If you’re interested in cleaning greener, there are many sources of natural cleaning recipes online. Or check out the cleaning products aisle at your local natural food store, where you will find a wide range of cleaning formulations safe for your health and the environment. Pictured: Earth Friendly Products' “Safeguard Your Home” retail pack. (Media credit/Earth Friendly Products)

When it comes to household cleaning products, most mainstream brands make use of chlorine bleach, ammonia or any number of other chemicals that can wreak havoc on the environment and human health.

Ammonia is a volatile organic compound that can irritate the respiratory system and mucous membranes if inhaled, and can cause chemical burns if spilled on the skin. Bleach contains sodium hypochlorite, which can cause eczema and other skin ailments as well as breathing difficulties if inhaled. And when it reacts with other elements in the environment, toxic “organochlorines” can form, damaging the ozone layer and causing health issues such as immune suppression, reproductive difficulties and even cancer.

Fortunately, growing public concern about the health effects of toxic exposure have led to an “explosion of environmentally friendlier and non-toxic products,” says the health information website, WebMD. “There are many products in this category—from laundry detergents and fabric softeners to multi-surface and floor cleaners, to tile and bathroom cleaners—that are…safer for people and the planet.”

WebMD warns that while many are indeed safer, others are “greenwashed,” meaning they are “marketed as natural while still including suspect chemicals.” How does one know? “Get in the simple practice of looking at product labels to see if the cleaning manufacturer is clearly disclosing all ingredients,” reports WebMD. “If it is not…it could mean the manufacturer is trying to hide a particular suspect ingredient.”

Also, just because a product has an eco-certification printed on its label doesn’t necessarily mean it should be trusted. To make sure, check the Eco-Labels section of Consumer Reports’ Greener Choices website, which gives the low-down on what labels really mean and whether they are backed up by government regulations. Another good resource is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Household Products Database, which provides ingredient lists for thousands of products on U.S. store shelves.

If you want to play it safe and natural when cleaning your home, WebMD suggests using white distilled vinegar—it kills mold and mildew, eliminates soap scum and sanitizes, all in one fell swoop—to clean windows, tile, cutting boards and countertops. Another effective yet gentle natural cleaner for countertops and bathtubs is baking soda, especially when mixed with a few drops of mild soap. Borax can be called in for tougher stains. If you’re interested in cleaning greener, there are many sources of natural cleaning recipes online. Or check out the cleaning products aisle at your local natural food store, where you will find a wide range of cleaning formulations from the likes of Seventh Generation, Ecover, Green Works and Earth Friendly Products (which sells a “Safeguard Your Home” retail pack that includes one each of a window cleaner, an all-purpose cleaner, a dishwashing liquid, an automatic dishwasher gel, a laundry detergent and a fabric refresher), among many others.

CONTACTS: WebMD, www.webmd.com; Greener Choices, www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/eco-home.cfm?redirect=1; Household Products Database, hpd.nlm.nih.gov.

Old keyboards from the 80s aren’t exactly washable, but they took a licking and kept on typing. One of the computers in my parents’ house still has an old Dell keyboard that suffered the indignity of having had an entire glass of milk spilled over the top of it — the result of an errant joystick movement. It still types.

That said, the brand new Kensington Washable Keyboard looks and feels indescribably retro. The white 104-key device with full size and full depth keys feels like typing in a bygone era in computing. I even fired up Doom 2 for a little spin around the arrow keys.

The keyboard is no relic, however. That old Dell keyboard still types, but it also still sticks from the milky punishment.

You can immerse this baby in soap and water and scrub it down like a dinner dish and come out with a new, clean keyboard.

The board also has antimicrobial coating to prevent the growth of molds, mildews and fungi that can get you sick.

Let’s face it, the keyboard is one of the dirtiest surfaces you touch all day. In the newsroom, we often share old keyboards, and they’re just grungy. I read a study once that claimed that the average keyboard holds more bacteria that a toilet seat!

Try trying to rinse out your illuminated keyboard when it gets dirty. (You could try Cyber Clean though.)

I soaked the Kensington and put it through scrubbing and rinsing and then let it dry. Let me tell you, putting a computer keyboard under the sink is NOT a natural task. The whole time I felt like I was breaking some major commandment of computing. But lo and behold, once the keyboard sat for a few and dried, it worked perfectly.

My only complaint about the keyboard is that the folding legs at the top are a little cheap. I broke one of the little legs by accident, which is enough to prevent the keyboard from being a perfect “10.”

The keyboard is comfortable to type on. A lot of newer keyboards have taken a page out of the laptop world with shallow keys, but this is a regular keyboard that feels very traditional.

With that take on things, the Kensington Washable Keyboard is a winner. It’s a regular keyboard. It’s wired — no batteries to replace. It has all the standard, regular keys that a keyboard should have. It’s the perfect solution for an office or a computer user that just wants to clean up a bit.

No one ever said love was easy, especially if you love couture handbags. While not many will purchase Chanel’s Diamond Forever tote (available in December 2007, for those of you making a wish list, with the diamond-encrusted price tag of $260,150), the demand for high-end handbags has skyrocketed. Online retailer eLuxury.com saw sales of luxury handbags (those over $500) increase 11% last year.

With this kind of investment, proper cleaning and maintenance is essential. Hallak Cleaners, a leading couture dry cleaners that specializes in high-end products and handbags, recommends the following tips for keeping handbags and purses looking their arm-candy best:

• Store it in the dust cover or a soft pillow case when not in use
• Handle your bag with clean hands
• Avoid handling after applying beauty products, face foundations or hand creams
• Keep newspapers, photocopies or other printed materials at a safe distance
• Always avoid contact with ink
• Most important: If your purse gets dirty or stained, don’t experiment with cleaning methods yourself. Doing so might permanently damage your bag. Seek expert advice

"The most important thing is not to try cleaning it yourself," said John-Claude Hallak. "Even simple stains can ruin a purse, and special leather, suede and fabric each take different cleaning methods to bring them back to life. The ‘ring’ left by an improperly cleaned stain can render an expensive bag unwearable."

For best results, Hallak recommends having all handbags cleaned when they are lightly to moderately soiled.

A good cleaners should hand-clean the bags and refinish them to original beauty. Fabric handbags are protected against future stains with DuPont Teflon or Scotchgard. Suede handbags are evaluated to determine which cleaning processes are best suited for that type of skin. Oils and colors are restored to the bags after hand cleaning to make the appearance look as rich as they day you bought it.

Hallak also provides service to many famous New York boutiques including Tod’s, Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Burbery, Chanel and many more.