Transpare Database Helps Cleaning Professionals Find Cleaner Products

Free online product registry aims to “break through confusion and greenwash.”

The Search for Cleaner Cleaning Products

A new database of commercial cleaning products, Transpare.com, could help cleaning-service contractors and facility managers make more sustainable and healthier choices.

Launched by ISSA, an international trade association of cleaning professionals and cleaning-product manufacturers, the database offers manufacturer-supplied information on product attributes like VOC content, recyclability of packaging, corporate sustainability reporting, and eco-labels.

Creators of the database claim that Transpare puts all products on an even playing field by using “uniform metrics, which can be sorted according to those criteria important to the customer.” Filters on the site allow users to search only for products with no fragrances or colors, for example.

Conventional cleaning products often contain compounds like formaldehyde, glycol ethers, and other ingredients that could potentially harm both building occupants and professional cleaners. Recent research suggests that occupational exposure to cleaning chemicals puts janitorial workers at higher risk for asthma than smoking does.

Transpare will also include sustainability data about paper products and cleaning equipment; these categories are currently labeled “under development” on the site’s home page.