Safe All-Purpose Cleaner Guide

Maia James
By Maia James
Cleaning Product Guides
Safe All-Purpose Cleaner Guide
21 comments

In This Guide

Natural all-purpose cleaner is the bottle I reach for most often (besides maybe the wine bottle, hehehe).

My kids are charged with cleaning more and more as they get older, and I love to be able to hand them a spray bottle of natural all-purpose cleaner and a cloth and tell them to get to work on everything from spots on the hardwood floors to the top of the stove.

Best Natural All-Purpose Cleaner

My favorite natural all-purpose cleaner is MamaSuds. It smells amazing, cuts the grease on our stove-top, and even has a blend of oils that have been shown to kill viruses.

With my kids as the cleaners, I have to be extra sure there is nothing concerning in the bottle I hand them. They like a generous spray, and so I need to feel okay about them inhaling lots of it, getting it on their hands, and leaving it all over surfaces.

What’s Wrong with Most All-Purpose Cleaners?

Unfortunately, there is good reason to concerned about the toxicity of most household cleaning products. Ranging from phthalates to chlorine, the ingredients in many all-purpose cleaners are linked to everything from hormone disruption to cancer.

Studies show that long-term exposure to spray cleaning produces increases the risk of lung damage as much as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day!

Some of the worst ingredients in most all-purpose cleaners include:

  • Neurotoxic preservatives, including ones found in natural all-purpose cleaners, like methylisothiazolinone and benziosothiazolinone.
  • Toxic cleaning agents like 2-butoxyethanol, which is found in many multi-purpose and glass cleaners and is linked to kidney and liver damage.
  • Synthetic fragrance, which usually includes hormone-disrupting phthalates in the undisclosed ingredients.
  • Antibacterial ingredients, which can be totally toxic (such as bleach or triclosan), but which can also be safe. Thyme oil and citric acid, for instance, will kill bacteria and viruses (including coronavirus).

Another issue with cleaning products is the amount of plastic pollution that they create. For that reason, I’m a big fan of refillable options like this one, although I don’t use this kind exclusively.

Best Stuff

Aspen Clean All Purpose Cleaner

I’ve never tried this one, but doesn’t contain any ingredients of concern. Comment below if you’ve used it and like it!

Cost per ounce: $0.45

Buy from Amazon
Aspen Clean All Purpose Cleaner

Attitude All Purpose Cleaner

This product line is totally safe, but fair warning: unsurprisingly, it smells like vinegar!

Cost per ounce: $0.53

Buy from Amazon Buy from Attitude Living
Attitude All Purpose Cleaner

Aunt Fannie’s Cleaning Vinegar

This affordable, basic cleaner contains only safe, plant-derived ingredients.

Cost per ounce: $0.41

Buy from Amazon Buy from Thrive Market
Aunt Fannie’s Cleaning Vinegar

Branch Basics

I love the concept of this brand, because you can purchase concentrated refills rather than large new bottles when you run out. The fact that the ingredients are legitimately clean makes Branch Basics some of the very best stuff.

Use code GIMME10 for 10% off all Branch Basics Starter Kits.

Cost per ounce: $0.14

Buy from Branch Basics
Branch Basics

Common Good All Purpose Cleaner

No ammonia, chlorine, or other harsh ingredients. No methylisothiazolinone. 100% Readily biodegradable. Scented with 100% pure essential oils. And we love that it’s concentrated so a little bit goes a long way.

Cost per ounce: $0.75

Buy from Common Good
Common Good All Purpose Cleaner

Eco-Me All-Purpose Cleaner

You’ll always find Eco-Me products in my home, and their natural all-purpose cleaner is one that I feel good letting my kids use.

Cost per ounce: $0.19

Buy from Amazon
Eco-Me All-Purpose Cleaner

Force of Nature All Purpose Cleaner

This is a great earth-friendly option that turns salt, water, and vinegar into a natural all-purpose cleaner that naturally kills germs (including coronavirus).

(15% off with code: GIMMETHEGOODSTUFF15)

Cost per ounce: $0.09

Buy from Force of Nature
Force of Nature All Purpose Cleaner

HealthyBaby Cleaning Concentrate

This EWG VERIFIED® cleaning concentrate is made with a simple blend of plant- and mineral-based ingredients, including decyl glucoside and caprylyl/capryl glucoside derived from coconut. We like that the formula is fully disclosed, free of harsh chemicals, and scented with essential oils rather than synthetic fragrance. One bottle makes up to 16 refills for hand soap, dish soap, or surface cleaner.

Cost per ounce: $1.87

HealthyBaby Cleaning Concentrate

MamaSuds All-Purpose Cleaner

This is my go-to, and it features an antibacterial essential oil blend to help disinfect during cleaning.

Cost per ounce: $0.69

MamaSuds All-Purpose Cleaner

Meliora All-Purpose Cleaner Tablets

This entirely toxin-free cleaner gets extra points for being extra Earth-friendly. Just add one tablet to an empty spray bottle and fill with warm water.

Cost per ounce: $0.31

Buy from Amazon Buy from Thrive Market
Meliora All-Purpose Cleaner Tablets

Poofy Home All-Purpose Cleaner

Poofy’s natural all-purpose cleaner contains a nice blend of safe ingredients, including some oils with potential antibacterial/antiviral properties.

Cost per ounce: $0.93

Use code MAIAJAMES for 10% off

Buy from Poofy
Poofy Home All-Purpose Cleaner

Safe Ingredients in Natural All-Purpose Cleaners

Natural all-purpose cleaners, even those with antibacterial properties, can be totally safe. Here are some of the ingredients you’ll see on the labels:

  • White vinegar.
  • Thyme oil.
  • A blend of various essential oils. Look for cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary oils for antibacterial and antiviral properties.
  • A surfactant or soap, of which castille soap is the safest.
  • A coconut-derived detergent, such a sodium laurel sulfate (I’ll call products with SLS Good Stuff rather than Best Stuff only because of the potential for skin irritation).

Good Stuff

My Green Fills

I love how Earth-friendly this brand is. Their products contain sodium benzoate. I’m not particularly worried about this preservative, but it does knock this out of the Best Stuff category.

Buy from My Green Fills
My Green Fills

Seventh Generation Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner

This one contains sodium laurel sulfate, but I’m okay with that ingredient in products that are not applied to my skin. I’m putting this as Good rather than Best Stuff in case some of you are trying to avoid that one ingredient. This contains thymol, which kills the novel coronavirus.

Cost per ounce: $0.24

Buy from Amazon
Seventh Generation Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner

Sonett All-Purpose Cleanser

I transfer mine into a spray bottle to make it easier to use. Note that this contains sodium laurel sulfate.

Cost per ounce: $0.58

Sonett All-Purpose Cleanser

TANIT REVOLUBAR All-Purpose Cleaner

  • Concentrated cleaning tablets that dissolve in water to make a full 500 mL (about 17 oz.) bottle of cleaner.
  • Uses sodium coco isethionate as a relatively mild surfactant, along with sodium percarbonate and natural enzymes to help lift dirt and stains.
  • Contains citric acid and sodium gluconate to help with mineral buildup and improve cleaning performance.
  • Preserved with sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate, both acceptable preservatives.
  • Available unscented or Lavender + Rosemary; the scented formula uses lavender, rosemary and geranium essential oils rather than synthetic fragrance.
  • We prefer the unscented version for anyone sensitive to fragrance or essential oils.
  • Sold as lightweight tablets rather than bottles of mostly water, reducing packaging and shipping waste.
  • Refills come in 100% compostable pouches and can be used with a reusable spray bottle.
  • TANIT also makes separate Grease & Grime and Glass & Mirror tablet formulas

Cost per ounce: $0.18 use code: GIMME for 20% off

Ingredients: Citric acid, Sodium percarbonate, Sodium gluconate, Sodium benzoate, Coco sodium isethionate, Natural Enzymes, Potassium sorbate, Pelargonium Graveolens oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis leaf oil, Lavandula Angustifolia oil

Buy from Tanit
TANIT REVOLUBAR All-Purpose Cleaner

Whole Foods Market All Purpose Cleaner

Like others on this list, this all-purpose cleaner contains SLS.

Cost per ounce: $0.15

Buy from Amazon
Whole Foods Market All Purpose Cleaner

Okay Stuff

Babyganics Multi Surface Cleaner

Like many Babyganics products, their all-purpose cleaner contains methylisothiazolinone as a preservative.

Cost per ounce: $0.16

Buy from Amazon
Babyganics Multi Surface Cleaner

Better Life All-Purpose Cleaner

This one also contains the preservative methylisothiazolinone, but all the rest of the ingredients are safe.

Cost per ounce: $0.20

Buy from Amazon
Better Life All-Purpose Cleaner

Earth Friendly Products ECOS All-Purpose Cleaner

I’d feel fine using this one, but it contains potassium sorbate and limonene, both categorized as moderately hazardous by the Environmental Working Group.

Cost per ounce: $0.19

Buy from Amazon
Earth Friendly Products ECOS All-Purpose Cleaner

Field Day All-Purpose Cleaner

We can’t call this Good Stuff because it’s got methylisothiazolinone and benziosothiazolinone in it.

Cost per ounce: $0.23

Buy from Amazon
Field Day All-Purpose Cleaner

Seventh Generation All-Purpose Cleaner

This contain sbenzisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone (both synthetic preservatives with neurotoxic properties).

Cost per ounce: $0.20

Buy from Amazon
Seventh Generation All-Purpose Cleaner

Bad Stuff

Bad Stuff

Bad Stuff

Lysol’s lines of all purpose cleaners, even the ones that sound decent, like “Hydrogen Peroxide All Purpose Cleaner,” contain toxic ingredients like synthetic fragrances. What’s curious is why EWG gives many of the Lysol cleaners a B rating!

Other unsurpising bad brands include Mr. Clean, Clorox, and Pledge.

Bad Stuff

Sneaky Stuff

Biokleen Spray & Wipes All Purpose Cleaner

Biokleen Spray & Wipes All Purpose Cleaner

This one also contains laureth-7.

Cost per use: $0.41

Biokleen Spray & Wipes All Purpose Cleaner

Citra Solv Multipurpose Cleaner

Citra Solv Multipurpose Cleaner

Contains laureth-7, which is often contaminated with carcinogenic 1,4-dioxane and the aforementioned methylisothiazolinone.

Cost per use: $0.52

Citra Solv Multipurpose Cleaner

J.R. Watkins All Purpose Cleaner

J.R. Watkins All Purpose Cleaner

Contains laureth-7, which is often contaminated with carcinogenic 1,4-dioxane and the aforementioned methylisothiazolinone.

Cost per use: $0.52

J.R. Watkins All Purpose Cleaner

Method All-Purpose Cleaner

Method All-Purpose Cleaner

Method’s various all purpose cleaners contain synthetic fragrance (although they claim to be free of phthalates). They also contain laureth-1, which may be contaminated with 1, 4-dioxane. I personally think everything made by method smells way too strong and artificial, but I know some people really love it.

Cost per use: $0.13

Method All-Purpose Cleaner

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Everyday Cleaner

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Everyday Cleaner

Like all products in this line, the all-purpose cleaner contains synthetic fragrance.

Cost per use: $0.27

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Everyday Cleaner

Puracy

Puracy

Like all products in this line, the all-purpose cleaner contains synthetic fragrance.

Cost per use: $0.27

Puracy

Don’t see your all-purpose cleaner in any of the Good, Okay, Bad, or Sneaky categories? Comment below and let us know!

Stay Sane,
Author's Signature

Author's Signature

Maia, Founder & CEO

Note: This article contains affiliate links or sponsored content, which means that if you make a purchase, we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that meet our strict standards for non-toxicity and that we use (or want to use!) ourselves. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that make Good Stuff! 

Tags:Cleaning Product Guides, guide

Leave a comment

21 comments

Robin J

So sad to find Better Life only on the Okay list, had no idea of the bad preservative. Been using it for years, guess it’s time for another switch!

Marina

What do you think of Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds?

Kel

Thanks for the guide!! What about fit organic cleaner and degreaser?

Karen Guzowski

I’ve been using Happy Place by Beekman 1802. They have a clean seal from HSN, for whatever that’s worth. It works pretty good.

Denise

Great resource- thank you!
I love products from Meliora – I’ve tried their laundry powders and all-purpose cleaner. They are really trying to minimize single-use plastics, too, which I love.
Website: MelioraMeansBetter.com

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