Microfiber: Environmental House Cleaning and also Cosmetic Exfoliant! (Environmental Information/House Cleaning and Cosmetic Information)

One thing I have to blog about is microfiber. I've been hearing so much about it from many delphi forum members for a while, and also a few months ago from my sister. I finally used some and decided to blog about it because it has great cosmetic and environmental cleaning uses (so combining many of my interests) :)

How they work: the fibers of these seemingly soft cloths are textured, and the special fibers gently remove dirt and other substances from a variety of surfaces (the fibers are not treated with chemicals). They feel gentle to the touch but are tough on cleaning power, and you can use them dry or wet with only water--no chemicals or any cleansers! :) According to my sister: use wet for cleaning hard surfaces, dry to wipe stuff.

To clean them: Regular machine wash, but line dry them (or at least Costco brand).

Cosmetic use: many people have been using microfiber to exfoliate. This deceptively soft cloth effectively removes flaky skin, revealing smoother skin underneath. Several people on the delphi forums claim that the ones that are sold for the face are similar to the ones sold in the automobile section of stores, but others have claimed they are different grades and the auto ones shouldn't be used on the face. I've only use an auto one on my skin once, and even though I scrubbed gently and barely used it, I think it did too good of a job. I will probably try one of the ones made for the face sometime in the future, just to compare. But if you use microfiber facial cloths be careful: I've heard horror stories of people using them and scrubbing too hard that they ended up removing too much skin (which was why I was so cautious when using it) but personally I think my skin is just too sensitive for it, or at least the brand/kind that I used.

Cleaning uses: this was originally a best kept secret of hotels (in europe)--how to clean surfaces quickly and effectively without harsh chemicals. I personally think the cleaning uses are much more impressive than the cosmetic uses. I am an advocate of using more earth-friendly, more natural cleansers, and have even concocted some of my own recipes over the years, but microfiber is the ultimate environmental cleaner because you clean with only the cloth and water and maybe a little elbow grease! Microfiber works better on harder surfaces like counter and stove tops, floors, and faucets than more porous things such as walls.
Though it removes tough grime, it is gentle, and it doesn't scratch materials. You can buy a big bag in the automobile section of your local department store.

Now though I've heard about the cosmetic use on the forums for many months, I was amazed when my sister gave me some cloths and showed me how well they cleaned. I ended up cleaning part of her house, LOL! (It was part of her evil plan ;P ) Everything looked so nice, shiny, and new--within seconds of just scrubbing.

Now does this mean I'm going to stop using my natural cleaning supplies? No, because sometimes you need to use products with essential oils/herbs that will kill germs. But this definitely will replace much of my daily cleaning--especially since everything gets very clean and looks good, and I can clean more in less time.

The brand that she used is Swift Microfiber. They are more expensive than the ones in the auto department, but they seemed to be a nicer/higher quality, and also they are a small company. She also gave me a microfiber cleaning cloth for glasses from this company (different from the cleaning/auto cloths) and it is the best glass cleaning cloth I've ever used (I have like four glass cleaning cloths in a variety of materials from other companies and none of them seem to work very well). We also got a big bag at Costco. They didn't seem quite as nice as the ones from Swift, but they still are very good quality, very inexpensive, and clean extremely well.