The Best Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products for Your Home

Long before the Covid-19 pandemic spiked the demand for everything from toilet paper to yeast, I deep-cleaned my kitchen and wasted a lot of plastic bags and containers in the process. It got me wondering how I could make my cleaning routines less wasteful. When I looked into it, I came back disappointed.

Researchers are developing new ways to recycle plastic, but it's not an Earth-friendly material right now, and cleaning supplies use a lot of it. Solutions like disinfecting sprays and soaps are comprised largely of water, which also makes those products heavier and harder to ship efficiently. Shipping packaging is another contributing factor, as are harmful chemicals that can end up in the water supply (or you).

Cleaning can be wasteful, and even if you do everything right, you still may end up washing microplastics down the drain. Below are some of my favorite cleaning products that attempt to be more eco-friendly, won't feel too different from what you're already using, and are relatively affordable. You don't need to try and fit all of your trash into a single Mason jar, but next time you need to stock up, consider some of the products below.

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There are several environmentally friendly cleaning solution companies out there, offering the general-use products you'd typically buy in spray bottles. All of the brands mentioned in this section are eco-friendly in various ways, whether that's from offering refills, using green ingredients, shipping without plastic, or a mixture of those factors. Go with whichever fits your cleaning style, budget, and aesthetic goals (because, yes, they're all nice to look at.)

• Blueland Concentrated Cleaner Kit (WIRED's Top Pick): Blueland's $6 refills come in the form of dissolvable tablets. You'll get a few recyclable acrylic "Forever Bottles" by purchasing a $39 starter kit. Refills include hand soap, bathroom cleaner, glass + mirror cleaner, and multipurpose cleaner. They all smell great and work even better.

• Branch Basics Concentrated Cleaner Kit: The $59 Branch Basics starter kit gets you a 32-ounce bottle of sustainable concentrated cleaning solution, plus spray bottles with fill lines for easy dilution. You'll get enough concentrate for three bottles each of all-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, bathroom cleaner, and foaming wash, plus a 64-load laundry bottle. The concentrate is powerful and made from simple ingredients.

• Cleancult Cleaner Kit: Cleancult's starter kits cost about $56. They include three glass bottles, all-purpose cleaner, dish soap, hand soap, bar soap, and dryer balls, plus a funnel for easy refills. Refills come in paper-based milk cartons, available for $7 each. The company also makes dishwasher tabs, which I tried and liked.

• Grove Concentrated Cleaner Kit: Grove's cleaning concentrates are available in a three-pack for $10. You'll get all-purpose, glass, and tub + tile cleaners. Squirt the contents of the tubes into 16-ounce bottles (also on Grove's site) and fill the rest of the bottle with water. In particular, I like the glass cleaner, which works significantly better than Windex. (It smells better too.)

• Seventh Generation Free & Clear All-Purpose Cleaner: This biobased product isn't sold in concentrates, but I'm including it here because I didn't try anything else like it. It has no fragrance and no color. It almost feels like you're cleaning with water. If you're really sensitive to fragrances, to the point where "lightly scented" still gives you a headache, this is what you're looking for.

• Truce Cleaner Kit: Truce's starter kit doesn't have concentrates, but I'm including it because the products are different from what is typically offered. Aside from an all-purpose cleaner, you'll get wood cleaner and scouring powder in the kit, which most similar services don't have. They work well.

• Seventh Generation Liquid Dish Soap: This is the dish soap I now use. I like it because it's made of plant-based ingredients and gets the job done.

• Juniperseed Mercantile's Laundry Bar: This bar can double as dish soap, and I also like No Tox Life's dishwashing block. Pair it with a brush for more suds.

• Three Bluebirds Swedish Dishcloths: These fast-drying biodegradable cloths are made of cellulose and cotton. They're awesome because they don't get smelly. You can wash them up to 200 times in your washing machine or the top rack of your dishwasher. The eye-catching designs are a bonus.

• Marley's Monsters Unpaper Towels: These bright cotton flannel towels are durable and really absorbent upon first use—and they get more absorbent after a few washes. They also cling together, so you can roll them up on a cardboard tube just like the paper alternatives.

• Juniperseed Mercantile Sweeper Pads: Disposable mop pads are wasteful and flimsy. These sweeper pads work with Swiffer mops and similar systems. They're thick and textured, so they get the job done faster, and they work wet or dry. Toss them in the washing machine when you're finished.

• GreenPolly Trash Bags: They aren't as durable as traditional trash bags, but these are 90 percent post-consumer plastic. The other 10 percent is renewable sugarcane. The eco-friendly composition makes them a worthy trade-off.

• Dropps Biodegradable Laundry Detergent Pods: These pods smell fantastic, work with high-efficiency (HE) machines, get your clothes squeaky clean, and are made of plant-derived ingredients. There are no dyes, and shipping is both free as well as carbon-neutral. If you don't like pods, try Defunkify's Free & Clear liquid laundry detergent.

• Defunkify Stain Remover Spray: I tested this plant-based spray on blood, coffee, red sauce, and makeup. It removed them all. It also doesn't contain common irritants typically found in other stain removers.

• Branch Basics Oxygen Boost Bleach-Free Detergent Booster: This baking soda booster is free of bleach, ammonia, dyes, and fragrances. It's also septic-safe. I used it on my bedding, which has never been fresher.

• DFNS Denim Refresher: According to the CEO of Levi's, you should not wash your jeans every time you wear them. DFNS refresher is a green tea-scented spray that reshapes your jeans and freshens them up.