AFF | When it comes to cleaning, I never used to believe in a single all-purpose cleaner. Each corner of the house and my personal items get dirty in different ways, so how can a one size fit all, so to speak? However, in the interests of cutting costs and becoming more sustainable, I’m coming around to the idea that we have multiple cleaning products we actually don’t need.
And while I still can’t use a toilet bowl cleaner to do my dishes, there are lots of places (kitchen counter tops, windowsills, dining tables, work tables,bathroom sink, kitchen sink, and mirrors) where using one non-toxic all-purpose cleaner makes a lot of sense. Learning about safe cleaning materials also raises awareness about harmful substances found in older homes, such as asbestos — prompting many to ask what is asbestos and why it poses serious health risks when disturbed
What To Look For In An Eco-Friendly All-Purpose Cleaner
So, assuming you’d like to go down the cost-saving, minimalist route, and you want to help both your own health and the health of our planet, what should you look for in an eco-friendly, non-toxic all-purpose cleaner? What ingredients make a cleaner toxic and should be avoided?
Ingredients and Packaging
Have you ever used a spray cleaner that has a weird smell? It produces a citrus scent and other fruits but it can also make you gag. This is mostly because the fruit scent isn’t trying to make your house smell good, it’s actually trying to disguise all the chemicals mixed in the bottle that you probably shouldn’t inhale.
The following ingredients are harmful to people, animals, and plants. Some of these are used as solvents while others don’t produce any smell. Those are potentially more dangerous because you might have been exposed to the chemicals without your knowledge. These toxic ingredients are often found in a regular all-purpose cleaner:
- ammonia
- parabens
- enzymes
- sodium hypochlorite
- trisodium phosphate
- ethylene glycol monobutyl acetate
- alkyl phenol ethoxylates
- diethanolamin
- mnoethanolamie
- triethanolamine
- artificial scent
That’s quite an alarming list, isn’t it? I mean, we’d all like to think our homes are clean and healthy environments. But if we don’t know what’s in our cleaning chemicals, we might be doing more harm than good to our bodies.
So, when choosing an organic all-purpose cleaner, make sure you look for plant-based ingredients and cleaners that use essential oils for scent instead of artificial ones.
And when it comes to packaging, check if the spray or bottle is made of recycled materials, or if the packaging can be recycled.
Purpose
While most cleaners are labelled, you should still check if the one you’re buying can be used on specific materials. For example, furniture made of expensive leather or sensitive fabrics might not tolerate any chemical cleaners. So while your new all-purpose cleaner might be non-toxic, it can still cause irreparable damage.
Make sure you read about all the areas that it shouldn’t be used on. Generally though, it should be safe to use on marble, tiles, glass, and ceramic – as well as shelves, tables, counter tops, sinks, the top of the cabinets, and even wiping off the dust on top of the washing machine or around the TV.
Brand/Company
As much as you can, it’s good to support brands and companies who are consciously looking to provide sustainable products. Such as:
- using plant-based and biodegradable ingredients
- using recycled materials
- not tested on animals (cruelty-free or vegan), a.ka. leaping bunny logo
- safe to waterways and marine animals
- if they’re on Amazon, they may be wearing the badge of Climate Pledge Friendly
The Best Non-Toxic All-Purpose Cleaner
Here are some of the best organic all-purpose cleaners that are easy to source on Amazon*, and some reasons why they’re a good choice for the all-around cleaning of daily items and corners of your home.
Attitude Plant and Mineral-Based All-Purpose Cleaner*
Attitude is a brand that focuses mostly on producing cleaning products for baby items such as bottle cleaners. This means that their items are dermatologically tested, so gentle and safe to use around children and pets. Their vegan multi-purpose cleaner is made of plant and mineral-based ingredients, and the scent choices are citrus zest, lavender, grapefruit, and unscented. !
Ecover All Purpose Cleaner, Lemongrass & Orange*
Probably the one you’ve seen when doing the supermarket shop, this brand makes its products in their certified zero waste factory. The cleaner uses plant-based, biodegradable ingredients and the bottle is made of 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. With a refreshing lemongrass and orange fragrance, this is one of the cheapest non-toxic all-purpose cleaners around.
Method Multi Purpose Cleaner*
This brand of all-purpose cleaner is made of biodegradable and plant-based ingredients. This means that if it were to enter the waterways or be in contact with plants or marine animals, it won’t cause any harm. It’s also cruelty-free and the bottles are 100% recycled (minus the nozzle). And it has the most delicious pink grapefruit scent too
Botanical Origin Multi Purpose*
Have you tried to clean a surface, especially a glass surface, and the liquid cleaner left a streak/long thin line? And when you try to remove it, a new streak shows up? It can be super annoying, especially with mirrors and windows. But the Botanical Origin Multi Purpose all-purpose cleaner offers a streak-free and sparkling surface after use. It’s made of plant-based formula, so safe for children and pets and was never tested on animals. Choose from orange blossom or lavender fragrances.
Mrs. Meyer’s Cruelty-Free*
Mrs. Meyer’s products don’t only work but also they’re also produced without testing on animals and the brand itself is Climate Pledge Friendly. There are a few different scents you can choose from; mint, lemon verbena, basil, lavender, and honeysuckle to name a few. My favourite is the fresh lemon verbena.
Better Life What-Ever All-Purpose Scent Free Cleaner
The Better Life brand produces eco-friendly products and their multi-purpose cleaner is one of them. The product is made of plant-based and biodegradable ingredients. It doesn’t contain toxic chemicals like petroleum solvents, parabens, and ethers. It’s also leaping bunny certified, and unscented for those prone to allergies.
ECOS Earth Friendly Plant Powered All Purpose Everyday Cleaner, Orange*
Another Climate Pledge Friendly product, this non-toxic all-purpose cleaner is made with no harsh chemicals. The formula is ammonia-free, paraben-free, phosphates-free, and chlorine-free. It’s also produced with 100% renewable energy from a climate-positive factory. The ingredients are plant-powered and 100% vegan, with a zingy orange scent.
Seventh Generation Free & Clear Multi-Purpose Cleaner Spray*
Seventh Generation produce multiple sustainable cleaning products alongside this unscented multi-purpose cleaner, which is made of biodegradable ingredients, and is leaping bunny certified.
Biokleen Household Spray Cleaner*
Biokleen make all-purpose cleaners and even laundry detergents. This product is made with no artificial fragrance as the citrus scent comes from essential oils. The component is also plant-based and eco-friendly. And lastly, the brand is Climate Pledge Friendly.
Verdict On The Best Non-Toxic All-Purpose Cleaner
While all these are excellent products, I have to give my vote for the best non-toxic multi-purpose cleaner to Attitude*, because it’s so gentle and so effective.
Finding a multi-purpose cleaner that works on the majority of surfaces, that’s free of harsh chemicals, eco-friendly, and made of recycled materials can be a challenge. Fortunately, more and more brands are producing eco-friendly cleaning items, including some excellent non-toxic all-purpose cleaners. I hope you found this list helpful and if you’ve got any other favourite sustainable brands that I haven’t mentioned here, please let me know!
* This is a collaborative post which also contains affiliate links, please see my Disclaimer.
Thank you for this post. These products are life savers.
You are most welcome 🙂
Excellent post: I have bought a few environmentally friendly products but have been looking for one that can replace several others. Why not share in my linky, which is live from today?
I’m a big fan of multi-tasking and multi-purposing, especially if I can make them sustainable too.
I completely agree with the overall message of this post. Personally, I’ve never understood needing 5-10 different cleaners around the house. I use an all-purpose cleaner from Bower Collective, which is a sustainable brand that offers refills, and I love it. These are some great suggestions, too 🙂
Oh, I haven’t come across Bower Collective, I’ll have to look them up, thank you!
I love this — it’s incredible how many harmful ingredients we have in our cleaners so it’s good to be aware. I have a homemade recipe on my blog for an eco-friendly cleaner and I use it regularly as it does the job really well. Thanks for all this info — much needed!
Thank you, and that’s so interesting, I’ll have to check your recipe out – I love homemade products!
Very informative and love that you included some suggestions to help. When buying a cleaner we need to be careful and safe. I’ve had some moments when it was dangerous using them.
Thank you – and oh no, that’s not good to hear, hope it wasn’t too dangerous!
I absolutely love Method sprays, they always smell so nice when using them! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
They do, don’t they? Really fresh! x
I only realised a few years back how harmful some of the ingredients in cleaning products really are. I love the ecover products and it’s really nice to see that you’ve suggested them! I can’t wait to check out out some of the others mentioned here x
Ecover are so good, and really budget-friendly too. I think it’s really quite alarming how many ingredients are in a lot of chemical cleaners – yes, they do the job, but at what cost to our health? Glad you’re an eco fan too! x
Non-toxic cleaners are a must! I’ve been using Ocean Saver Drops for a couple of years and love them x
Oh, that’s another brand I haven’t tried, thank you for the recommendation! x
Great post Lisa! I think it’s so important to find non-toxic products, for the environment and for our health 🙂 thank you for sharing x
Thank you, Eleanor, so pleased you enjoyed it! x
This sounds great – and it would help me with storage of my cleaning cupboard for sure haha. Plus non toxic which is so important!! X
Thank you – and yes, it’s SO much easier to find things in my cupboard under the sink now! x
God I dread to think about how harmful some of the chemicals in cleaners are. Cleaning products that we’re putting on our every day items to use! I like the idea of an all-purpose cleaner, to save space and be more sustainable in the process x
It’s quite scary when you look into it more closely, particularly when you think that we’re breathing in the fumes/gases as well! x
Method and Mrs. Meyers are two of my favorite cleaning brands. I have a few Method cleaning sprays for the bathroom and I always use Mrs. Meyers All Purpose cleaner for other things. I’m always looking for environmentally friendly brands so this post will be super helpful as well 🙂
Thank you, I’m so pleased it was helpful, that’s very good to hear!
what a helpful post! i’ll def have to check out these products
Thank you so much, I’m so pleased to hear that 🙂
At the moment I am interested in reducing plastic waste so I love something that can be bought in a smaller bottle and used to make up reusable spray bottles!
Claire
Good timing on my part then, thank you!
Thank you for sharing this!! I’m trying to get more non toxic things in my house and cleaners are one of the biggest!!
They really are, thank you, glad it was helpful 🙂
This is such a helpful article. You’ve given me so many more products to consider that I wasn’t aware of before. Plus… it’s so much more enjoyable to clean if my cleaner doesn’t make breathing harder!
Thank you, Heidi, I’m so pleased it was useful – and yes, I totally agree about being able to breathe easy!
these are all great point on non toxic cleaners! I always find that brands are easy to use words like clean and sustainable when they are not, so knowing what products are bad for you and pets is so important! I only knew two of these brands, so will check the rest out x
Thank you, Cristina, so pleased this post was helpful for you! x
I love this article and can’t agree more, I am currently using Method in my home. I am glad it is non-toxic to both animals and people alike. 🙂 Thanks for sharing all the other products, will look out for them in stores.
Method products are great, thank you, Eve!
Thank you! Really helpful!
And what about smol products?
Have you ever used it? Are they good too?
Thank you!
Thank you, glad it was helpful – I’ve not used any smol products so don’t know but they sound good too 🙂
Loved this post, Lisa! I’ve been switching to non-toxic cleaners too and totally agree with your points. I’ve tried a few from Purcho the Bathroom Cleaner and Toilet Cleaner are my go-tos, and their Value Bundles make it easy to stock up without thinking too much about it. I also like that they’ve got bigger packs like the End of Tenancy Pack and Catering Kit for when you need a bit of everything. Your guide gave me a couple of new options to look into as well thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Sam, glad this article was useful.