Seventh Generation Review and Giveaway!

MyBlogSpark and Seventh Generation gave me the opportunity to review some of their products. The timing was good, because not only is April "Earth Month", but at the beginning of April our house got hit with the stomach flu AGAIN. I had just received this product kit in the mail the previous day, so I was able to try them out right away!

Since we knew they were made with botanical extracts, we thought they probably weren't able to disinfect, but they are! It says they kill 99.99% of germs botanically. I started with the Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner. To disinfect, it said to wet the surface and leave for 10 minutes, allowing to air dry. As long as it isn't on a food surface, there is no need to wipe or rinse. I went crazy spraying just about everything, in between throwing in loads of laundry. I like how the spray bottle sprays a nice even mist, but I wasn't fond of the smell of the cleaner. It wasn't horrible, but it smelled weird to me. When my husband came into the room, however, he was not so keen on the smell--and considering he had just finished cleaning up tons of throw-up, the smell of it was almost too much for him to handle. Because I had already sprayed it all over the place, I had to go around with Oust to try to help the smell a little. Other than that, I was happy with it, and I'm just sure to use it when he isn't home.

Next was cleaning the bathrooms with the Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner. This one smelled much better to me (though you could tell the scents were similar--both lemongrass and thyme--for some reason this one smelled better to me), but I wasn't as fond of the spraying mechanism. Again, according to the directions, to disinfect you spray the surface, leave for 10 minutes, and allow to air dry with no rinsing or wiping. Well this one sprays out kind of foamy, and not in a fine mist but more in a directed spray, so I couldn't get good coverage without wiping it around. Time to break out the paper towels! We are used to buying Viva, so I knew these wouldn't be able to compare the same way. But they aren't too bad, and they do hold up to some small wiping jobs. They are obviously not as thick or soft as Viva, but I can fold them over and wet them down without them immediately tearing. I used the paper towels to wipe around with the bathroom cleaner, then let it sit for 10 minutes. There was still a little foam in the bottom of the sink, so I still felt the need to rinse. But it did seem clean.

I also used the Disinfecting Wipes. These were probably my favorite of all. The smell was fine and they were strong enough wipes to do the job. I cleaned doorknobs and bathroom handles and around the kitchen sink and counters. I even tried sticking one on the bottom of my Swiffer WetJet (because I ran out of pads), and it held up just fine--no rips! I don't know how good a job it did on the floor (it's not the right size and not really meant for the swiffer, obviously), but it was nice not to have to get on my knees when I'm so pregnant!

Enough about me, now it's your turn! One of my U.S. readers will win the above pack of Seventh Generation products to try for themselves! This giveaway will close on Tuesday, April 20th at midnight and I will select one winner using Random.org. The prize pack will be mailed to the winner directly from Seventh Generation and MyBlogSpark. Here are the methods of entry, for up to 5 entries per person:

1. Leave a comment. What products do you use to clean your home, and what do or don't you like about them?

2. Subscribe via email or RSS reader. Then leave a separate comment that you are a subscriber.

3. Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect. Look for the lovely pictures of others on the right side of my blog, add yours, and then leave a separate comment.

4. Grab my button. Put my button on your blog and leave a comment with your blog's address for another entry! You can find the code to cut and paste on my right sidebar.

5. Blog about this giveaway. Post a link to this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment with the address to your blog's entry.

*I was given the above package from MyBlogSpark and Seventh Generation to give an honest review, and my opinions are my own.