Words on cleaning products

Cleaning products are sold on words that sound technical and mean very little. Here is what some of the commonest ones do and do not tell you.

Words that promise more than they deliver

“Miracle”, “guaranteed”, “always works” and “completely safe” are marketing rather than description. No cleaning product is safe on every surface, because the surface decides as much as the product does.

A harder group sounds technical, which is exactly why it is believed. “Non-toxic”, “chemical-free”, “food-safe”, “pet-safe”, “hospital-grade” and “kills 99.9%” have no agreed meaning on a household label. Everything is a chemical, including water. “Kills 99.9%” is a laboratory result at a stated concentration and contact time, not a promise about a wipe.

Disinfect and sterilise describe processes with a required contact time, not properties a bottle has. A surface sprayed and immediately wiped has been cleaned, not disinfected, however the product is labelled.

Natural does not mean safe

Vinegar etches marble because it is an acid, and being made by fermentation does not soften the reaction. Lemon juice does the same. The UK regulator lists the belief that natural products are gentler among the myths it exists to correct, and the damage it causes is permanent on the wrong stone.

When authorities disagree

Two credible bodies disagreeing is often the most useful thing to know, so both positions are shown rather than averaged into one. Where the disagreement is unresolved and matters for safety, no clearance is given at all — the disagreement is the answer.

Popularity is not evidence either. A widely repeated technique is assessed on what the evidence shows, and a traditional one is not dismissed for lacking a trial nobody had reason to run. How hacks are classified.

Independence

No commercial arrangement influences a safety verdict, an evidence level or a recommendation. There is no advertising and there are no affiliate links.

Corrections

If something here is wrong, we want to know, and pointing at the source that contradicts us is the fastest way to change it. Email hello@hekno.co.uk.