, about the same as an equivalent amount of a conventional soft liquid cleanser.
by CNB