Bayes Cleaners – Safe, Effective, and Economical

Bayes EuroSpa Naturals Hand Soaps carry the Design for the Environment label, are eco-friendly, and feel great on our skin. Photo: Courtesy Bayes Cleaners

When Blue Planet Green Living (BPGL) received a complimentary box of sample cleaners from Bayes, we passed out some of the products and kept some to review ourselves. Following are the collected comments from our review team. — Julia Wasson, Publisher

Bayes Stainless Steel Cleaner/Protectant

Bayes Stainless Steel Cleaner and Protectant. Photo: Courtesy Bayes Cleaners

One of the features that attracted us to the home we purchased a year ago was the kitchen full of stainless steel appliances. Little did we know what fingerprint magnets they are, especially with three young children around.

I also had no idea about how to properly care for the appliance surfaces. I found out the hard way that typical household cleaners are too abrasive or corrosive for the stainless steel finish. Bayes Stainless Steel Cleaner/Protectant was a great find for us.

Cleaning with Bayes is as easy as using other cleaners: Just spray on and wipe. The mild (lemony?) scent is pleasant and not overpowering. It removes smudges and other grime, as you would expect.

But the great thing is that it allows you to clean less. The nontoxic protectant not only restores the shine to the surface and protects the appliance from damage by airborne elements in the environment, it actually resists smudges.

Since I barely have time to pick up all the clutter that having a family brings, much less chase after fingerprints everywhere, this is good news. Our kitchen looks a lot cleaner on a daily basis since we have been using Bayes.

— Karen Nichols, Contributing Writer

Bayes Granite Countertop Rejuvenator

Bayes Granite Countertop Rejuvenator

Our new kitchen has another great feature: beautiful stone countertops. The previous owner was a stonemason, and he installed countertops made from native Iowa limestone. To the uneducated eye (mine), these looked indestructible. Not so.

As with the stainless steel appliances, common household cleaners can damage the surface finish of the stone. I had already done quite a bit of damage to the countertops by the time I tried Bayes Granite Countertop Rejuvenator. (Though the word “granite” is in the name, it also works on marble and natural stone surfaces.)

Bayes cleaned the countertops better than I had expected, easily tackling the syrup and yogurt left over from breakfast. Again, the fragrance was mild and pleasant.

But best of all, the biodegradable Polymer Emulsion restored the original shine to the surface of the stone. I no longer had to feel like I had lowered the value of one of the greatest features of our house.

The EPA's Design for the Environment seal. Photo: U.S. EPA

Both Bayes products are nontoxic and biodegradable and carry the EPA’s “Design for the Environment (DfE)” seal of approval, meaning that a “scientific review team has screened each ingredient for potential human health and environmental effects and that — based on currently available information, EPA predictive models, and expert judgment — the product contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class.

Both the Stainless Steel and the Granite products cost $13.50 for a 16 oz. spray bottle on the Bayes website. While that’s high compared to some other cleaners, they are well worth the money because they’re so effective and they protect high-end appliances from scratches and scuffs.

But even more important, they’re environmentally safe — and that means they’re safe for my children and yours.

— Karen Nichols, Contributing Writer

Bayes EuroSpa Naturals Hand Soaps

Bayes Eurospa Naturals Hand Soap in grapefruit scent. Photo: Courtesy Bayes Cleaners

Although I like having a liquid soap for guests to use (who wants to put their hands on someone else’s used bar of soap?), I haven’t been a fan till now. Most hand soaps are hard to wash off, contain ingredients I don’t really want on my skin, and aren’t recommended just prior to handling contact lenses. Besides, most of them have scents are irritating to my asthma.

When our family first tried Bayes Eurospa Naturals Hand Soaps, Joe’s daughter, Megan, and her husband, Kyle, remarked that the soap “feels different.” They couldn’t quite put their finger on what that difference was. And I understand that. This hand soap has an unusual (but very nice) texture. To me it feels like glycerin, though that’s not an ingredient. It’s a lot different from the soaps we’ve used in the past — the kind you can buy in large bottles from discount stores. It’s different and better.

Megan and Kyle like the grapefruit scent in the bottle they used. “It really smells like grapefruit!” Megan said. Joe and I are quite happy with the unscented formula. (Have you tried finding an unscented hand soap in a grocery store? Good luck with that.) This soap can also be used on the face or the body, though we haven’t tried it in the shower.

The soap lathers well and feels great on our hands. And after washing with this soap, I can handle my contacts without getting a film on them — a definite plus. I also think the bottle is attractive on my bathroom countertop.

The cost is a bit higher than some grocery-store varieties ($7.99/12 oz. bottle on the company website), but well worth the money, in my opinion, because it does not contain paraben, EDTA, or phtlalates. In fact, Bayes EuroSpa Naturals Hand Soap earned the Design for the Environment (DfE)seal.

— Julia Wasson

Bayes Waterless Car Wash

Bayes Waterless Wash/Detailer. Photo: Courtesy Bayes Cleaners

Late in the fall, I tried Bayes Waterless Car Wash on my black Prius. My parking spot is under a maple tree behind our house, which has some distinct disadvantages. About a million of them, in fact — a million little aphids pooping on my car. Now that’s a challenge to any car cleaner.

I decided to test out Bayes to see if it would cut through the mess the aphids left behind. I was pleased for the most part. I got the majority of the grime off without too much trouble, though some was left behind. (I may have just given up too early, considering the huge problem left behind by the aphids.)

In total fairness, there was just about enough aphid poop on my car to constitute another layer of paint. If only it had looked good, I’d have been happy for the thick protective coating. Not so, though. Aphid poop is sticky and looks like tiny blobs of syrup dropped on the surface.

Bayes Waterless Car Wash tackled the mess pretty well, but not quite perfect. I finally resorted to a soap-and-water bath for my Prius. But to be fair, the challenge I put it to was much harder than your average car crud. Considering the massive amount of sticky stuff covering my car, I’m not sure anything short of hot water and soap could have cleaned it off.

I didn’t feel that the aphid test was fair to the product, so I decided to try it again. This time it was winter. (Did I mention I don’t wash my car very often?)

Snow has a way of being white when it falls and then turning into an ugly gray, black, brown slurry once it hits a highway. After every snowstorm, all the salt and car exhaust and mud and pollution get mixed into the road stew that splashes up on windshields, hoods, doors, and bumpers. It doesn’t take long before my sweet, little, black Prius morphs into a brown-striped mess that looks like something the cat dragged in.

So I pull out the Bayes Waterless Car Wash and a microfiber towel to check its ability to dissolve the mess. Right in my driveway, spray bottle in one hand, a microfiber cloth in the other, and away we go. Or rather, away goes the dirt.

Amazing. Just squirt, squirt, into the rag. Rub lightly on the surface of my car, and it’s shiny and clean, with just a few swipes, no water. It’s about 35 degrees outside. Yes I’m cold. But, I had to see if this thing works. I am thrilled.

The Bayes Waterless Car Wash sells at 16 oz. for $10 or 32 oz. for $17.  Under normal circumstances (read: not aphid poop) with a car the size of a Prius, you should get several washes out of even the smaller bottle. Considering the $5.00 to $10.00 that you would have spent per drive-through car wash, you’ll save a whole lot of money using Bayes. Oh, and you won’t need any water, either.

— Joe Hennager

Promo Code

Why not try one or more of these products for yourself? Bayes offers a 20 percent discount on all purchases from their website through June 2010. Enter promo code: TWBAYES09 to get a discount. Plus, purchases of $30 or more get free shipping. All that, and eco-friendly products, too.

The Small Print

DISCLOSURE: Blue Planet Green Living received free product samples of the following Bayes Cleaners:

• Bayes DfE Stainless Steel Cleaner and Protectant

• Bayes Granite Cleaner and Rejuvenator

• Bayes Waterless Car Wash

• Bayes EuroSpa Hand Soap

Blue Planet Green Living is a Shop to Earn/Shop to Earth member. Bayes Cleaners are featured on Shop to Earth. If you purchase Bayes Cleaners through Blue Planet Green Living’s Shop to Earn/Shop to Earth affiliate link, Blue Planet Green Living will receive a 15 percent cash reimbursement.

Blue Planet Green Living’s policy is to only review those products we feel merit an overall positive review. If we do not like a product more than we dislike it, we do not review it. We are not influenced by any samples or potential reimbursement from Shop to Earn/Shop to Earth and provide our honest opinions, both positive and negative.

Julia Wasson

Blue Planet Green Living (Home Page)