Q: How can I find planet-friendly products to clean mold and soap residue from a glass-enclosed, fully tiled shower? I've tried the vinegar-and-baking-soda method, but it doesn't always remove the gunk.

—Merelyn in Maplewood, New Jersey

A: I share your pain. One of my lower points in life involved scraping clay dough off toilets and stripmining it from adjacent floors in our kid's nursery school co-op. Try the Environmental Working Group's website, ewg.org, which grades over 2,000 cleaning products based on health and environmental factors. Only two tile cleaners out of 12 it examined made the grade: Seventh Generation got an A, and Lysol Professional Basin, Tub, and Tile Cleaner received a B. The rest got C's, D's, and F's. The EPA has less-rigorous standards and has stamped 106 tile-cleaning products with its Safer Choice label, four of which are fragrance-free.