Green and gleaming, thanks to resident's Cloverdale cleaners

CORNWALL — Cloverdale cleaning products have been used in the White House. Harry Colley mentions it, even though he was told by the Secret Service not to. Oops.

It doesn’t matter, because he doesn’t talk about it to impress, and the procedure for becoming an “official product†was, he said, just ridiculous.

He’s more concerned that he has been selling a product — now U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved for use in meat plants — for more than 20 years that he says is unique in that it is environmentally friendly in formulation and packaging, without sacrificing effectiveness. It disinfects and is safe to use on anything washable, but it is still very much flying under the radar of national awareness.

It was ahead of its time when it began to appear on store shelves, after the 1960s but before the new green movement. Its fame spread through word-of-mouth endorsements —and that makes for lots of good stories. Such as this one, about the washing of St. Mary’s Church in Lakeville.

The church seemed desperately in need of a new paint job — which would have put a strain on the coffers. Caretaker “Bullet†Sherwood suspected a good cleaning with just the right product could suffice instead, so he bought a drum of Cloverdale from Colley, a Cornwall resident.

“He brought up two fire trucks, a pumper and a boom, and they just washed the church. The results were amazing. It looked freshly painted,†Colley said.

Many housepainters use Cloverdale in their powerwashers as an essential first step before painting. A North Canaan farm uses it to disinfect the milking parlor. A horse stable uses it to heal nicks on horses legs. The newer formulation, for dishwashing, has proven to be effective in the vital first wash to remove poison ivy oil from the skin.

There are celebrities from the region who moved away, but still get Cloverdale shipped to them by the case. Weekenders haul it back to the city with them. One woman buys cases of the products and give them as Christmas presents.

Race driver Mario Andretti offered to endorse the product.

“As impressed as he is by it, he wouldn’t do it for free, and I can’t afford him,†Colley said.

Colley says the formula breaks down hydrocarbons, neutralizing many contaminants. It is routinely used to wash ships’ hulls and treat bilge water.

“It will render gasoline non-flammable.â€

When the Exxon Valdez dumped 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound in 1989, Exxon offered to buy the patented Cloverdale formula.

“They figured they would need so much, it would be cheaper to build and run their own plant to manufacture it. In the end, they came up with their own formula.â€

Colley attended the University of Puerto Rico, and stayed on the island for six years. His mind retains images of oil-soaked beaches that no one was going to clean up.

The simply designed bottles bear the motto, “Pollution Stops at Home.†Recently Colley added a little bit of red to the green-on-white labeling. There is also a new Spanish label. It bears a tiny tree frog, an endangered rain forest creature.

It was Paul Newman, whose Hole in the Wall Gang Camp used it, who recommended Cloverdale to buddy Robert Redford, who decided to sell it through his Sundance Catalogue. Redford wanted a full line of products, however, so Colley came up with citrus-based Cloverdish and Cloverwash.

The “magic†ingredient is actually used in most disinfectant cleaners: quaternary ammonium compound, derived from coconuts.

What’s in a name?

Cloverdale simply had the right ring to it.

The formula had been around for about 20 years when Colley, a lifelong environmentalist, heard of it 1988. Back then, it was known simply by a number.

“The only way to buy it was in 55-gallon drums,†Colley said. “It was only offered to industry. It was a fantastic grease cutter. But industries didn’t want it. They weren’t willing to buy into protecting the environment, not when petroleum-based cleaners worked better and were cheaper.â€

Colley bought a drum of the product, and began filling recycled milk jugs with it, to distribute the multi-purpose cleaner locally. Thus began Colley’s personal crusade to use non-polluting cleansers.

In 1990, having talked the vice president of the manufacturer into giving him a distributorship, Colley was ready to incorporate. But he needed a name.

“I was stuck in a traffic jam in Newton, Massachusetts, and I looked up and saw a sign for Cloverdale Circle. It just clicked.â€

He had a neighbor in Cornwall at the time who worked in advertising. It took him 15 minutes to come up with the Cloverdale logo. And though it is a simple, straightforward design, there is a bit of subliminal seduction going on. There is a subtle difference in the font in part of the name: The “love†part is in a Peter Maxx-style text, making it stand out just enough to make an impression on a subconscious level.

Paley’s Farm Market was the first to carry it, then LaBonne’s, back when it was still called Shagroy’s.

It caught on.

Buying it in bulk

“The original formula is still sold highly concentrated,†Colley said. “A lot of people, including my own mother-in-law, complained that it was too much trouble to mix it, so I came up with a spray bottle. You still have to mix it, but, for some reason, it seemed to solve the problem.â€

He is hoping, with heightened environmental awareness, that people will take that one extra step. The latest trend in the marketing of other cleaners may also be a boon for Cloverdale. Taking the tack of saving the environment through less packaging, at least one major manufacturer is selling a large but empty bottle with small vials of highly concentrated cleaner.

Today, Cloverdale is sold in hardware and independent grocery stores from Great Barrington south to Litchfield County, from Pine Plains east to Simsbury, and in many locations in Fairfield County. They are also sold online.

Shoppers might be put off by the price — but only if they don’t do the math. A 32-ounce bottle costs about $7 locally, which seems high next to other cleaners on a shelf. But, at normal dilution, it will make 256 ounces, or 16 spray bottles of cleaner.

Colley is looking to expand to other large-scale, wholesale markets.

“Now that schools are mandated to go green, this is the perfect answer. It will also kill the H1N1 [swine flu] virus, so you kill two birds with one stone.â€

The Seymour school district has approved it for use in all its schools.

Cloverdale products are shipped to U.S. soldiers in Iraq, who use it for cleaning their guns. As a result, the military is testing it for official use.

“Have I made a fortune selling Cloverdale? No,†Colley said. “But I’m an environmentalist, and I’d like to be known for having made a difference.â€

Reporter’s note: Colley mentioned this product works on mold. Since it won’t harm plants, I tried it on two kinds of stubborn mold on the exterior of my house. Other products had either failed or required heavy scrubbing and care had to be taken about harming plants and contaminating the soil. A light spray of Cloverdale, at a 4:1 concentration, and the mold rinsed off with a blast from the garden hose.

For more product information go to cloverdaleinc.com.