How will my purchases be shipped?
We ship via UPS Ground. Please allow at least 4 to 6 days to ship.

Why does shipping cost so much?
Shipping can be expensive because cleaning products are heavy. Ordering more than one product at a time costs only slightly more than the cost of shipping a single item, and is, therefore, more economical.

Remember that our concentrated products already represent a tremendous savings over most store-bought ready-to-use cleaning products. So even after shipping, you still come out way ahead!

What is the key ingredient in optionsforlife cleaning products?
The key ingredient is a surfactant.

What is a surfactant?
First, a little cleaning chemistry. Water, the liquid commonly used for cleaning, has a property called surface tension. This tension causes water to bead up on surfaces, which slows wetting of the surface and inhibits the cleaning process. In the cleaning process, surface tension must be reduced so water can spread and wet surfaces. Chemicals that are able to do this effectively are called surface active agents, or surfactants.

Surfactants perform other important functions in cleaning, such as loosening, emulsifying (dispersing in water) and holding soil in suspension until it can be rinsed away. Surfactants can also provide alkalinity, which is useful in removing acidic soils.

What surfactant is used in Options Products?
We use bio-based alkylpolyglycoside (APG). Its performance characteristics enable us to give you super-concentrated products that, when diluted with water, actually give you a much lower cost than the “ready-to-use” cleaners you’ll buy in your retail store. And, most importantly, it’s food, child, plant and pet safe! APG is made from coconuts and corn.

For more information about surfactants, visit:

http://www.cleaning101.com/cleaning/chemistry/

Do Options Products perform as well as the national brands?
You should consider three things when looking for good performance: 1) ease of soil removal, 2) gloss retention, and 3) surface safety.

First, look for a product that removes the dirt quickly and without much effort. Some products perform differently depending on the type of soil, stain, grease or scuff mark. We’ll talk about that later. For the moment, consider that for 95% of most hard-surface cleaning, you are just looking for quick removal of dust, dirt, and spills. That’s basic “soil removal” and optionsforlife and virtually all national brands perform well.

But there is more to cleaning than that!

The second thing you need to consider is “streaking” or “film” that can result with some hard-surface cleaners, including glass cleaners. Industry labs use a standard research method to measure this “gloss retention”. We compared optionforlife Glass Cleaner to the major brands and none beat us on gloss retention. Stated another way, none left the surface so streak free.

In fact, when you use Options Glass Cleaner you can actually see it remove the film left behind by your old glass cleaner. The very first time you use our product on glass or other shiny surfaces like chrome or stainless steel, you’ll see it lift the old film off the surface. Because of this smudging from the previous product, we recommend that the first time you clean a window or mirror with Options Glass Cleaner, you do it twice. The first time to remove the old film. The second time to leave your glass or mirror sparkling. After that, you can clean to your heart’s delight without fear of smudge buildup.

The final consideration when looking for a high-performing hard-surface cleaner is what we call “Surface Safety”. Some cleaners have ingredients that actually cause damage to surfaces, especially certain fine finishes on furniture, and some types of plastic such as the kind used on some computer screens and housings, some shower-stall doors, and Plexiglas®. If you’ve ever notice fine, hair-like lines branching out all over some kinds of shower stall doors, more than likely that is caused by the cleaning product used to clean it. This is called “stress cracking”. That’s why many computers come with a warning that says, “… gently clean with a damp cloth or mild dish detergent.” The manufacturer does not want your cleaning procedure to cause stress cracking on the computer housing or screen. In our lab tests, optionsforlife products were shown to be among the very few safe products in this regard.

SO … next time you consider the PERFORMANCE of your hard-surface cleaner, please consider all the elements of performance: 1) ease of soil removal, 2) gloss retention, 3) surface safety.

For other questions or comments, please write to us at
info@optionsProducts.com.