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Clean water is a critical element of cleaning.
The vast majority of water on Earth’s surface, over 96%, is saline water in the oceans (USGS). Which means, even though water is plentiful there are limited resources of fresh water to relay on. Beyond cleaning, we also need water to drink and to grow food. The average household may use 88,000 gallons of water per year (REU2016). Within your home, faucets and clothes washers make up a significant portion of water use.
Source…
Handing Germs to Friends is Not a Nice Gesture!
It’s important for everyone – especially kids – to be aware that unwashed hands can add up to lots of germs (and illnesses) for family, friends, neighbors – and even unsuspecting strangers!
Remind kids of the many people they come in contact with in a given day – such as:
Classmates and teachers at school
Children they babysit for, or fellow workers at afterschool jobs
Friends, families and relatives they visit…
Think about all the "public" surfaces you touch on your way to work – railings, door handles, coins and tokens, cash machines, elevator buttons and more. Then, when you get to your destination, washing your hands probably isn't the first thing you do. Instead, you probably grab a cup of coffee and turn on your computer. If you power up before you clean up, all the germs and bacteria that commuted with you are transferred from your hands to your workstation. Ugh! And then, if…
Reusable bags are a sustainable alternative to plastic bags. However, they need proper care to prevent things like germs and mold from growing and cross-contaminating your food. Wash and store bags safely between each use. Here's how:
Clean
Wash bags after each use, following care instructions. See the fabric care label or the table below for more details.
Wipe insulated bags with a disinfecting or…
With a little preparation, you can be ready to enjoy a stress-free picnic.
When preparing or serving food in the great outdoors, there are a few extra steps and considerations that you may not have at home or even in your backyard. Food needs to be stored properly to be safely consumed during your al fresco meal. Spills and stains have more time to set before they can get to the laundry. And you need to be prepared to clean up thoroughly to leave things better than you found…
Cleaning technology has come a long way from the ancient Babylonian way of soap-making. Today’s cleaning products are the result of thoughtful design, experimentation, and safety testing.
The machines we use to clean have also improved, becoming more sustainable and friendly for our environment. So far we have been able to make new cleaning products that allow us to wash in cold water (saving energy from water heating), wash with less water, and make packaging smaller (to save…
Cleaning products play an essential role in daily life. They can remove dirt and stains from our clothes, dried on food from our dishes, and even germs from our hands! Let’s learn more about the chemistry that makes this happen.
What Is Cleaning?
Cleaning is the process of taking something dirty—like your kitchen counter—and removing dirt, grease, and grime found on it. When we clean, we leave things better than they were when we found them. Cleaning helps remove dirt,…
You teach them to read. You teach them to look both ways before crossing the street … and to be kind to others, and to brush their teeth before bed. But have you taught your kids how to do the dishes?
Cleaning up after oneself is an important life skill – something that every child should learn, not just to endear themselves to future roommates or spouses, but to feel like a contributing member of the family unit. Children may grumble at first, but ultimately, they want to be…
Schools may be out for summer, but this is no time to relax your handwashing habits. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others.
Everything you need to know about handwashing you probably learned in preschool. But, if you forgot, here’s a reminder of the steps for washing your hands:
Wet your hands with clean, running water (…
What is soap and how does it work?
The sudsy stuff we use every day of our lives is a mystery to most of us. But behind our cleaning products is an array of scientific data and information. This science and chemistry helps to ensure our products work and are safe for you and your family to use. The resources below will walk through what it means to be clean and how the cleaning process works. For more information and activities, we encourage you to check out ExplorationClean.…