What?

Micro fibre cloth makes it possible to clean without soap. More accurately, using soap would anihilate the effects of the micro fibres.

A micro fibre binds dirt and fat to the cloth used for cleaning, and as a result you will need to replace water far less often. When filled up, you clean the cloth with soap and warm water, for example in the washing machine.

Why?

Chamical cleaning agents are harmful for the environment. Some cleaning agents are based on plants, so their environmental damage is limited to the results of production, transport and eventually dumping them as waste. Avoiding these issues as well is useful.

In addition, it is a lot cheaper to clean without cleaning agents than with them. Making it a matter of investing in proper cleaning materials, to save in the somewhat longer term.

How?

Dirt and fat cannot be dissolved in water directly. But soap can form a "bridge" between water and dirt/fat, causing the soap water to dissolve these things. Classic cleaning comes down to dissolving dirt and fat in soap water, lowering their concentration in the fluid as well as on surfaces, effectively removing most of it from the surface that is being cleaned.

Micro fibre tissue has a structure that can bind dirt and fat directly. Depending on the application this is done with or without water -- you would use water to clean a kitchen but not to collect dust -- but the principle mechanism is that dirt are bound to the cloth, not to any water. The cloth acts like a dirt magnet. If you use water it will stay cleaner, so you can use less and you have to replace it less often.

Soap binds dirt and fat a little better than the micro fibre tissue. If you were to use soap water to clean with a micro fibre cloth, you would dissolve the dirt and fat that had bound to the cloth. This may make it possible to clean the cloth after use, but it is undesirable while trying to remove dirt from your home.

Cleaning with micro fibre cloth must therefore be done without soap. The aim is to achieve optimal contact between the surface to be cleaned and the cloth, so rubbing a flat cloth is how to use them.

Where?

Micro fibre cloths are sold in general household stores, for application ares like dusting, general surface cleaning and floor cleaning. In addition there are some specialised producers that are harder to find, but that sometimes achieve better results.

• Ha-Ra is mainly known for their window cleaning kit. The distribution of the expensive/professional cleaning tools is done through a network of consultants that handle these sales from a home office.