Most of us do not want to douse our family in toxic chemicals, but it can be difficult to find natural cleaning products that actually work. In the past few weeks I have been on a quest to try, compare, and am ready to share my results with you.
The products I tried and will be comparing are:
Method All Purpose Cleaner Spray in Grapefruit
Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Every Day Cleaner in Geranium
There were no petri dishes or rubbing raw chicken on my counters or swabbing samples. I’m just a mom who likes to keep a clean house and the results are just my opinion. And you know what they say about opinions …
I come from a long line of fastidiously clean women. My great grandma was a little 4’9″ lady who was up on ladders dusting light fixtures almost until the day she died at 93. A few years ago I met someone who grew up in my family’s home town who was acquainted with my great grandma. “No one wanted Alice to come over because we were ashamed for her to see our houses! She had more done before breakfast than the rest of us did all day. That woman was always cleaning!” Combine that DNA with a helping of OCD (that’s not a ‘haha, I wash my hands a lot’ joke, I literally have OCD) and I am always wiping or vacuuming or scrubbing something.
Now, I am not one of those people who thinks that you are giving your children cancer if you use Clorox wipes. EVERYTHING is a chemical, and even essential oils can be dangerous and toxic if used incorrectly. But, I do have asthma and try to use the most effective cleaners that do not require the use of a gas mask. I also try to be conscious of the environmental impact of the products I am using. That has led me to a lot of natural cleaners, that may or may not work.
Young Living Thieves Cleaner
I have used young Living’s Thieves cleaner almost exclusively for a few years now. This cleaner is formulated around Young Living’s Thieves blend which is comprised of clove, lemon, cinnamon bark, eucalyptus and rosemary oils. It has a spicy, warm smell and comes in a concentrated form which you dilute down into a separate spray bottle yourself. A 14.4 oz bottle of concentrate is $28.95 retail price, or $22 is you are a wholesale member. The mixing ratio varies by usage, so it’s impossible to say just how many bottles of cleaner you can make from this, but I can tell you from personal experience it is quite a few.
Pros: I love the truly all-purpose nature of this cleaner. It works great on surfaces, glass, and I can even soak my fresh produce in it.
Cons: It doesn’t handle super dirty surfaces well. I also dislike that you have to join an MLM to purchase it.
Here is an interesting link with some info about the efficacy of Thieves Cleaner.
Method All Purpose Cleaner Spray in Grapefruit
It seems like every YouTube cleaning video I watch has a bottle of this Method spray in it, so I was curious to try it out. My local store didn’t have a great selection of scents, but I thought grapefruit would be light and fresh. The scent is ok, but not my favorite. You can snag a bottle of this for about $2.99 at most stores.
Pros: I was surprised that this cleaner was actually ok on glass. I like how readily available it is and that I can buy it locally.
Cons: Streaky and seems to leave a film on most surfaces. I wasn’t crazy about the scent. Just meh all around.
Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Every Day Cleaner in Geranium
I have been a long-time fan of the Mrs. Meyer’s dish soap and hand soap, so this was the first cleaner I decided to try. Let me preface this by saying, I have seen a lot of MLM representatives slam this brand as unsafe based on ratings by EWG and the Think Dirty App. These are NOT reliable sources. I was blown away by how clean this made everything look. I didn’t even realize that my Thieves cleaner wasn’t cleaning that well until I saw the difference! A bottle of this cleaner runs anywhere from $3-5 depending on where you buy it.
Pros: Cleans very well. Is fairly easy to find. Available in a wide variety of scents.
Cons: The scent is really strong. A little too strong for me.
Force of Nature Clean
I love gadgets, so when I saw the Force of Nature system I was intrigued, but it seemed to good to be true and the price tag turned me off. I recently saw it discussed in a cleaning group who are STICKLERS about the science behind cleaning, and they actually recommended it! That pushed me over the edge and I had to order one and try it out for myself. This differs from the other natural cleaners in that it cleans, deodorizes, sanitizes – it basically replaces bleach for me. If you pick one of these up, sign up for their mailing list so you can get free shipping and $30 off.
Pros: Works well. Can be used on any surface, including glass. Deodorizes. Cheap after initial investment. Can be used on any surface including spraying directly on stinky dogs, environmentally friendly, replaces bleach in most applications, you get to push a button and watch cool lights to make the bottle.
Cons: Initial investment is pricy. You have to order the capsules, so if you run out too bad so sad.
So what cleaner am I using now? Predominately Force of Nature. The only cleaner I tried that I will likely not repurchase is the Method one.
So there are some thoughts and opinions on those natural cleaning products. Do you use a natural cleaner you think I should try out? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Lisa says
I love all the Just Naturals cleaning products. Cleans great and smells even better. They are made in Bedford NH and I trust the ingredients they use. Their laundry soap is wonderful too!