11 Best Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products

A tried and true favorite since it first came to market in 1886, Bon Ami cleanser is made mostly of feldspar — a soft, mined mineral that gently polishes surfaces clean — limestone, and baking soda. Bon Ami doesn’t contain any dyes, chlorine or fragrance and cleans without scratching or damaging surfaces. It’s a great basic cleanser for cookware and kitchen and bathroom fixtures. Make a paste with a little water to gently clean scuffs from floors and walls. It even safely buffs away pesky rust and hard water stains.   

Seventh Generation multi-surface cleaners easily remove grease and grime from cooktops, counters and other household surfaces without streaking or extra wiping and rinsing. This version has the added benefit of being able to disinfect hard non-porous surfaces, too. Its active ingredient is Thymol, an essential oil from the thyme plant. Though it doesn’t work as quickly as other disinfectants do, it is safe to use on food contact surfaces, like high chairs and countertops, without rinsing and is EPA registered to kill 99.99% of bacteria and viruses in 10 minutes. In addition, the spray bottle is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic.  

Disposable wipes may not be the most eco-responsible cleaning choice, but they can’t be beat for convenience. And with all the cleaning we’ve been doing during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are the easiest way to kill germs on hard, non-porous surfaces, like countertops and faucet handles. These wipes from CleanWell use a plant-based botanical ingredient, Thymol, to kill germs. Thymol is the essential oil from the thyme plant. These wipes are EPA registered to kill bacteria and viruses on hard, non-porous surfaces in 10 minutes. After air drying, no rinsing or wiping is needed, even on food contact surfaces.

Citric acid is the key ingredient in this plant-based bathroom cleaner from Method that helps it obliterate tough soap scum and hard water stains. Plus, it kills 99.9% of bacteria and flu germs on hard, non-porous. It’s safe to use it on all bathroom surfaces, including a shower head that’s clogged with hard water minerals and vinyl shower curtain liners and plastic toilet seats. It has a crisp minty scent with notes of geranium. 

Vinegar has been a pantry cleaning staple for years and is well known for its ability to cut grease and dissolve hard water stains. But it’s no secret that vinegar has a pungent smell. If you like the idea of cleaning with vinegar, but hate to odor it leaves behind, Aunt Fannie’s is a great alternative. It comes in four essential oil scents — Bright Lemon, Eucalyptus, Lavender, and Sweet Mandarin — plus it contains additional plant-based ingredients to give the vinegar extra cleaning oomph. Use it on grease-splattered oven glass, hard water build-up on fixtures and more.  

What could be more eco-friendly than baking soda? Not only can you bake with it and brush y0ur teeth with it, but baking soda makes a great gentle abrasive cleaner. Sprinkle it directly on your sink to remove scrapes and marks, inside cups and carafes to remove coffee and tea stains and on floor tiles to remove scuff marks. Just like baking soda absorbs odors in the refrigerator, it can also freshen mattresses, pet beds, shoes and be added directly to the wash and rinse cycles to deodorize clothing. There’s so much baking soda can do, you’ll be coming up with uses of your own. The plastic shaker makes it easy to dispense and keeps moisture out.  

Tide purclean was a top performer in GH Cleaning Lab stain removal tests and has earned our Good Housekeeping Seal. It works in all water temperatures and contains 75% plant-based ingredients. In addition, this formula is free of dyes, chlorine, and optical brighteners and is produced at a zero waste to landfill manufacturing site using 100% renewable wind power electricity.  It’s available in honey lavender and unscented versions and we absolutely love the translucent cap that finally makes accurate measuring possible. Genius! 

A top performer in our GH Cleaning Lab tests of free and clear plant-based dish liquids and a winner in our Good Housekeeping 2019 Sustainable Packaging Awards, Seventh Generation washed more dishes than the competitors and had the longest lasting suds. It is impressively made with 95% biobased ingredients. The formula is free of dyes and fragrances and EPA Safer Choice certified. The bottle is made entirely of recycled plastic and the flip-top cap is mostly made from recycled plastic clothes hangers. 

Blueland’s innovative formula comes in a recyclable paper pouch. All you do is pour the powder from the pouch into the sleek, refillable, stylish silicone shaker and set it beside your sink. Sprinkle the soap powder directly onto a sponge or brush if you only have a few items to clean or into a basin or bowl that you fill with water for a bigger load. We found its grease-cutting ability impressive and its suds substantial. Because it’s a powder, this dish soap does double-duty as a gentle cleanser to clean y0ur sink, cookware and more.  Though it may seem pricey, a little goes a long way.

Like its powdered dish soap, Blueland’s dishwasher tablets are shipped in a recyclable paper pouch that you pour into a reusable, sleek metal tin. The solid, powdered tablets are easy to handle without mess and should any of the tablets arrive broken, extras are included to compensate. The compact tablet size mean they easily fit into any dishwasher’s detergent dispenser. We saw very good cleaning results even in hard water. The oval metal tin takes up minimal space in an under sink cabinet and shields the detergent tablets from moisture.

A winner of our Good Housekeeping 2019 Sustainable Packaging Awards, Brandless Refillable Glass Cleaner cut through greasy soils and cleaned our black glass test panels without streaking. Unlike other refillable products we tested, it dissolved quickly and thoroughly and was ready to use within just a few minutes. Simply purchase the cleaner packs and reuse the same spray bottle over and over. And because you add the water, its shipping weight is lighter and less costly to save energy, too.