Home Cleaning and Laundry Non Toxic Shopping Guide

Living non-toxic often gets a bad rep for being expensive and elitist, but cleaning your home is actually one of the areas where you can save! With just a few simple ingredients, it is very easy to address all of your cleaning needs. Here is our list of recommended cleaning products.

For all of our buying guides, check out our Ultimate Toxin-Free Shopping Guide.

We don’t stock everything listed here, so you’ll find links to Amazon or other stores. As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you (affiliate disclosure).

Household Cleaners

• Organic Liquid Castile Soap by Vermont Soap It’s very easy to make your own all purpose cleaner. Pair this with an Amber Glass Spray Bottle for DIY recipes.
• Cliganic Organic Essential Oils Starter 6-pack (to add scents to DIY cleaning recipes)
• Branch Basics Liquid Concentrate (don't be alarmed by the high price, you can make 27 all purpose cleaner spray bottles from one concentrate bottle, and even more products like window cleaner with different concentrations. It is actually less expensive than buying the individual spray bottles at your supermarket.)
• Briotech HOCL Sanitizer and Disinfectant
• Meliora All-Purpose Home Cleaner Tablets
• Meliora Foaming Hand Soap Tablets

Dish Soap

• Vermont Soap Co. Castile Soap (place in a glass foam pump dispenser diluted with water, you can try several ratios to find the one that works for you. 70 water/30 soap or 50 water/50 soap are popular starting points)
• Branch Basics Concentrate (place in a glass foam pump dispenser diluted with water--see the Directions tab for instructions!; uses safe surfactants like decyl and coco glucoside)
• Meliora Dish Soap Bar (zero waste, use a bamboo brush like this one or this one that has one with stronger bristles for hard scrubbing)
• Aspen Clean Dish Soap (does contain citric acid)

Dishwasher

Please note: there is no such thing as a "clean" dishwasher pod. Marketed "clean" pods use PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), which is a petroleum-derived ingredient, and your local city water plant can't filter it out. It is also toxic to aquatic life and pollutes our waterways. You can read more about PVA here. Look for powders, liquids or tablets instead.

• Dirty Labs Dishwasher Detergent (our favorite!! very effective; we recommend unscented)
• Mama Suds Dishwasher Powder (caution: contains citric acid, but is non-gmo)

Laundry

We are often asked for an in-store laundry detergent option, and we're sad to report that there really isn't any. However, if you have a Whole Foods Supermarket in your area, most of them carry the ORGANIC Whole 365 Laundry Detergent in store. But make sure it is the organic variety, as they also carry another 365 detergent that is not toxin-free (that one does not say organic).

Please note: there is no such thing as a "clean" laundry pod or sheet. Marketed "clean" pods or sheets use PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), which is a petroleum-derived ingredient, and your local city water plant can't filter it out. It is also toxic to aquatic life and pollutes our waterways. You can read more about PVA here. Look for powders, liquids or tablets instead.

• Root & Splendor Liquid Laundry Detergent
• Root & Splendor Stain Remover (amazing!!)
• Branch Basics Oxygen Boost Whitener
• Molly Suds Baby Powder Laundry Detergent (with enzymes; please note: the liquid Molly Suds detergent is no longer clean as they are using phenoxyethanol; they also have a regular powder detergent which is clean, but we did not find it as effective as the baby one because their regular one does not have enzymes).

Shower and Bath Water Filters

• Waterdrop Faucet Filter (NSF certified)
• Coolang Aqua Monster Shower Filter (NSF Certified)
• Weddell Duo Shower Filter (NSF Certified; easy to change filters)
• AquaBliss Shower Filter (we like this one because the price is accessible and it’s a multi-stage filtration system; don’t forget to keep up with the filters. We suggest you stock up or buy a bundle. UL certified which means they follow safety and quality standards, but doesn't necessarily test the effectiveness.)
• Aquasana Carbon and KDF Filtration (Tested to NSF/ANSI 177)
• Crystal Quest White Bath Tub Ball Water Filter

Hand Soap

• Organic Liquid Castile Soap by Vermont Soap Place in a foaming hand soap pump in your desired dilution (at minimum 50 water/50 soap, but you can also do 2/3rd water/ 1/3rd soap!)
• Meliora Foaming Hand Soap Tablets

Air Purifiers

This is a must-have for a clean home! There are many quality, medical-grade air purifiers on the market, you just need to know what to look for. These are some of our favorites, but you might enjoy reading our article on How to Shop for the Best Air Purifier to find one best suited for your home and budget!

• AirDoctor air purifier (captures 0.003 micron sized particles)
• Jaspr (captures 0.1 micron sized particles, medical-grade)
• Alen Air Purifiers (captures 0.1 micron sized particles, medical-grade; more affordable)
• Medify MA-25 Air Purifier (captures 0.1 micron sized particles, competitively priced)
• Pure Enrichment PureZone Air Purifier (budget buy, covers a very small area)

If you have ceiling fans, check out these activated carbon stick-on filters by Barnakl you can place on top of your ceiling fan blades to clean your air. We only recommend the unscented, of course.

Ingredients for DIY Cleaning Recipes

We're working on compiling a list of our favorite homemade cleaning recipes. We will come back and update this article when it is ready. In the meantime, here is basically every single ingredient and tool you need to make almost any cleaning product for your home.

Mops and Vacuums

When choosing a mop or a vacuum, efficiency and effectiveness should take priority over focusing solely on finding something with non-toxic materials. Why? Because while most mops contain plastic parts or synthetic fabrics, sometimes these materials are the better choice—especially for cleaning in damp environments where bacteria thrive.

Synthetic fibers, like microfiber, resist mildew and mold (which are serious toxins!). For example, microfiber absorbs more than seven times its weight in water, while cotton retains moisture for longer, increasing the risk of bacterial growth. Additionally, microfiber withstands more washes, lasts longer, and even cleans effectively with just water—reducing the need for harsh chemicals.

Instead of worrying about whether your mop is microfiber or cotton, focus instead on using safe, non-toxic cleaners. Below are different cleaning tools, depending on what matters most to you. 

Natural Cleaning Tools

If you do choose natural fibers, handle with care. Don't keep cotton mops in damp environments and leave them out to fully dry before storing it away.

• Quick Loop Mop Head (made of wood and steel; sometimes referred to as a "Cuban mop"; wooden handle sold separately)
• Fuller Brush Wet Mop (cotton mop with steel handle)
• Rocky Mountain Traditional Mop (cotton yarn mop with solid wood handle)
• Heavy Duty Cotton Mop with Washable Mop Head (75 cotton / 25 rayon mop with wooden handle)

Synthetic Cleaning Tools

If choosing synthetic, focus on purchasing quality items. You'll want these items to last a lifetime so that you aren't having to repurchase (which creates waste for our environment).

• O-Cedar Spin Mop (microfiber head; some plastic parts, but better at wringing—which means less bacterial and mold growth!)
• Full Circle Mighty Rectangular Mop (wooden handle, microfiber head; better choice for Swiffer lovers)
• Dyson Dry Vacuums (plastic parts, but this is a quality buy that should last you a long time!)
• Shark S5003D Wet Mop (microfiber cloths, but such a great way to clean and disinfect with just water!)