Giveaway: Activeion ionator HOM

I am hypersensitive to smells and chemicals. I don't wear perfumes (with the exception of some very light citrus fragrances), and I have had to stop using fabric softener because the scents give me headaches. I'm the one who calls magazines to request the non-scented versions (yes, they do that) and the one who removes the nice smelling things from my newly cleaned car.

Cleaning? Ugh. The chemicals get me from three fronts. I hate cleaning in winter because I can't open the windows to let the chemical smells escape, which gives me the headache mentioned above. The chemicals worry me from a safety perspective, too, especially when you read about the health hazards of so many of them. And have you priced them at the store lately? All the different cleaners and products you need? Ouch. My wallet hurts just thinking about it.

Needless to say, when I heard about the Activeion ionator HOM at BlogHer and saw it demonstrated, I was in love. I was tempted to create a distraction in the room and sneak the ionator into my purse, but I had enough self restraint to not do so. They recently sent me my very own ionator HOM to try out, and I had a blast - no pun intended - with it.

The ionator HOM is a spray bottle that you fill with tap water, charge, and then spray. There is a slight electrical charge that ionize the water before it is sprayed onto a surface. The ionized water both cleans the surface of dirt and kills germs at the same time. Seriously.

Ionized water is like a magnet, which lifts dirt from surfaces so that you can very easily wipe them clean. Trust me, it works. I've got pictures. And video. And when you spray it on a nonporous surface, it kills 99.9% of germs (including 100% of H1N1 flu virus) with a continuous six second spray. The low level electric field disrupts membranes and walls of bacteria and germs and kills them. Awesome, no?

The ionator has a permanent home on my kitchen island right now. I use it so often that it isn't even worth it to me to put it away. I love that I can use it on all sorts of surfaces from wood tables (I love washing and polishing them with the cleaners they came with because it makes them so beautiful and shiny but the smell gives me a headache for the next two days) to glass (I finally cleaned windows - this is a milestone) to my waffle iron to my dishwasher to the island and more.

I love that it's so simple and harmless that the wee ones can uses it, too. There's really nothing bad that can happen to it or them with it. So they miss spraying the table a little - so what, it's just water. So they spray themselves by accident; it's not poisonous. And with the super simple button on the nozzle to depress, they have no issues using it at all.

When I first got it, the instructions were ... mostly helpful. I read through what there was and figured out how to charge the unit and how to release the reservoir to fill it with water. I love that the bottle has a green glow when you are spraying that shows that it is ionizing properly. I'd hate to think that I was cleaning and de-germifying only to find out the hard way that it wasn't working.

My only real complaint about the unit is that I cannot for the life of me get the cover for the charger to go back into place on the bottle. No matter how many times I try or what direction I push in first, the little rubbery piece pops back out again. This in no way affects the performance of the ionator at all, but I like things neat and clean and organized.

I am impressed at how long the battery lasts, too. With all that I've used it, I would think that I'd be running back to the charger on a regular basis. Not so much. I make it through quite a few reservoirs of water - which last a pretty long time themselves - before needing to recharge the unit.

Have you ever tried to clean a griddle after cooking turkey bacon and pancakes on it? This is usually my husband's job, and it generally involves a whole lot of scrubbing and soap and stuff and not everything being fully removed. In fact, here's what our griddle looks like before cleaning.

Ewww, right? (Although if I had a better camera, I could better show you how nasty it was.)

So what did I do? I simply sprayed the surface with the ionizer to give it a light misting, then wiped it away. The majority of the grit and gross came up with the first pass. I then sprayed it a second time with slightly heavier coverage on a couple of stuck on areas then wiped those up with no scrubbing or effort. Check out the after:

Next up was my "clean" crock pot that I had to take out in public. It was "fine" for home use, but it was still a little dirty both on the outside and white scale from cleaning and cooking on the inside.

Same deal. I simply misted both the inside and outside and wiped away. I was amazed at the difference. The only part that didn't come clean on the outside was what appeared to be small rust-like spots. The inside immediately wiped up the majority of the white stuff (that I couldn't actually feel when I ran my hand inside the crock pot, interestingly - it wasn't dirt), which makes me feel better about using it.

I've also used it in my dishwasher. Your dishwasher is pretty clean, right? I mean, it washes other things on a regular basis. And it looks pretty clean.

Or at least it does until you remove the silverware holder. I. Was. SO. Grossed. Out.

When the silverware holder was dislodged from its holder, I saw what had built up behind it. I couldn't believe that was in there, and the thought of eating off dishes that had been "cleaned" in an environment that hosted this turned my stomach.

This was one of the rare situations where I used paper towels to clean up instead of a reusable rag. There was no way I was washing that scum and ick and getting it into my washing machine. Again, it was super easy to simply spray the dishwasher and wipe away. I am happy to report that I now have a newly cleaned and sanitized dishwasher.

Ahhh.

I seriously use this everywhere and all the time. It is awesome. I've requested that my cleaning ladies use it instead of the litany of other cleaning products they otherwise use, and my house smells so much better now. That isn't to say that the ionized water has no smell. I can smell the slightly electric smell of the ionization of the water as it's sprayed. It's not an unpleasant or chemical smell, and it's faint enough that I'd wager most people can't smell it (remember that comment about being hypersensitive to smells?). It doesn't stick around, however. Once the surface dries, I can't detect it.

Are you jealous of me yet? I almost am, and I own it. The ionator HOM retails for $180, and it's well worth it in my opinion. You can purchase it through Activion or at Amazon, Green Irene, or a few other retailers. I am also giving away one Activeion ionator HOM to a lucky reader. I am that awesome (and lucky)!

So what do you have to do?

First of all, let me stress that you must follow all the rules. If you do not follow the rules, your entry will not count!

This contest is open until Sunday November 21 at 7pm CST. I must have a valid way to reach you, so leave me your email address in your comment or be sure your profile has your email address visible. No duplicate comments will count. This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random.org and must respond within 48 hours of being notified by me or I will select a new winner.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me something you learned about Activeion by visiting their site that I didn't mention in my review.

Bonus Entries (leave a comment for each entry - if you put it all in one comment, I'll count it as one entry):

1) Earn one additional entry for following Activeion on Twitter and me on Twitter and tweeting this contest with the following tweet: "Clean #chemicalfree with the ionator HOM from @activeion. Win one from @honestandtruly (RV $180) http://tinyurl.com/2e8sp44 #green #giveaway" (leave a link to your tweet as your comment). (Make sure you're doing all steps required by Activeion for a single entry!)
2) Earn one additional entry by following this review blog publicly via Google Friend Connect.
3) Earn one additional entry by following my “regular” blog Honest & Truly! publicly via Google Friend Connect.
4) Earn one additional entry by telling Activeion what clean means to you by posting your answer on their Facebook page and leave a link to your response here. (e.g., An ionator HOM would help me ____________. I just entered to win one at Honest and Truly Reviews! You can, too: http://honestandtrulyreviews.blogspot.com)

Good luck!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received an Activeion ionator HOM for review purposes. I did not receive any compensation, and all opinions expressed are my own.