Natural cleaners seem to be everywhere now. Five years ago, I don’t think I even thought about what ingredients go into the cleaning products I use. In fact, I was probably like… the more bleach, the better! However, I have changed my tune on this topic. I hate pulling out the “mommy card”, but I honestly think I started caring more about this when my daughter was born. I’ve been poisoning myself for decades with toxic cleaners — no big deal! But when it came to this new life that I was now responsible for, no way! It’s funny how that happens.
I stumbled across Cleancult when I was researching natural cleaners. Here were my criteria:
- Natural and/or nontoxic ingredients
- Packaging that is eco-friendly and minimizes plastic usage
- The cleaners needed to actually work!
What really sold me on giving Cleancult a try was their super silly, yet informative video which talks about the company, the products, and their mission. Seriously… watch it here! Yes, I’m a sucker for ridiculous marketing stunts.
The Starter Kit
I went ahead and ordered my cleancult starter kit which included the multi-purpose cleaner, liquid dish soap, dishwasher detergent tablets, liquid hand soap, laundry detergent pods, and the wool dryer balls.
My favorite products are definitely the multi-purpose cleaner and the wool dryer balls. The multi-purpose cleaner has a nice fresh citrus scent and doesn’t leave streaks on my white countertops. Seriously, that drives me nuts. And the wool dryer balls? Those are amazing! First off, I had no idea how toxic dryer sheets were. And I love how the dryer balls can last up to 1000 loads.
Overall, all the products worked pretty well. Cleancult uses saponified coconut oil to make their cleaning products, which has long been used to make soaps. Unlike other types of oils, coconut oils create a nice, bubbly lather which one comes to expect with soaps. All of their ingredients are listed on their website and you will definitely recognize most, if not all, of them.
Zero-Waste Refill Packaging
As you may have caught on, one of my big pet peeves is plastic. I really do try to minimize my consumption of plastic, but when it comes to cleaning products, it’s really hard to avoid. Just hit up that cleaning product aisle at Target and it’s basically a plastic extravaganza. For this reason, I love that Cleancult uses paper cartons — y’know, like the ones they sell milk in — for their dish detergent and multi-purpose cleaner refills. And for their dishwasher and laundry pods, they refills are packaged in paper envelopes. As part of their mission, they are anti-landfill packaging and I am all over that.
Cleancult is currently sold online and uses a subscription model for refills. It has taken me a few cycles to figure out what the right cadence is for ordering refills. For instance, the dish soap goes really fast, but the multi-purpose cleaner takes a few more weeks to finish. That’s always been my beef with subscription re-fill models. You do need to be on top of your usage rate so you don’t find yourself with 5 refills of hand soap.
Natural cleaners are becoming more widely available now more than ever before. What I particularly like about Cleancult is, not only do they offer really effective natural cleaning products, but provide zero-waste packaging. Cleaners that are safe for my family and safe for the environment? Awesome.
NOTE: Since I purchased the Starter Kit, Cleancult has since moved to glass bottles and reusable tablet containers.
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