AROUND THE HOUSE
In honor of the tradition to start the new year clean, we present this special year-end Around the House:
- Susan Fornoff
Saturday, December 30, 2006

[Some of the eco-friendly cleaning products used at Osmosis are highlighted below in green.]

BOTH WIN, HANDS UP
If you really love to get down on your hands and knees to clean the floor, these products aren't for you. If you don't, you'll probably want one or the other -- maybe both, depending on your floors. We tested the new Black&Decker Power Mop vs. the new Swiffer Sweeper Vac and found both to be back-saving bargains. The Power Mop (at left, $39.99, Target, Amazon.com and other Black&Decker retailers) works great for tile, linoleum and other floors in need of wet cleaning. It comes with an accessory called the "no touch" cleaning pad for mopping, uses the cleaning solution of your choice, and converts to a power scrub brush easily. That brush did a really great job in the seam between cabinet baseboard and floor. The Swiffer Sweeper Vac (at right, $29.99, Wal-Mart and other Swiffer retailers) does the job on wood and other floors that should be dry-mopped. It contains a vacuum cleaner for sucking up those leftover dust bunnies that elude the Swiffer cleaning pad, or for quickly zapping a dry spill in the kitchen.
Standard cleaning cloths (even your own recycled T-shirt material) attach to both products; the Black&Decker takes four AA batteries while the Swiffer is slightly greener for having a cell-phone style battery and charger.
 
MAKE ROOM FOR THE BROOM
Now there's no reason not to be stylish while we're cleaning our houses this weekend. Designer Karim Rashid, creator of a wildly successful wastebasket for Umbra and a striking chair for Design Within Reach, mixed form and function to come up with the Onda broom and standing dustpan for Casabella. The sculptural piece comes in periwinkle, lime and fuchsia on Casabella.com and at San Francisco's Bed, Bath and Beyond store, and is available in black and white exclusively at the Container Store. Suggested retail price is $39.99. And, no, it doesn't power sweep -- but it looks good.
 
MAKING SCENTS
Caldrea has been applying aromatherapy properties to nontoxic cleaning products with such success that the fragrance options are ever increasing. We tried a few scents in the kitchen during the holiday season and found that we ran out of the basil blue sage dish soap far too soon. Other favorites included the citrus mint ylang ylang and the white tea. Nothing too overpowering for working around food, just nice fresh scents. Look for the sampler of four, $10, or 16-ounce singles, $8, at www.caldrea.com and at Bay Area shops, including Sur La Table.
 
MESSY ENOUGH TO WIN A PRIZE?
Here's a thought for those who would rather not clean this weekend: There's still time to enter the messiest home contest conducted by the Style Network program "Clean House." Deadline is 11:59 p.m. New Year's Eve for submitting a video of the messy house online, along with the residents' appeal to have it cleared out and redone by Niecy Nash and her crew. Mail submissions must be postmarked today. Visit the site www.stylesearchforthemessiesthome.com for contest details.
 
CLEAN GREEN
The greening of Osmosis, the Sonoma County enzyme bath spa shown at right, followed recommendations from students of the Presidio School of Management's Green MBA Program. Suggestions covered every inch of the property -- from biodiesel for equipment to fair-trade merchandise for the shop. But what cleaning products would Osmosis be using that would keep the place spiffy without introducing toxins or busting the budget?
We asked and were answered:
-- Pure Liquid Gold's grapefruit seed extract (antibacterial sanitizer)
-- Citra-Wood (furniture polish with what the staff says is a nice, clean scent)
-- Descale-it Lime-Eater (biodegradable soap-scum cleaner; doesn't require a lot of scrubbing)
-- Seventh Generation Free and Clear (glass and surface cleaner, without an ammonia odor)
-- H2O2 Concentrate Orange Cleaner (multipurpose cleaner for surfaces and walls)
-- Life Tree (for dishes, foamy and kind to hands)

©2007 San Francisco Chronicle