Ingredients from the label Water, Propylene Glycol Butyl Ether, Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside, Lauryl Glucoside, Didecyldimonium Chloride, Acrylic Polymer, PPG-26-Butheth-26, PEG Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Methylchloroisothiazolinone/Methylisothiazolinone, Fragrances, Cloth Contains fragrance allergen(s).
Propylene Glycol n-Butyl Ether is where the controversy about this product comes from. First I’ll clear up the rumors about this chemical and then tell you why it freaks me out. And, of course, I’ll show you why because I don’t want to do anything drastic if its not for a good reason. This chemical is NOT antifreeze and is NOT “just one step away from antifreeze”. Propylene Glycol n-Butyl Ether is an ingredient in antifreeze. Therefore, this does not make it antifreeze or just one step away from it. This sort of “reasoning” is faulty logic. Its like looking at water and saying its just one step away from Swiffer wet cloths or Windex household cleaner or the cookies I made yesterday. Just because something is an ingredient of a product does not automatically make it that product.
At any rate, after even more digging, I finally found an MSDS for Swiffer Sweeper wet mopping cloths. This MSDS is one issued by Proctor and Gamble as well, so I feel its reliable. If you’d like to take a look, you can find it here. There are 4 ingredients listed: Water, Propylene Glycol n-Butyl Ether, and the mysterious “minor ingredients” and “preservatives”. Three out of four of these are automatically not up for further research. We all know what water is and the vagueness of the last 2 ingredients makes it impossible to figure out what’s going on there. Which leaves us with Propylene Glycol n-Butyl Ether.
So I searched again. That’s when I found all of the controversy about Swiffer’s wet products. It seems that this controversy started with a chain e-mail about some anonymous person’s dog dying of liver failure after having contact with a floor cleaned with Swiffer products. The dog’s death supposedly occurred because Swiffer products supposedly contain antifreeze. I love dogs and would be crushed to find out that someone’s dog (or other pet for that matter) died as a result of innocent use of cleaning products. But seriously folks, we haven’t learned not to believe these e-mail chain letters yet?
It was fairly difficult to find the contents of it. I was hopeful that I could go to the manufacturer’s website, find the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the Swiffers and research the individual chemicals listed there. This was not to be. Swiffer products are made by Procter and Gamble. Proctor and Gamble does have MSDSs for their products on their website. However, as I looked at the MSDSs for all Swiffer wet products (not just what I buy), I saw either no ingredients listed or ethanol listed as an ingredient. Ethanol is the same type of alcohol we consume when getting drunk (its corn liquor) so I knew that this couldn’t be the complete list of ingredients.
Those of you who have read my previous posts know that I’m trying to figure out what’s in my household cleaners to see if they are environmentally friendly. (To catch up, go here.) I go about this fairly casually. Usually, I start to clean something in my apartment and think “Hmm, I should look up some info about this.” Last night, it was time to mop my kitchen floor. I typically use Swiffer Sweeper wet cloths to do this, so I decided to look up the info about the product this morning.
✨SWIFFER HACKS TO SAVE YOU MONEY! HOW I SAVED $100 ON MY SWIFFER WET JET
FAQ
What are Swiffer pads made of?
What are the ingredients in the Swiffer Wet Jet solution?
Is Swiffer safe for skin?
Are Swiffer wet pads safe for all floors?
What are the ingredients in Swiffer wet jet solution?
The nine ingredients in Swiffer Wet Jet solution are purified water, ethyl alcohol, Polypropylene Glycol N-Butyl Ether, Alkyl Polyglucoside, Didecyl Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride, Chlorhexidine Diacetate, Fragrance, Silicone Emulsion and Polyethyleneimine. Polypropylene Glycol N-Butyl Ether is a colorless agent used as a solvent in cleaning formulas.
Do microfiber mop PADs work with Swiffer WetJet?
Get a reusable washable microfiber pad and ditch the single-use ones. Microfibers are extremely effective at capturing germs and small particles (10). These microfiber mop pads work for both the Swiffer sweepers and WetJet. Here are some we like: Easily Greener Swiffer WetJet Compatible, Microfiber Mop Pads
Which antibacterial agent is used in Swiffer wet jet?
Didecyl Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride is an anti-microbial agent and bactericide used frequently in hospitals and hotels. It can be harmful if swallowed and cause eye damage and skin burns. Chlorhexidine Diacetate is the second antibacterial agent in the Swiffer Wet Jet solution. This agent is used to fight bacteria, fungi and viruses.
What is Swiffer WetJet made of?
According to Proctor & Gamble’s Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), most of the Swiffer WetJet cleaning solution is composed of water: somewhere between 90 and 100 percent. Propylene glycol n-butyl ether and alcohol make up between one and four percent each, with the remainder of the solution comprised of minor ingredients and preservatives.