Cleaning confessions—plus, win a $50 Seventh Generation Deluxe Kit

A few years ago, I was working on a magazine article with Lori Bongiorno, author of Green, Greener, Greenest. She asked if I was using natural cleaning products at home and when I said no, Lori told me I should, for the kids' sake. "They're on the ground all the time, getting close to residues from whatever cleaners you use and breathing them in," she said.

Sold.

My go-to brand is Seventh Generation, which is all about nontoxic household products. They do the job and smell nice and fresh, unlike some of that foul stuff that reminds you of your high school hallway after the janitor mopped it down. Green cleaners get a bad rap for not working as well as their chemical-y counterparts, and maybe that was true years ago, but Seventh Generation's versions are great. And, yes, I inhale.

Meghan, a Nice Person who works there, recently sent me a bunch of Seventh Generation items to check out including paper products, auto dishwasher pacs, laundry detergent and garbage bags. Dave was like, "Wow, now you better clean! Ha ha ha!" and I felt like clonking him with a (recycled) bottle. The dishwasher pacs and laundry detergent smell a lot better than chemical-laden crap I've used, and clean like they need to clean. The recycled paper products are good quality; I felt less guilty going through our usual wads of paper towels, since no trees died to make them. The garbage bags—made from recycled plastic—are fine for everyday use, but may not be strong enough for heavy-duty jobs like, you know, party cleanup or dragging a dead body out of your home.

Word up: Seventh Generation is sponsoring a Million Baby Crawl to demand that Congress impose more safety testing on chemicals on the market. You can show your support by becoming a crawler.

Want to go on a cleaning streak? OK, then. I have two Seventh Generation Deluxe Healthy Home Starter kits to give away, each worth approximately $50. You get: • 1 bottle Natural Dish Liquid in Lavender, Floral & Mint • 1 bottle Natural Laundry Detergent in Blue Eucalyptus & Lavender • 1 box Natural Fabric Softener Sheets in Blue Eucalyptus & Lavender • 1 bottle Natural Glass & Surface Cleaner in Ruby Grapefruit & Herb • 1 bottle Natural All-Purpose Cleaner in Green Mandarin & Leaf • 1 bottle Natural Kitchen Cleaner in Wild Orange and Cedar Spice • 1 bottle Natural Shower Cleaner in Green Mandarin & Leaf • 1 bottle Toilet Bowl Cleaner in Emerald Cypress & Fir • 1 bottle Tub & Tile Cleaner in Emerald Cypress & Fir • 1 box Auto Dish Pacs in Lemon • 1 bottle Rinse Aid, Free & Clear • 1 box Trash Bags • 1 box Seventh Generation Recycled Bags. • 1 roll Natural Paper Towels • One Facial Tissues Cube • 1 4-Pack Bath Tissue.

I would recommend not telling your husband if you win so you don't have to deal with obnoxious comments about cleaning. Or, hey, tell your husband that you won it for him.

To enter, just leave a cleaning confession—something funny about the way you clean, or the way you DON'T clean. No worries, your secrets are safe here. I'll 'fess up first, to get things going:
• Sometimes I forget to change the sheets on the kids beds. I once left Sabrina's for like a month or something. Interestingly, nothing happened to her as a result. At least nothing that I can see.
• Once, I was rushing to get ready for some guests and I was talking on the phone and simultaneously trying to mop down the floor and give Sabrina a drink. I poured apple juice into the cleaning bucket, added water, and started mopping down the floor with it. You can imagine how this would make a floor feel. I do not recommend cleaning with apple juice.

BONUS entries: After you leave your main comment/confession, you can leave a separate comment for each of the following that you have done.
• Visit the Million Baby Crawl website and leave a comment mentioning one thing you learned.
• Follow LoveThatMax on Twitter.
• Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with your Tweet time stamp (translation for Twitter newbies: click on the time below the Tweet, which shows you the URL). You can use this Tweet: Win a $50 bag of Seventh Generation cleaning products from @LoveThatMax, two winners, ends 2/1, http://lovethatmax.blogspot.com
• Subscribe to the To The Max feed; you can do that here, or another way, and leave a comment saying how you subscribed.
• Become a Facebook fan of To The Max.

This giveaway is open until Monday, February 1, 2010, 11:59 EST, and is for U.S. and Canadian residents. I'll pick two winners via randomizer.org, announce them on Tuesday, February 2, and alert you by e-mail.

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.