I can't lie. As a writer for The Kitchn and Apartment Therapy, I get amazing mail. Real mail, like from the mail man. I know you're jealous. Recently a magical wooden box appeared on my doorstep and judging by my reaction you'd think I had won the lottery. What was inside? Cleaners. I'm a simple person folks and this was exciting stuff! Here's why:

Back in April, writer Sarah Coffey got her hands on a few of these products and we made mention of this timeless brand. Although we share many of the same opinions on the product, I left my kitchen test trials a little more smitten and here's why:

There is something to be said for using the same products as your Grandparents did. Most things in life have taken great leaps and bounds to be the next best thing. To have the brightest and boldest advertisements on television or heavy internet sponsorship. You know what I'm talking about, a new product comes out and suddenly you see it everywhere.

Bon Ami is different. Although they've recently rebranded and their packages look all new and hip, the same good old fashioned product is inside — and that's a good thing. While other green cleaners like Method and Mrs. Meyers were making media splashes making you feel like they were the first cleaners to be eco-friendly, Bon Ami sat back and smiled. They'd been doing it for decades and not because it's what was cool, because that's the way they've always done it and in their opinion, it's the only way to do it.

I'm a big believer in reading labels. I can't help it. After writing about putting healthy things in your body, I read every label for cosmetics and cleaners that come into my home. When you read the back of a Bon Ami product there's words you understand and ingredients that make sense. It's really that simple and for me, that's a comfort.

I've always had Bon Ami powdered cleanser in my cabinets. It's priced well and seems to scrub just hard enough to remove dirt, grime and food stuffs without scratching anything. The same goes for sinks. My baking sheets leave marks on my enamel sink and a regular sponge or rag don't even make a dent at getting it clean. I always get these fun black and silver marks in the corners, totally frustrating.

Because I've held strong loyalties to other dish soaps in the past, this was my first time testing out Bon Ami's dish soap. I personally like to put my dish soap in a little water. I talked about it here and I have several reasons for it and this passed the test. Although it is thinner than many commercial dish soaps, I wasn't concerned with the viscosity or the amount of bubbles (which were fluffy as usual), just how well they got things cleaned which they did in a snap without extra rinsing to rid things of hang-tight soap.

Overall I greatly enjoyed cleaning my kitchen (and shower with the liquid cleanser... but who wants to see me clean my shower?) with this range of products as they all had a job to do and they did them well. Their fresh smells — hello tangerine thyme — were fresh without being offensive and left things without a heavy odor, just a nice clean feeling.

One of my favorite things about this line of products is that I don't have to go to a specialty store to find them. In fact, I found them at my local (regular) grocer a few months back (check out the proof here). Their price point is right, they work, and they're safe for your family. This ladies and gentlemen is why I'm in love with the small yellow chicken and the cleaners it's attached to.

*Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did give us the product for testing and review purposes.

*Our Ratings:
Strong Recommend
Recommend
Weak Recommend
Don't Recommend

(Image: Sarah Rae Trover)