When Erin and I started Chesapeake Premier Cleaning, one of our first decisions was about products. Not branding, not pricing — products. What goes into the homes of the families we work for.
We chose EPA Safer Choice certification as our standard. Here's what that means and why we think it matters.
What EPA Safer Choice Actually Is
The EPA Safer Choice program is a voluntary certification that evaluates cleaning products ingredient by ingredient. To earn certification, every ingredient — including fragrance components, which are usually undisclosed — must be reviewed and verified to be safer for human health and the environment.
This is different from "natural" or "green" labeling, which are marketing terms with no regulatory definition. A product can call itself "natural" with no verification. EPA Safer Choice requires documented ingredient safety review.
The key things Safer Choice evaluates:
- Human health: Are ingredients safe for the people in the home, including kids and those with chemical sensitivities?
- Aquatic and environmental toxicity: Do ingredients harm ecosystems when they go down drains and reach waterways?
- Biodegradability: Do the formulations break down safely?
- Transparency: Are all ingredients disclosed?
Why This Matters for Harford and Cecil County
We live and work in a watershed community. Everything we put into homes eventually reaches the Chesapeake Bay — through groundwater, through runoff, through the water treatment system. Maryland is home to some of the most intensive restoration work on the Bay ecosystem, and it's genuinely fragile.
Using cleaning products that are safe for aquatic life isn't just good for the families we clean for — it's the right approach for the place we live.
What This Means for Your Home
For families with young children: Kids spend more time on floors and surfaces than adults. They put their hands in their mouths. Products that leave residue — particularly residue containing synthetic fragrances or harsh disinfectants — expose children at a higher rate than the same products expose adults. Safer Choice products are formulated to minimize these risks.
For families with pets: Pets are lower to the ground, they lick floors and surfaces, and they can't tell you when something is bothering them. Many conventional cleaning products include compounds that are particularly toxic to cats and dogs (quaternary ammonium compounds and phenolic disinfectants among them). Our products are safe for pets.
For people with chemical sensitivities or asthma: Synthetic fragrances — listed on ingredient labels simply as "fragrance" — can contain dozens of undisclosed compounds, some of which are known irritants and sensitizers. Safer Choice requires full disclosure of fragrance ingredients, which allows us to identify and avoid products that contain known irritants.
The Effectiveness Question
The most common pushback we get on this is: do safer products actually clean as well?
Yes. The EPA Safer Choice program does not certify products that trade safety for effectiveness — the products have to work. We've tested extensively, and our Safer Choice products handle grease, soap scum, bacteria, and mold as effectively as conventional products.
The formulations have improved significantly in the past decade. The early generation of "green" cleaners had real effectiveness limitations. Current Safer Choice certified products don't.
No Exceptions
This is the part of our commitment we take seriously: no exceptions.
We don't substitute less expensive conventional products to save cost. We don't bring in a different product for a specific job that "really needs the big guns." We don't use conventional products when Safer Choice products are temporarily out of stock.
Every product we bring into your home is EPA Safer Choice certified. That's the standard we set for ourselves, and it's the commitment we make to every client.
If you have questions about any specific product we use, we're happy to share the product name so you can verify its certification independently. Call us at (410) 695-6993 or reach out through our contact page.
Ready for a Spotless Home?
Serving Harford & Cecil County, Maryland