Norwex Review

Since Norwex is the first microfiber cloth I came in contact with I'll give a little review of this one first.  This company sets itself apart from other companies by selling microfiber contaning silver.  At about $10 to $25 a cloth, the expense is said to be worth the cost since it is the only cloth using this type of silver technology.  Reportedly, the silver acts as an anti-bacterial agent for the cloth only (not your countertops), which kills bacteria that is held in the cloth over a 24 hour period.

There is conroversy over weather the silver will wash out of the cloth, leaving the cloth void of the silver and washing the silver down the drain where it may be released into the environment as a toxic agent.  There are other companies that market cloths with nano-silver and it has been shown that this washes out of the cloth.  However, the Norwex company states that since the silver is woven into the fabric and that they use micro-silver instead of nano-silver (micro is larger than nano by 1000 parts) the silver does not wash out.  They cite this reference to show what their silver is doing.

The research Norwex is doing may be valid.  Still, any research from a company trying to sell something is generally the last source you want to go to for proof.  I have searched the web a bit, and can't find any other research sources for this.  I'm sure they are out there, but I haven't had time to seek them out much.

Aside from the controversy, I will say that I love the Norwex cloths.  I'm one of those middle of the road environmentally consious persons.  I like the idea of being more environmentally friendly.  Don't use pesticides in the yard and such, but until recently I've used those disposable wipes with the cleaners and a ton of paper towels.  And windex with loads of papertowels was the only thing that would remove those dog nose splotches all over the windows.

I worry a bit about the silver that may be leaching from the cloth, and wish they would use re-cycled petroleum plastics to make the cloths instead of fresh petroleum.  However, seems far better to deal with the little bit of environmentally questionable things about Norwex than washing out window cleaner and oven degreaser and from your cloths.  I also worry that the manufacture of these cloths and the petroleum chemicals they are made of is not environmentally friendly.  However, compared to filling up our landfills with papertowels or natually made cloths which just don't seem to hold up for long and using tons of even so-called natural cleaning agents down the drain, the cleaning power and multi-use status of these cloths far out weights the bad.

I will add, however, that I like to use vinegar sometimes with these microfiber cloths in places, like my wood floors, where I like to ensure some sort of cleaner is soaking down into the surface a bit.  We have pets. I would NOT use vinegar with the Norwex cloths since vinegar can dissolve silver.

I have all but stopped needing paper towels at our house, and the stinky window and oven cleaner is all gone!  I can spend an entire day cleaning my house for evening guests, and rather than smelling like cleaners, my house smells like the air-freshener of my choice.  Sweet!

As for the how they stack up for effectiveness, the Norwex cloths clean 2nd best of all the cloths I've tried.  Only the Blue Wonder cloth out shown this cloth, but the Blue Wonder doesn't have the anti-bacterial properties and is much more expensive than the Norwex.  More on that cloth later.

So to sum up the Norwex cloths:
Pros:  2nd best at cleaning, super soft, anti-bacterial (for cloth only)
Cons:  Cannot use with vinegar, possible environmental issues, high cost

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What's the Deal with Microfiber

More and more microfiber seems to be the latest and greatest cleaning product in Europe these days.  Here in the US, it is not widely known or accepted that microfiber cleaning cloths clean as well as they do, and that remarkably they only need water to do the cleaning.  For those of us in the US there really is little known about the real value of these cloths, so I created this blog as a one-stop to compare the brands I have come across and tried.

A friend of mine who has a Norwex business first told me about microfiber and I was very surpised and enlightened by the idea of washing household items without using soaps and cleaners - faster, easier, no cleaner residue, no worry about mixing dangerous chemicals, no buying paper towels every other week - what's not to love.  I bought a few Norwex items thinking I was getting something unique that only Norwex could give me, and have been quite happy with the cloths (particulary their window cloth - love it!).

After using the Norwex cloths I was so impressed I began wondering why this has not taken off in the US yet, and what other microfiber is out there.  I went on line to have a look, and found that there is loads of info about microfiber, but just a handfull of articles about comparisons between the brands and types of microfiber cloths.  Here are a couple of the more interesting ones:
Ecoholic Article
Norwex and E-Cloth comparison

Most of the information about microfiber is about furniture (makes a great furniture cover) and cars.  Turns out microfiber has indeed been discovered here in the US, but mostly by automobile enthusiasts who like to keep their autos super shiny and enjoy the impressive drying/no scratching quality of microfiber.  Many of the chat boards for auto lovers have statements on how they also use the microfiber in their kitchens, so there really is a small niche using these cloths here in the US.

I am so impressed and intrigued with the cleaning possibilities of microfiber, having used the Norwex cloths, that I ventured out in the world of microfiber a bit to have a look at what else is out there.  I found super cheap ones at automobile sections of places like Wal-Mart and Target, and even many varieties at even chaper places like Dollar General and dollar stores.  So, what's really the difference between these cloths?  There are cloths on line you can buy for over $30, and there are those in the dollar stores you can buy for a dollar or less.  I've been collecting and comparing these cloths, and want to use this blog to write my opinions about each of them.

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