ACT Natural Cleaning Cloths
When I first heard about ACT Natural cleaning cloths I was immediately intrigued. Who wouldn’t be? Reusable microfiber cloths that clean almost any surface, using water as the only cleaning aid? I contemplated the toothpaste splatters on my bathroom faucet, the drifts of cat hair silently collecting beneath every stationary piece of furniture, the spotty dining room windows. I was dubious, but hopeful. Clearly, if they worked, these cloths would be a fantastic addition to my house-cleaning arsenal. Frankly, if they didn’t work, I wouldn’t be too surprised. The claims seemed too good to be true.
I sampled a four-color pack of multipurpose cloths. As it turns out, the colors are arbitrary. With the exception of the window cloth (blue in the above picture), the cloths are materially identical; the colors are for the purpose of telling them apart so you can assign them to different tasks. For example, the lime cloth can become the bathroom cloth, the coral cloth can be used expressly for cleaning kitchen surfaces, and so on. The blue window cloth has a different texture and is designed to clean windows, mirrors, and other glass surfaces.
The cloths are designed to be used either dry, for dusting, or damp, for wiping and spot removal. I tested both methods.
Armed with a dry cloth, the first thing I attacked was my leather couch. Because it is coffee colored, it showcases every speck of dust that clings to it. Normally, I use disposable electrostatic cloths to clean the couch and do other types of dry dusting. The ACT-tex cloth performed very well here, certainly just as well as the disposable cloths I am accustomed to using. Pleased, I decided to move on to something a little more challenging . . . the baseboards.
With forced-air heat, the baseboards in my home are a natural repository for dust and cat hair. I could dry mop on a daily basis (as if!), and still, there always seems to be a gentle surf of gray fur lapping at the molding. I dropped to the floor and went to work with the cloth.
Friends, I was sorely tempted to show you the vast amounts of dusty cat hair the ACT-tex cloth picked up, but that would have necessitated showcasing my housekeeping shortcomings on the Internet and, well, no thank you. So imagine, if you will, hair-ball dust bunnies the size of their real-life counterparts clinging to the dust cloth. And the beauty of the reusable cloth is that you can simply shake off the dust outside and go back for more (there’s always more!). I did, tackling the venetian blinds in my bedroom next. I won’t recount that saga, but I will say that the cloth did a bang-up job of removing dust from those, too.
Next, I grabbed the green cloth and headed into the bathroom. The press materials for the ACT Natural cloths claim that the cloths were as, if not more, effective at removing harmful microorganisms from smooth surfaces than the usual bathroom cleaners — using no chemicals at all. I don’t know about that . . . I was just wondering how on earth they’d manage to get the caked-on toothpaste and hairspray residue off the sink.
Here is where I was most surprised. I generally use either Scrubbing Bubbles or plain baking soda (depending on how ambitious I feel about cleaning the bathroom) to clean the sink. I seriously doubted that a cloth dampened with only water was going to be able to remove the grime — at least not without some serious elbow grease on my part. But the cloth worked surprisingly well. It was not difficult at all to clean the soap scum and toothpaste residue from the surface of the vanity and the fixtures using the ACT-tex cloth dampened only with water. Afterward, the surface felt completely smooth and clean under my hand.
And how to clean these wonder cloths? The package recommends throwing them in the washing machine with a mild, low-sudsing detergent on the hottest cycle, or boiling them on the stovetop for 3 to 5 minutes. I haven’t had to wash my cloths yet; rinsing them in hot water has proved sufficient so far.
Available in several packages, including a mop set, ACT Natural cloths worked for me and struck me as a good alternative to disposable electrostatic cloths for dry dusting and harsh chemical cleaners for wet cleaning. For more information or to order, visit EURONET USA.
