Do we really need to use chemicals in our toilets?
05/10/2006

SADLY THE COMPANY THAT PRODUCED THIS PRODUCT HAVE CEASED TRADING

House of Hygiene, the company that invented HygeniWand™ a toilet wand with chemical-free flushable heads asks “do we really need to use chemicals in our toilets?”

When we invented HygeniWand™ in 1997, the first toilet brush that uses chemical-free, flushable cleaning heads,  we knew instinctively that it was meeting  a need felt by millions of householders for an alternative to the toilet brush that becomes extremely unpleasant without regular chemical cleaning.

We’d successfully overcome the hygiene angle, by making the heads flushable, but we had to ask ourselves whether our customers would actually  want to add yet more chemicals to our drinking water every time they used HygeniWand™. 

This was an early dilemma for us.  We knew it would be convenient to have a cleaning head that incorporated chemicals for cleaning, but we were equally convinced that we needed to provide a product for our customers that was safe for a small child to grab hold of and for users to handle without the necessity to wash their hands after use; that didn’t require safe storage, could be safely left in hotel bathrooms and was something all the family could use including visitors to the home.  We all know how embarrassing it can be when there’s no loo brush handy.   So it didn’t really take too long to convince ourselves that toilet cleaning without chemicals was the ideal and indeed from the environmental point of view, most definitely desirable.  That is one reason why we made the little paper core tough enough to scrub with, so that dried on dirt could be removed completely rather than just wiped over with disinfectant.   Only 4cm long, and similar to a small piece of tampon applicator, we knew the core  would give a good scrub and get into all the corners at the back of the bowl, while the recycled tissue would do the job of wiping the sides.  An added advantage is that it can be used by people with chemical intolerance, (depending on the degree of sensitivity of course), something we only became aware of later on.

Our company is now a firm believer that chemical-free is definitely the preferred option and should be an integral part of any manufacturing strategy.  When we consider the effects on our environment of adding more chemicals to new products - and there is no evidence that chemicals are removed from purified sewage before being fed back into our British homes - it has to make us stop and think.   Millions of us are now filling our shopping trolleys each week with expensive bottled water believing, quite justifiably, that it is safer and better for us and our families.    Should we really need to do this? 

Why have consumers lost faith in British drinking water?  Isn’t this something that happens in other countries?    It is provided most conveniently for us from the tap; we have already paid  for it, so why are we giving it the elbow and paying out £1.2 billion* each year, for a product that is one of the basic necessities of life?”    (*Source www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8122-1047260,00.html)

Do we even want or need to use chemicals every time we clean the toilet?

Perhaps it is actually better that your toilet brush luxuriates in a pot of smelly bacteria ridden water rather than harming the environment still further?     There is really not much evidence to confirm that such bacteria is going to do us great harm unless of course the children start to play with the brush.   It simply looks and smells horrible. 

There are certainly environmentally friendly products out there with which to clean the brush and toilet, so why not consider these?    They are on most supermarket shelves and easily found on-line.  Better still make up your own product!  There is loads of advice around.    

We are not saying, give up the brush!  We are simply suggesting that instead you use it with something chemical-free, or alternatively buy HygeniWand™ when it becomes priced for everyone’s pocket next year.  If you want to see what it currently looks like visit our web site at   http://www.houseofhygiene.com/ (a bit pricey at present, but an unusual Christmas gift perhaps?) or just ask M & S,  B & Q,  Tesco, and the other big boys when they will be stocking up?

Please feel free to email c.sayles@houseofhygiene.com if you have any views or comments on this article.   We would be very pleased to enter into communication on any aspect of bathroom hygiene.

Facebook

MySpace

Digg It

Del.icio.us

Reddit

StubmleUpon

Newsvine