Why I Started Norwex

In 2009, I was looking at my children (ages 3 and 5 at the time – see how adorable?), and thinking about our family history of various autoimmune diseases. I really wanted to know what I could do to give them the best chance at growing up without chronic health problems.

The list in our family was getting kind of long: allergies, asthma, Celiac disease, Juvenile Diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis – all stuff where our immune system attacks our own bodies. What was going on? A friend recommended the book The Autoimmune Epidemic. There were lots of eye-openers, but the biggest thing mentioned, that hadn’t been on my radar at all before, was basic household cleaning chemicals.

I had heard before that kids that grow up in cleaner homes have more allergies and asthma. The theory was that these kids just weren’t exposed to enough germs, so their immune systems got bored and started attacking themselves or something. Now we’re getting smarter and we realize it’s not the lack of exposure to germs, it’s the increased exposure to cleaning chemicals.

So I started looking for greener options. I got a book with recipes for making your own cleaners. Who was I kidding? I don’t even like to cook, so that solution wasn’t likely to sustain itself for long. I bought some more natural cleaners, but they just didn’t work very well. I don’t like cleaning anyway, so I didn’t have much patience with it taking longer. I kind of gave up and decided I would just clean as little as possible.

When my cousin started describing Norwex to me, I kind of blew her off, thinking, “Yeah, I’ve tried those green cleaners. No thanks.” Plus, I really didn’t want anything to do with a party business. I had tried one before and knew I was a lousy salesperson. It wasn’t until I saw her wipe butter off a mirror with just a cloth and water that I went, “Wait, what?? How did you do that??”

She sent me home with a set of the basic cloths to try, and I (the non-cleaner, remember?) deep-cleaned my kitchen for two and a half hours that night. It cleaned the grease/dust mixture from the top of our microwave. It was literally “squeaky” clean! Then I did the walls around the stove – WOW! I couldn’t believe how EASY this was. It seemed like magic. All I was using was just a wet cloth! It “looked” like a rag, but this thing was actually a high-tech cleaning power tool!

I realized I had found what I’d been looking for. Not only would this provide the safe haven I wanted for my kids, it actually made cleaning easier and faster!! Everyone I knew deserved to see this stuff in action. I realized the reason Norwex is sold in parties is that you really have to SEE a demo to get the power of the cloths. Cleaning with water doesn’t *sound* like it would work. You have to see it in action.

So I invited some friends over to show them what I’d found, and here we are! I had NO idea it would turn into a full-time income and a life mission for me, but that’s a whole other story… 🙂