Just about everyone loves to cook these days, it seems. But clean up after? Not so much. Trawl the household cleaning aisle at the supermarket and you'll see "New!" this and "Improved!" that, all promising to make the job easier. Manufacturers throw everything but the kitchen sink at cleaning the kitchen sink--and counters, stovetops and pots and pans. Phosphates, chlorine, perfumes, dyes, harsh chemicals...

Not Bon Ami. The iconic cleanser that "hasn't scratched yet" in 124 years was green back when green was just a color, and little has changed since it was invented. Bon Ami's packaging just got a major design makeover, thanks to Celery Design Collaborative, but the cleanser itself has only received minor tweaking over the years and is still made of simple, pronounceable ingredients. The original Bon Ami came in bar form, made of tallow soap and feldspar, a gentle abrasive. A powder version soon followed, made up of feldspar and limestone. It now also includes biodegradable cleaning agents made from renewable corn, coconut and palm oils, soda ash and baking soda--to help absorb odors. That's it. Even the packaging is green, made from 65% post-consumer recycled material.

But how does it clean? Beautifully. With minimal elbow grease, coffee stains, stove splatters and other messes clean right up, without scratching stovetops, counters, sinks or other surfaces. (It's also great for cleaning in the bathroom, but this is the Food section, isn't it?) Bon Ami does warn not to use it on glass or mirrors; to that, I would add nonstick cookware.

All of this is good news for people with chemical sensitivities (and for people who just like a nice clean kitchen without too much effort), making this wonderfully unimproved product definitely Character Approved. To learn more of the Bon Ami story--including Nancy Beaham, the mom who kept Bon Ami simple--visit their website.

[Images: Celery Design Collaborative, Bon Ami]