his Q&A blog is open for all to participate. Feel free to ask your own questions and answer questions posted by others. I know all of you have a wealth of information and experience on healthy living and you are welcome to share it here. 
General
Bona Hardwaood Floor Cleaner
Hi Debra,
I've got hardwood floors throughout my house and wanted to know if using Bona hardwood floor cleaner is safe in your opinion?
http://www.mybonahome.com/products/hardwood-floor-cleaner-160oz.html
I've had other hardwood floors in other houses where I used vinegar and water and it dries out the wood and causes it to split. Generally hardwood floor nanufacturers don't recommend using water on wood floors regardless, but I really like clean floors.
How can I get my floors clean safely and effectively?
Thank you!!
The MSDS says it contains NO hazardous ingredients that are required to be listed by law. I've seen this brand at my local Ace Hardware store, so it would be good if it works well and has no odor.
Let us know how you like it.
ceiling panels
We have a dropped ceiling in our basement and are going to replace the acoustic ceiling panels with something more healthy. We're not sure what to use. The metal grid framework will accept panels about 2' x 3'.
Any recommendations?
Readers, any suggestions?
Question about Soap Nuts
I was thrilled to discover Maggie's soap nuts after reading about them on your website.
After about a month of use, I reluctantly gave up. I had a few problems, and maybe you can help me figure out a solution.
I have a new HE top-loading washer. What I found was that the brown from the soap nuts made my water slightly brown--not a dark, gross color, but still it changed the color of the water. This happened in cold as well as hot water.
I tried using fewer nuts, but it didn't change this and then there were zero suds. I know that soap nuts are low-sudsing, but it's my understanding that there should be some suds, right?
I tried adding a few nuts (in the cloth bag) to a small amount of hot water first and then adding that to cold water, but the small amount of water turned brown too. Hasn't anyone else noticed this?
It seems to me that the reason that the soap nuts don't work so well with whites isn't because there aren't any whitening additives in the nuts but because the water is discolored! And I'm not too thrilled with the idea of washing dark clothes in discolored water either.
I wrote to the nice folks at Maggies, and someone wrote back to say this is the first time they've ever heard of this and they were stumped. He asked if I wanted to use liquid soap nuts, but I don't. I live in New England and the water's a little hard, but it's not out of the ballpark hard.
I can't understand why this is happening and why no one else has noticed it--or at least commented on it. Any thoughts?
Well, I've been using Maggie's Soap Nuts since they first came out and I've never had that problem. I'm stumped too.
Readers, any ideas about what's going on here?
