That alone might not be reason enough to toss it out with the dishwater, but this is: It’s likely contributing to the growing problem of plastic pollution in our waterways. All this means you can effectively skip harsh cleaning chemicals and just use water for your household tidy-up time, and less water at that - as this illustrative case shows, microfiber mops use up to 20 times less water than regular ones.īut for all its glories, Michaelann, you’ve already discovered microfiber’s dirty underbelly: For starters, it is, as you point out, a petroleum-based product. And studies have shown microfiber is also much more effective at removing viruses and bacteria than other cloths, even without any other cleaning products involved. And the very, very thin fibers - up to 100 times finer than a human hair - come together to give each cloth a much higher surface area, which boosts its cleaning power and makes it a lot more absorbent than your average rag. For one, microfiber has a slight positive charge, which helps it attract and trap dusty bits (they’re negatively charged) rather than just spreading them around. But we’ll get to that in a moment.įirst, the nice properties. Spoiler: I’m not going to recommend that you convert to it. It has a few nice properties that make it especially good for cleaning and give it some green cred. Microfiber - which often makes an appearance in clothing, furniture, and sheets as well as cleaning cloths - is a textile made from ultrafine synthetic yarns, namely polyester and nylon. Here you are, trying to simplify your cleaning routine, and yet we must indeed take a good, hard look at the tools you’re using to do so. So how unfortunate that the act of cleaning brings with it some complicated questions. It’s cleansing for the spirit as well as the countertops. There’s something so satisfying about putting one’s home in shiny, grime-free order - like feng shui on the scale of dust particles. Here's HowĬall me crazy, but I don’t hate cleaning. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2023
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