Product Review and Giveaway: Bon Ami Toxin-Free Cleaning Products

I walked up to the Bon Ami booth at Expo West two months ago thinking that I had stumbled upon a new company making natural cleansers. When I found out that they were actually founded in 1886, making them 126 years old, I have to admit, I kind of lost interest. I thought, “What could a stodgy, 126-year-old company know about environmentally-friendly, toxin-free cleaning products?” Besides, I was there to discover “new” and “cool” companies in the healthy living space, so I left a card out of politeness, and walked off.

Fast forward a couple weeks, and their PR company contacted me to ask if I would be interested in reviewing their products. I thought, “Well, what could it hurt? I have to clean the house SOMETIME, and this might motivate me to do it sooner rather than later.” So I agreed, and a few days later, I got a very nice package in the mail. I will mention at this point that other than the opportunity to try out these cleaning products and give away an equivalent package to one of my readers, I am not being compensated in any way for this review. Also, my opinion is strictly my own, and do not necessarily accord with the views of Bon Ami.

This is what came in my mail. You could win one of these, too, by entering my giveaway!

There are 4 items in the Bon Ami cleansing products family: a dish soap, a powder cleanser, an all-purpose cleaner, and a liquid cleanser. The first thing I always do is, of course, read the ingredients. This is where I had my first aha moment: of COURSE a 126-year-old company would have something to offer to Moms who want to be earth-friendly and toxin-free…they started WAY back before all the chemicals became popular! Duh. What was I thinking?? I really liked what I was reading. For example, here are the ingredients in their powder cleanser: Limestone, feldspar, biodegradable cleaning agents (from coconut and corn), soda ash, and baking soda.

So I immediately went to clean my bathroom sink – just so you know, I have this bad habit of applying my mineral makeup right in front of my sink. I do this so the makeup doesn’t get on the counter. But it does get onto the sink, leaving a nasty beige-colored film. The powder cleanser did very well! For something so “gentle” (the Bon Ami motto is, “Hasn’t scratched yet!”), it left everything sparkling clean.

Next, I attacked the mountain of dishes burgeoning in my kitchen sink with their Dish Soap. The ingredients in this are: water, biodegradable cleaning agents (from corn, coconut, and palm), Epsom salt, natural essential oils of mandarin, tangerine, orange, thyme, and clove, citric acid, pH adjuster, and biodegradable preservative (hmm, I would have liked for more clarification on this). I was also impressed with the dish soap’s ability to cut through greasy dishes. It doesn’t foam up very much, but that’s to be expected, because there are no chemical foaming agents listed in the ingredients. For stuck-on, caked-on foods, I did have to scrub slightly harder or wash dishes twice before getting them all out. But in the end, I think the dish soap did the job admirably.

Next up, the liquid cleanser. I tried it on my shower doors, which are sporting a thin film of soap scum, due to the hard water that we have here. Again, the product was effective, but I did have to scrub the doors twice before I felt that all of the film was gone. Still, when I ran my fingers down the panes afterwards, it was nice to feel nothing but the smooth glass. To be completely honest, I haven’t tried to use the All-Purpose Cleanser yet, so I will report back when I have had a chance to try it.

In the meantime, however, I want to hold a giveaway for my readers! So here are the details: you get to win an identical kit to the one that I received in the mail, containing all 4 of the Bon Ami toxin-free cleansers, plus a cute bonus apron and VERY cute chick hand-scrubbing mitt that your child can enjoy. To enter, just use the handy-dandy form below!

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