My Favorite Cleaner Products in 2022
I’ve been switching to cleaner, more natural products for myself and my house for years. It’s important to me to not fill my home with toxic chemicals or put them on my skin.
The challenge is in the terminology and research— “natural” and “clean” are such vague terms and have been applied loosely to a wide variety of products. If you do a simple internet search for those terms, you’ll get a really long list of very different products, some with very few ingredients and some with a list of unpronounceable ones.
Enter the Environmental Working Group, a third party that evaluates products for safety and rates them on a scale so it’s easy to understand how safe they are. I didn’t just discover it, but I had put it on the back burner for a while.
Recently, I felt compelled to re-evaluate the products I had in my home and push myself to get the cleanest products possible that fit with my home and lifestyle. It’s important to understand that everyone values different things, and this is simply what I was setting for a goal. I prioritized the following:
clean ingredients with a low EWG rating, preferably EWG verified
no “fragrance” listed, as it is used as a blanket ingredient but can mask a lot of allergens
effective — my products have to work!
accessibility and affordability — as much as I want cleaner products, I also have to be able to obtain them somewhat easily and affordably, or it’s not a good long-term solution
What I Got Rid Of
First, I did an evaluation of the products I already had in my home. I used the EWG’s Healthy Living app to scan barcodes or search for products by name to see what rating they received and why. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the items I looked at:
laundry detergent
stain removers
dish soap
hand soap
shampoo
conditioner
dry shampoo
detangling spray
all-purpose cleaner
glass cleaner
dishwashing pods
face wash
moisturizer
eye cream
sunscreen
makeup (mascara, eye shadow, foundation, concealer, blush)
body lotion
I ended up trying to replace the vast majority of my products. Since I had been looking for more natural products for years, the existing ones I had weren’t the worst of the worst, but most of them had a few ingredients (usually the ubiquitous “fragrance”) that were concerning. My family has sensitive skin, and I’m sensitive to smells, so it’s one more reason to carefully choose what products I use. Because I also don’t like wasting things, I tried to use up products and then switch to cleaner alternatives rather than throwing them out. In a few instances, when I had a lot of a product left, I posted on my local Buy Nothing group and gave the products away.
Ultimately, I got rid of a lot of commercial cleaners, and even some “97% natural” labeled products because many of them rated too high on the EWG app, largely because of the dang “fragrance” listed as an ingredient. I tried to phase out products if they weren’t perfect but also weren’t awful. If something got a really high toxicity rating, I gave myself permission to “waste” it and throw it out immediately so I wouldn’t be exposing myself and my family to it any longer.
What I Bought Instead
Of course, buying nearly all-new products isn’t cheap, which is largely why I didn’t want to waste the products I already had. Since I had to begin replacing things I was running out of anyway, it made sense to take that opportunity to make better product choices. I know spending more money on higher-quality products isn’t always feasible, especially when it means replacing most of your items, so if you’re not in that position, that’s fine! This is simply what I chose to do. And if I hadn’t been looking to replace everything, I would have chosen a few products that get the most use (and come in contact with skin) and started with those (like hand soap, shampoo, and laundry detergent).
I started on the EWG app to see what product lines were EWG Verified in various categories. I love the idea of buying most (if not all) of my products from one source to simplify my purchasing, and I didn’t want to go to a dozen different websites to piece it together.
This is how I stumbled upon Honest Beauty, where I found EWG Verified products to replace the vast majority of what I was trying to swap out. I ordered:
a bundle with shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and body butter
face wash
a bundle with CC cream, concealer, and an applicator sponge
a bundle with body butter and body oil as a fun thing to try
moisturizer
mascara and a deeper moisturizer (ordered separately after my initial order to “test the waters”)
I started using laundry detergent and the booster powder from Dirty Labs, and I’m loving it so far! I really appreciate how concentrated it is; it takes such a small amount for each load. And it comes with a silicone measuring cup you can toss in the laundry with the clothes to get every last drop. I had a hard time finding a truly natural detergent that 1) worked, especially for sweaty workout clothes, and 2) didn’t have added “fragrance” or preservatives that my extended family is allergic to. Dirty Labs checked all the boxes! And I could sign up for a subscription so I don’t even have to worry about running out if I forget to order more. Win win!
I also have continued using some products I already knew and loved:
Zoya and the Pure line from Sally Hansen for nail polish options (I’ve heard great things about Piggy Paint, too!)
Grove Collaborative hand soap, dish soap, bar soap, and cleaning concentrates (their Rooted beauty products are also EWG verified, but I haven’t tried them)
Thinksport sunscreens— I love that it’s EWG verified, reef-friendly, water-resistant, and available on Amazon. Their face sunscreen is my current favorite for daily application under my makeup!
Have you tried using more natural products in your home? Do you have any favorites? Let me know in the comments!
[This post contains affiliate links, which provides me a small amount of financial support when you purchase items through my link (at no cost to you!). Thanks for supporting my work!]
