In today’s blog post, I’m breaking down our favorite cleaning products by category: Household cleaning, laundry + stain removers, dishes, soap and bathroom cleaners. I also frequently discover new finds from your recommendations so please chime in below in the comments section if you have any clean living products you swear by so we may all check them out!
Favorite Clean Living Finds
Household Cleaning
- Branch Basics Concentrate: I use this stuff for everything! It’s the base for my window/glass cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, bathroom cleaner, laundry detergent and hand soap. I have a set of Branch Basics glass bottles that are made with subtle lines on the side that tell me how much of the concentrate to mix with water to make the cleaners I use for a myriad of purposes. It works well and is unscented but you can always add a few drops of your favorite essential oils to give it a fresh scent. I found this concentrate when I was looking for the cleanest of the clean for our everyday household products and was sold when I read that it’s legitimately clean enough to use to use as a fruit and vegetable wash to clean off produce.
- Tineco Cordless Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner: This wet/dry vacuum is not a household cleaner BUT it is something that allows me to clean my floors in a way that’s 100 percent natural and incredibly clean. We’re talking water ONLY. (You can mix water with a solution for a deeper clean but 99 percent of the time I use only water in this wet vac and I am constantly amazed by the dirt it picks up.) The Tineco vacuum cleaner also checks all of my must-have boxes: It’s self propelled, cordless, easy to use and has a long enough run time that I’ve never needed to re-charged it to clean our entire downstairs floors. For anyone with little ones with less-than-stellar aim in the bathroom or if you have kids going through potty training, the Tineco is veeery helpful for those messes, too.
Laundry + Stain Removers
- Branch Basics Concentrate: I am not quite sure how a tiny cap full of the Branch Basics Concentrate mixed with water actually cleans all of our clothes but it does and I’ve been a fan for years!
- Branch Basics Oxygen Boost: This boosts the power of Branch Basics Concentrate and is something I add to larger or more heavily-soiled laundry loads. I also use it whenever I clean our sheets and towels.
- Puracy Natural Stain Remover: This is an enzyme-based, plant-powered stain remover that really works! I’ve been using Puracy for years and am continually impressed with its ability to get tough stains out of our clothing. I spray the stained area and then rough it up with a clean toothbrush before letting it sit for a while (longer for tougher stains) and then washing as usual.
- Miss Mouth’s Messy Eater Stain Treater: I love this for spot-treating stains (I’ve found it particularly incredible at removing tough stains from berries) It’s great for spot-cleaning and shocks me every time I use it. I’ve even used it on set-in stains with great results!
Dishes
- Puracy Dish Soap: This dish soap does a great job cleaning our dishes without sulfates, parabens and perfumes. It rinses clean and has a fresh scent from plant-based essential oils. I also love that it is a skin-friendly formula that is moisturizing for your hands but still powerful enough to deep clean dishes.
- Rosey Unscented Dishwasher Detergent Powder: I buy this through Thrive Market and have been incredibly happy with the results! It’s a no-frills detergent that does the job without any funky chemical smells or streak/water marks.
Soap
Note: I oddly love trying new hand soaps for our family and could’ve made this section waaay too long! These are simply the hand soaps you’ll find in our house right now but we’ve tried a bunch of clean options we’ve loved!
- Branch Basics Concentrate: This is the concentrate we mix with water and use in Branch Basics’ foaming hand soap bottles. I love that we just refill the bottles and make more soap with the concentrate since I always have it on hand.
- Everyone Hand Soap: I ordered this hand soap after first discovering the company’s 3-in-1 Kid Soap (body wash + shampoo + bubble bath in one) and loving it. The hand soap is great as well and I’ve loved every scent I’ve tried from the lavender coconut to the ruby grapefruit.
- Puracy Lavender Vanilla Moisturizing Hand Soap: If you have sensitive or dry skin, I cannot recommend this soap enough. It’s my favorite for winter hand washing when my hands are drier than usual because it doesn’t seem to completely strip them of all moisture. It’s gentle and hypoallergenic but effective at cleaning hands and washing away germs.
Bathroom Cleaning
- Branch Basics Concentrate: Surprise, surprise! This concentrate is once again my go-to for cleaning and I use it to wipe down countertops, toilet seats, faucets, shower heads and more.
- Branch Basics Oxygen Boost: I spray dirty areas with Branch Basics Bathroom Cleaner and then sprinkle some of this on our tile, grout and the inside of our sinks before roughing it up until it’s soapy. I let it sit for 20-30 minutes before cleaning the area when I need a deeper clean.
- Rosey Toilet Bowl Cleaner: This is another Thrive Market find! The mineral- and plant-powered formula works to eliminate stains, mold, odors without ammonia, chlorine bleach and harsh chemicals. I use it with a silicone toilet bowl brush and I swear once you switch to silicone toilet bowl brushes versus a regular toilet bowl brush you will never, ever go back!
- Tineco Cordless Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner: As mentioned above, this is my go-to for cleaning the tile floors in our bathrooms.
Discount Codes/Affiliate Links
Note: This blog post is not sponsored and every item mentioned is a cleaning product I’ve purchased and continue to purchase with my own money. I do have two active codes/affiliate links to share if some of the items mentioned appeal to you and you’d like to try Branch Basics or Thrive Market.
Thrive Market: My affiliate link for Thrive Market will save you $40 off your first purchase.
Branch Basics: The code PBFINGERS will save you 15% off all Branch Basics Starter Kits with the exception of the Trial Kit.
Question of the Day
What are some clean/natural-living products you swear by for your home?
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
We’ve been really happy with the Blueland products!
I haven’t heard of Blueland but I’ll have to check them out — thanks for chiming in! Love that they do the refillable bottles like Branch Basics!
I second the Blueland products. I have converted to using all of them and really love the ease of storage and the fact that I’m not paying for water or more plastic!
I have extremely sensitive skin and dry all year round.
I am interested in the puracy dish and hand soaps you mentioned. Are they heavily fragranced? Do you get them through Amazon or the manufacturer website?
I find the scent really, really mild in the Puracy products. I’m sensitive to heavy fragrances and they’ve never bothered me but there are a lot of unscented clean products out there that might be a better fit!! And I get them through Amazon.
Well, consider me influenced! I just bought the Branch Basics glass bottle bundle.. I’ve been good with using some natural cleaners, but am trying to reduce our plastic use as well, so this seemed like the perfect fit! Excited to get it and try it out!
I really hop you like them! We’ve been using the glass bottles for years and they hold up so well. Also, our boys have even dropped them and they were thankfully more durable than I anticipated, too.
For stubborn stains, especially on kids clothes, the sun! I learned this hack from a mom group and the sun has a natural bleaching effect. From sweet potato stains to berries, etc. Just wet the piece of clothing and put out in the sun and it disappears.
Why have I never tried this!?! Thank you for sharing!
I think last summer you blogged about an expensive laundry detergent that you only used sparingly but smelled great, do you remember what that was called?
Oh my gosh YESSSS. It’s NOT at all clean but nothing smells better than this stuff!!! –> https://amzn.to/3DPTlAS We get the Diva scent and it legit smells like heaven when you wash your clothes with it. A little goes a long way and since it’s crazy expensive we ration it and just add a splash here and there to our clothes when we want them to smell amazing. You definitely do NOT need to use a full amount to get the benefits of the smell!
Berry stains come right out when you pour boiling water over the stain. Has to be boiling but works every time
Signed,
Mom of the kid who can eat her weight in raspberries lol
LOLLL! Hey Mom of the Kid Who Can Eat Her Weight in Raspberries — I wonder if your kid would be friends with mine, Boy Who Can Eat His Weight in Blueberries!?
We love Charlie’s soap for laundry detergent! It’s unscented and comes in powder form so it lasts forever. We’re on our second kid in cloth diapers and have no complaints!
I’ve tried blueland dishwasher tablets and didn’t love them! They left a white powder/residue on our dishes! 😩 I use Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap and Sal’s Suds for making our hand soap and laundry. I haven’t found an effective stain remover so I’ll definitely be looking into the ones you recommend! Thanks, Julie!
Also totally forgot to mention Better Life! We use their granite and stone cleaner, and also have tried the dishwasher gel and have found it to be a much better option for us for our washer! I have a link for 30% off if you’re interested in trying it: 🌞
http://i.refs.cc/wJUEWc1V?smile_ref=eyJzbWlsZV9zb3VyY2UiOiJzbWlsZV91aSIsInNtaWxlX21lZGl1bSI6IiIsInNtaWxlX2NhbXBhaWduIjoicmVmZXJyYWxfcHJvZ3JhbSIsInNtaWxlX2N1c3RvbWVyX2lkIjoxMjExMTQ0OTMwfQ%3D%3D
Can you share the recipe you use? I actually tried making my own hand soap and dish detergent with Dr. Bronners and really wasn’t happy with the end result but I’m sure the recipe I followed had a lot to do with that!
my 94yo mother will tell you, the easiest way to get rid of berry stains is…pour boiling water .. yes BOILING … through the stain: put the item over a bowl and pour it through.
We love Dr Bronner’s in this house … the eucalyptus is amazing during cough and cold timeAND IT COVERS STINKY TINKLE MIS-FIRES around the toilet
i love anything eucalyptus!
Hi Julie! Thank you for all the info! I’ve been wanting to switch to more green cleaning products, but in the past the ones I’ve tried don’t really leave the perfectly clean/fresh feeling that the cleaners like Clorox/Lysol/etc do (maybe I am just used to the chemical smell and associate that with being “clean”?). Do you find branch basics gives the same level of “clean” and fresh? I am thinking of ordering the concentrate 🙂
Hi! I TOTALLY get this!!! I actually feel the same way and gradually transition into cleaner products for our home. I still have some of the harsher chemicals in my arsenal in case I need them but honestly very, very rarely feel the need to reach for them anymore.
Thanks for sharing all these Julie! I recently started using Branch Basics for laundry and some of my house cleaning. Have been slowly making swaps in our home, so added several things to my Amazon list to order when we run out of current products.
I did the same — a slow and steady transition!
Which version of the Tineco do you have? There’s a $100 difference between the two and I’m wondering if the more expensive one is worth it. Thanks!
Just seeing this now, is the branch basic promo code still valid? It’s not working so I’m just wondering if I missed it!
Yes! It should be but I will absolutely email them now to double check!
Okay they emailed me back quickly! Here is their response: “It is still active and working! Just a reminder that it is good for 15% off all Starter Kits, except the Trial Kit.” I hope this helps!!
I loved this post so much and got so much helpful info. Thanks Julie!!
So glad to hear it!! <3
This post was fantastic! What do you use for dusting furniture? I use mostly green products, except Pledge for dusting. I’d love to know of a green version to replace Pledge with.