Who says green products need extra elbow grease to work? These ingredients come together to do the real heavy lifting when it comes to removing grime around your home.
It’s unlike anything you’ve used before; eco-friendly products that make a big impact in your home and negligible impact on the planet.
Companies are not obligated to disclose all of the ingredients for cleaning products?
But that’s not how we do things. Here you’ll find an explanation of every ingredient that’s used in our Azure Clean line.
What it does: Makes soils soluble
Why we chose it: Renewable, plant-based ingredient that replaces petroleum based solvents.
What it does: Removes soils from clothes, dishes, and other surfaces
Why we chose it: Fully biodegradable surfactant made from plant oils & sugars
What it does: A general detergent that lifts away dirt and stains.
Why we chose it: Fully biodegradable surfactant made from plant oils & sugars
What it does: Optimizes pH.
Why we chose it: Completely biodegradable pH adjuster from plant-fermented plant sugars
What it does: Surfactant that separates dirt and stains from surfaces.
Why we chose it: Made from plant seeds and readily biodegradable
What it does: Anti-redeposition agent.
Why we chose it: Plant fibers that prevent clothes looking grey or dingy by keeping soils in water and not on clothes.
What it does: Stain removal
Why we chose it:Fermented plant sugars that break down stains
What it does: Stain Removal
Why we chose it: Fermented plant sugar enzyme that removes protein and starch-based stains such as blood and eggs.
What it does: Anti-pilling
Why we chose it: Fermented plant sugar enzyme that reduces pilling when clothes are washed.
What it does: Stain Removal
Why we chose it: Fermented plant sugar enzyme
What it does: Surfactant
Why we chose it: Derived from coconut oil and removes soils while naturally controling foam levels.
What it does: Powerful degreasing surfactant
Why we chose it: Renewable, plant (palm) based and biodegradeable, but functions like DDBSA (which is not safer choice).
What it does: Emulsifier
Why we chose it: From both plant oils and natural gas, it biodegrades readily and is non-toxic in use.
What it does: Thickener
Why we chose it: Fermented plant sugars that make a natural thickener
What it does: Water softener and dispersant.
Why we chose it: Made from fermented plant sugars. Controls hard water effects during cleaning and helps to suspend soils so they are not redeposited. Non-toxic to skin and readily biodegradable.
What it does: Emulsifier
Why we chose it: From both plant oils and natural gas, it biodegrades readily and is non-toxic in use.
What it does: Emollient, compatibilizer, and mild solvent.
Why we chose it: Multifunctional ingredient made from vegetable oils.
What it does: Infuses select products with natural fragrance.
Why we chose it: Natural fragrences are certified SO 9235 compliant and derived from essential oils.
What it does: Digests organic soils
Why we chose it: Fermented plant sugars that digest a wide range of organic proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.
What it does: Surfactant
Why we chose it: A plant oil based surfactant which separates dirt and stains from surfaces.
What it does: Surfactant
Why we chose it: A plant oil based surfactant which separates dirt and stains from surfaces.
What it does: Surfactant
Why we chose it: A plant oil based surfactant which separates dirt and stains from surfaces.
What it does: Enzyme stabilizer and solvent
Why we chose it: A plant (corn) based solvent (non-petroleum) increases enzyme efficiency in soil removal.
What it does: Viscosity regulator
Why we chose it: Table salt. Regulates product viscosity and stabilizes other ingredients.
What it does: Helps enzymes work.
Why we chose it: Biodegradable mineral that stabilizes enzymes.
What it does: Alkalinity Booster
Why we chose it: Increases alkalinity to improve surfactant efficiency in removing acidic, fatty and oily soils.
What it does: pH corrector and corrosion inhibitor
Why we chose it: Abundant mineral material used to correct pH levels in cleaning solutions.
What it does: pH corrector
Why we chose it: Abundant mineral used to correct pH levels in cleaning solutions.
What it does: Water softener that binds with calcium and magnesium from water hardness, allowing active ingredients to do their job.
Why we chose it: Natural mineral water softener
What it does: Water softener
Why we chose it: Softens water by binding with minerals, allowing the active ingredients to do their job.
What it does: Improves surfactant activity.
Why we chose it: Mineral that boosts some surfactants and provides dose control.
What it does: Water softener
Why we chose it: Plant sugars that softens water by binding with minerals, allowing the active ingredients to do their job.
What it does: Water softener
Why we chose it: Fermented plant sugars that softens water by grabbing rust and binding with minerals, allowing the active ingredients to do their job.
What it does: Bleaching Agent
Why we chose it:Oxidizing bleach without negative environmental effects of chlorine bleach.
What it does: A general detergent that controls foam and mineral deposits.
Why we chose it: EPA Safer Choice listed synthetic. It is non-hazardous and eliminates the need for rinse products, is readily biodegradable, and is specially promoted/suggested by the EPA as a Safer Choice ingredient. While this block copolymer is not harmful to humans or the environment, it is not plant-based. We will replace with a plant-based alternative as soon as such an ingredient becomes available, regardless of cost.
What it does: Limits oxidation of other ingredients
Why we chose it: An antioxidant present in nature (green tea & cotton seed) but sourced as synthetic. A readily biodegradable EPA Safer Choice listed synthetic
we use it at less than 1% to keep plant based ingredients from oxidizing. While this a second tier eye irritant at full strength (100%) it will not function as much an irritant as used in such a dilute (,1%) concentration. Just like eating 100% salt or putting it into your eyes as a powder would be very irritating…..diluting it makes is useable for many applications. We selected this ingredient to prolong the life and efficacy of our products while being safe for humans and extremely biodegradable relative to the environment. Again, we selected this ingredient based on the balancing of human, environmental and sustainability factors. This is another EPA designated Safer Choice ingredient; which can theoretically be sourced from Green Tea and Cotton seed extracts, we transparently disclose that ours is sourced as a synthetic because the supply from processing green tea and cotton seed is not yet commercialized….although it is coming.
What it does: Binds with calcium and magnesium allowing active ingredients to do their job. Water softener and chelant.
Why we chose it: EPA Safer Choice listed synthetic
Some ingredients such as EDTA are very safe for humans but do terrible things to watersheds….so we replaced EDTA with Methylglycinediacetic Acid, Sodium Salt which is a synthetic and an irritant. Please understand that these are complicated multi-faceted balancing acts. Again, humans can drink EDTA but it is absolutely terrible for watersheds. We think our decision is the right one upon balancing our four criteria
What it does: Prevents soil redeposition
Why we chose it: Prevents soils from reattaching to surfaces once they are removed.
What it does: Water softener, spot remover, and dispersant.
Why we chose it: EPA Safer Choice listed synthetic that prevents deposits and eliminates need for phosphates.
What it does: Allows the solution to pull grease and stains off of the surface.
Why we chose it: An EPA Safer Choice listed synthetic solvent
What it does: Bleaching Agent
Why we chose it: An EPA Safer Choice listed synthetic that enables bleaching agents to be effective at lower temperatures and accelerates peroxide.
What it does: Emollient, compatibilizer, and mild solvent.
Why we chose it: Multifunctional ingredient made from vegetable oils.
What it does: Surfactant
Why we chose it: A surfactant which separates dirt and stains from surfaces.
What it does: Preservative
Why we chose it: An EPA Safer Choice listed synthetic that functions as a preservative. It stops the growth of bacteria and micro-organisms in the product. Although a synthetic ingredient, it’s biodegradable and safe for use.
We disclose every ingredient even though we are not required to do so. The listing of the 0.001 amount of Methylisothiazolinone and 0.001 of Benzothiazolinone bothers some people but we add this highly biodegradable EPA- Safer Choice ingredient in order to prevent growth of bacteria and microorganisms. The largely plant based ingredients we use would quickly turn into a hot mess of mold, fungus and bacteria if we did not add this preservative. We tried packaging these products under a nitrogen blanket but this did not work. Bacteria growth. We are currently planning formal scientific testing of a new plant-based antimicrobial but early testing does not support the product claims as to its efficacy. It is our belief that it is probable that other companies do not list the Methyl and Benzo preservatives…because they are not required to do so by law. It would mean more if they printed on their containers that “this product does not contain such preservatives.” Just because it is not listed, does not mean it is not an ingredient in such products. Plant-based cleaners such as these need the 0.001 amount of the two preservatives to give them a shelf life past one month. The law only requires that these ingredients be disclosed as an ingredient if they are present at levels of 1% whereas each of these are present at a level of 0.001
Because of our concerns relative to the potential 1,4, Dioxane (suspected carcinogen) contamination of SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) and SLES (Sodium Lauryl Esther Sulfate) we 100% engineered these two ingredients out of all our products. This was very difficult technically and very costly but we felt that eliminating SLS and SLES was a VERY HIGH PRIORITY given that these ingredients are typically present in very high percentages such as 10 to 30% in finished products. New York is so concerned about such contamination ingredients that they just implemented a law requiring that producers test and disclose the amount of 1,4, Dioxane in such ingredients. We took the safer path and just totally engineered them out of use. Companies such as Biokleen disclose on their website that they use SLS or SLES in many/most of their products. Our labels do not list such ingredients because they are not present in ANY our products and our labels state specifically that these two ingredients are never used in our products
At a level just above 1%, we use a Block Copolymer in our automatic dishwasher powder. This ingredient is readily biodegradable and is listed by the EPA as a Safer Choice ingredient. It is a surfactant but is described as a “polymer” because it is a large molecule, made of repeating groups. This ingredient controls foaming. It promotes water sheeting and a fast runoff, so drops don’t dry onto dishware, glasses and flatware. Those drops would then dry down to leave spots from the minerals naturally present in the water. The small amount of Block Copolymer we use thus eliminates the need for an entire rinse conditioner product.
In summary, our Block Copolymer is non-hazardous, eliminates the need for rinse products, is readily biodegradable, and is specially promoted/suggested by the EPA as a Safer Choice ingredient. While this block copolymer is not harmful to humans or the environment, it is not plant-based. We will replace with a plant-based alternative as soon as such an ingredient becomes available, regardless of cost.
Enzymes are another complex issue. These very natural materials can bother some people. But we use them because they eliminate the need for harsh chemicals that will absolutely wreck the rivers and lakes.
