When I discovered how cleaners can affect health, from the artificial fragrances I immediately feel in my head, to other things I might not feel, they became one of the first things I changed in my home. 10 years ago there was a lot less on the market and I started just using vinegar, water, essential oils, orange peel and Castile soap (I get THIS one that’s fairly widely available in the UK and US)!

Where a simple vinegar spray couldn’t be used I would wash with a dilute solution of Castile soap and that covered most things in my house.

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SIMPLE VINEGAR CLEANER RECIPE

For the cheapest vinegar cleaner:

• I use white vinegar and orange peels.
• Soak the peels in the vinegar for 2 weeks with the lid screwed back on. It gives it a great orange scent without paying for anything else! No oils needed.
• Then I compost the peels and make a spray.
• 1 part orangey vinegar, 3 parts water, and sometimes a few drops of castile soap.
• Shake it up and it’s ready to go.
• You don’t want to use it on some surfaces like treated floors, and stone, and so that’s where for all other surfaces I’d just use a simple solution of diluted soap and rinse it. It’s simple and cheap and it worked for me for YEARS!

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Lots of people don’t want to do DIY and a decade later there are SO many more things on the market so I’ve done a round up from around the world (after digging into some of your suggestions too) on just the spray cleaner side of cleaners with more eco friendly, healthy options!

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ECO FRIENDLY SPRAY CLEANERS

 

Spruce 

 

• Find it HERE
• Shipping to: Worldwide but check prices beyond Europe! 
• The concept: compostable sachets of cleaner you dilute with water in an aluminium forever bottle to reduce waste and the fuel of shipping water.
• Plus points: Female founded. Aluminium forever bottle is more durable than glass. No water shipped in the refill. Ocean-bound plastic bottles removed for each starter kit purchased. Certified vegan, not animal tested, No SLS, Phthalates, Phosphates, Triclosan, Quaternium-15 DMDM Hydantoin, Parabens, Ammonia, Chlorine, Formaldehyde, Bleach, Ethanolamine Compounds (DEA, TEA, MEA), artificial dyes or fragrances. They use organic, fair-trade 100% natural essential oils that have natural antimicrobial properties. No synthetic dyes or fragrances.
• Cost per bottle: <£3 a bottle.  (£12 starter kit with bottle and 1 refill.  Use PLASTICFREE2021 for 4 refills for £1 month)

ReFILL

 

• Find it HERE (and HERE via Milk and More doorstep delivery)
• Shipping to: Various spots in Europe, see their site! In the UK it’s on Wearth and Milk and More.
• The concept: Vegan + biodegradable concentrate refills for glass bottles of home cleaner.
• Plus points: Sustainaly sources raw materials, cruelty free, vegan and biodegradable. 
• Potential cons: Contains perfumes but there is an unscented option.
• Certifiied: made in britain, vegan, 1% for the planet, allergy friendly, plastic free, living wage employer.
• Cost: £1.50 per spray bottle 

Branch Basics 

• Find it HERE with $10 off
• Shipping to: United States, Canada and APO for military. 
• The concept: Multipurpose biodegradable cleaner concentrates that can be diluted in a range of plastic or glass forever bottles.
• Plus points: Glass or plastic bottle options. Fragrance free. No harmful preservatives, GMO free. Biodegradable. No animal testing. Made safe certified.
• Cost per bottle: $49 concentrate bottle makes various things, $2.90 all purpose cleaner or $2.90 foaming handwash. $10 with this link. 

Force of Nature

• Find it HERE
• The concept: Capsules you add to create electrolysed water. A broad-spectrum EPA-registered sanitizer and disinfectant that kills 99.9% of germs when used as directed. 
• Shipping to: Anywhere within the Continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands and Canada..
• The concept:
• Plus points: Force of Nature is on the EPA’s list of disinfectants approved for use against SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19 and Green Seal Certified. On the EPA’s List N, the list of disinfectants approved for use against Covid-19.
• Potential downsides: Have to use the machine and you need electricity to make it every 2 weeks.
• Cost per bottle: Need $56 starter kit then about $0.80 per 12oz bottle.

Cove 

• Find it HERE
• The concept: Sachets of plant based concentrated dish, laundry and house cleaners used to refill aluminium forever bottles.
• Shipping to: Australia
• Plus points: Renewable plant soured ingredients not petrochemicals. No synthetic fragrances. Aluminium bottles (for being infinitely recyclable and recycled at a very high rate while only 12% of plastic is recycled in Australia.) Refill pouches are designed to reduce waste being 80% less plastic compared with a standard bottle – and they can be recycled. Their local manufacturing site uses solar energy.  
• Cost per bottle: <$4 a bottle 

Resparkle 

• Find it HERE
• The concept: Plant based concentrate in a compostable sachet used to fill a glass forever bottle. 
• Shipping to: Australia + international shipping can be arranged.
• Plus points: Female founded, 100% plant based, Glass bottle with silicon sleeve. Plastic free, no water shipped, Home compostable refill sachets. Return guarantee. Full ingredient disclosure. Only ingredients that score the highest in terms of safety according to the EWG database (www.ewg.org) . No synthetic fragrance. Australian made. 
• Cost per bottle $3.75

Clean Cult

• Find it HERE
• Shipping to: United States, US Military APO, FPO, and DPO addresses, Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, and Saipan.
• Plus points: full rangle of cleaners, reusable glass bottles. Recyclable, paper-based milk carton refills (with a take back program on them if they’re not locally recyclable) Leaping Bunny certified, carbon neutral shipping, money back guarantee, palm oil free, plant based scents.
• Cost per bottle:

Blue land

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Find it HERE
• The concept: Compostable paper refills that you top up with water.
• Shipping to: USA only
• Plus points: Compostable paper refills that you top up with water. Sourced from ingredients that are vegan, gluten-free, soy / nut free. No VOCs, no parabens, no phthalates, no chlorine bleach, no ammonia, Cradle to Cradle Certified™, Leaping Bunny (cruelty free), EPA Safer Choice.
• Potential cons: refillable bottles are plastic
• Cost per bottle:  $2 or less depending on bulk
  

  Grove collaborative

• Find it HERE
• Shipping to: USA
• Plus points: Glass bottles. 100% plant-based ingredients — no parabens, phthalates, phosphates, formaldehyde, synthetic dyes, ammonia, or chlorine bleach. Cruelty free, 100% natural fragrance using essential oils and plant extracts. Packaged in recyclable glass and FSC®-certified 100% recycled paper. B corp.
• Cost per bottle: $3.50 per bottle
  

  Iron and velvet

  

 

• Find it HERE
• The concept: plastic free, water soluble sachets. Refill and reuse your existing bottle.
• Shipping to: UK
• Plus points: 100% plastic free, you don’t have to buy a bottle – use one you already have. Disolvable PVA sachets, recycled ingredients. Mostly natural ingredients and EO fragrances. No animal testing. Made in Britain. Cruelty Free. 
• Potential con: ingredients not fully disclosed.
• Cost per bottle: £2-4 per bottle depdning on quantity you buy.

Young Living Thieves Cleaner

• Find it HERE
• Shipping to: fairly worldwide
• Plus points: Cost effective with a bottle of concentrate making up lots of bottles and working out cheaper than most other options.
• Potential cons: Hard to order through the website, I recommend find a friend who’s ordering and add it on.
• Cost per bottle: £28.65 for the concentrate and less than $1 a bottle made into cleaning spray.
• Ingredients: Not fully disclosed “A proprietary suspension of safe surfactants (wetting agents) and Thieves® essential oil blend.” Various studies showed antimicrobial properties of the oils used in the thieves blend. See HERE HERE HERE.  (I dug in cos after seeing no disclosed ingredient list I wanted to know the science behind the Eos used – these are pubmed articles!)

Colt and willow

• Find it HERE 
• The concept: Glass bottles you reuse and refill with one of our recyclable 1 litre PET bottles. This in turn, creates less packaging waste.
• Plus points: No phosphates, parabens, vegan, no SLS, no harsh detergents. We support 1% For The Planet and UK charity Cool Earth
• Potential downsides: does have PEGs. Refill bottles are plastic. They say: “After extensive research…PET is the most easily recyclable product we can currently use…there are bio-degradable alternatives – they rely on your local council having the infrastructure to ensure they are composted correctly, and unfortunately most currently don’t. 

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