We get it — cleaning’s not fun, and it’s even less fun when the products you use either don’t clean effectively or contain unnecessary ingredients. That’s why we asked our customers for their input on cleaning ingredients. You cleaned, you spoke, we listened.We revamped our standards and did our research to eliminate certain ingredients and find better alternatives for you and the planet. Our rigorous standards for all household cleaning products we sell require:
- 100+ banned household cleaner ingredients including phosphates, phthalates, FD&C colors and optical brighteners.
- Products are performance-tested for efficacy – specifically the ability to remove dirt and germs from surfaces.
- Ingredients are always listed on the label, except for proprietary fragrance and enzyme blends.
Spick, Span and Banned: 100+ Ingredients and Counting
There are certain ingredients that just don’t belong in household cleaning products. That means no phosphates, phthalates or FD&C colors. If you’d like to test your pronunciation skills, and see which products weren’t up to our test, take a look below:
| Banned Ingredients |
|
|---|---|---|
2-oxepanone, homopolymer | 3 (Trihydroxysilyl) propyldimethyl octadecyl ammonium chloride | 4-Acetylpyridine-N-Oxide |
4-Formylphenylboronic acid | 4,4′-Diamino-2,2′-stilbenedisulfonic acid | Acid blue 82 |
Acrylic acid/styrene copolymer, sodium salt | Alcohols C12-C18, ethoxylated, propoxylated | Alizarin cyanine green F |
Alkyl (C10-16) benzene | Alkylphenol ethoxylate | Amines, C12-18-alkyldimethyl, N-oxides |
Aminoethylethanolamine | Aminomethyl propanol | Benzalkonium chloride |
Benzene (C14-C30) alkylate | Benzenesulfonic acid, (1-methylethyl)-, sodium salt | Benzophenone-4 |
Benzotriazole | BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) | bis(2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethyl) hexanedioate |
Bronopol | Butoxyethanol | Butyl carbitol acetate |
C10-14 Alkyl benzene sulfuric acid | C12-14 Ethoxylated propoxylated alcohols | C12-18-Alkyldimethyl(ethylbenzyl) ammonium chlorides |
C12-C18 alkyl benzyl dimethyl ammonium chloride | Calcium phosphate | Cannabidiol |
Chlorine (Sodium Hypochlorite) | Chromium hydroxide green | Cocamide DEA |
Cocamide MEA | Decyl Phenoxybenzenedisulfonic Acid | Di-(palm carboxyethyl) hydroxyethyl methyl-ammonium methyl sulfates |
Dialkylester ammonium methosulfate | Diaminostilbene disulfonic acid | Diazolidinyl urea |
Dicocoethyl hydroxyethylmonium methosulfate | Diethanolamine (DEA) | Diethylene glycol butyl ether |
Diethylene glycol monoethyl ether | Dimethyl octadecyllamine | Dimethylaminopropyl amine |
Dipropylene glycol monobutyl ether | Dipropyleneglycol monomethyl ether | Disodium distyrylbiphenyl disulfonate |
DMDM hydantoin | Ethanaminium, 2-hydroxy-N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-Nmethyl-, methyl sulfate (salt), octadecanoate (ester) | Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid |
Fatty alcohols C12-C14 ethoxylated, propoxylated | FD&C Blue No. 1 | FD&C Blue No. 2 |
FD&C Green No. 3 | FD&C Red No. 3 | FD&C Red No. 40 |
FD&C Yellow No. 5 | FD&C Yellow No. 6 | Formaldehyde |
Heart-leaf sida | Hexahydro-1,3,5-Tris (2-hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine | Hexdecyldimethylamine |
Houttuynia | Hydroxy-methylpentylcyclohexene carboxyaldehyde | Hydroxyethyl-methyl ammonium methosulphate |
Hypophosphorus acid | Imitoylethyl hydroxyethylmonium methosulfate | Iodopropynyl butylcarbamate |
Isonicotinic acid-n-oxide | Isoparaffinic hydrocarbon solvent | Lauramide DEA |
Linear alkyl benzene sulfonates | Manganese, ((2,2',2''-(nitrilotris(2,1-ethanediyl(nitrilo-kappaN)methylidyne))tris(phenolato-kappaO))(3-))-, (OC-6-22)- | Methoxymethylbutanol |
Methyl anthranilate | Methyl bis(soya amidoethyl) 2-hydroxyethyl quaternary ammonium methylsulphate | Methylchloroisothiazolinone |
Montan Wax | Nitromethylidynetrimethanol | Nonylphenyl ethoxylate |
PEG 22 Dodecyl Glycol Copolymer | Phosphates | Phthalates |
Poly-4-Vinylpyridine-N-Oxide | Polycarboxylate, sodium salt | Polymeric Blue Dye |
Polypropylene terephthalate | Polyquaternium- 7 | Polyvinyl pyrolidone (PVP) |
Potassium alkyl benzene sulfonate | Potassium Alkylpolyoxyethylene Phosphate | Propyl gallate |
Quaternary Coco Alkylamine Ethoxylate | Quaternium-15 | Quaternized Coco/Soya Fatty Acids |
Salt of Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate | Salt of Triethanolamine Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate | Silver chloride |
Sodium acid pyrophosphate | Sodium dichloroacetate | Sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate |
Sodium ferrocyanide decahydrate | Sodium hydroxymethylglycinate | Sodium monochloroacetate |
Sodium phosphate | Sodium xylene sulfate | Sodium xylene sulfonate |
Sulfuric acid | Tetrasodium EDTA | Toluene |
Tributylphenol polyglycol ether, 12 – 14 EO | Tricalcium phosphate | Triclosan |
Tripropylene glycol methyl ether | Tripropylene glycol n-butyl ether | Urea-formaldehyde-copolymer |
White mineral oil |
If that induced painful flashbacks to high-school chemistry, don't worry – you won't see any of those on our ingredient labels and you can trust that when you see a hard-to-pronounce ingredient on one of our labels, we've done the homework.
Ousting Optical Brighteners
Optical brighteners are synthetic chemicals added to liquids and powders like detergents to make clothes appear whiter and brighter. Side note: They’re also unnecessary, so we’re leading the way in the industry as the first national retailer to ban them from our aisles.
Trustworthy and Performance-Tested
When it comes to household cleaning, our priority is giving you the best of both worlds. That means providing effective cleaners and ingredients that may have a lower impact on the planet. That’s why we’ve vetted and performance-tested our products for efficacy. So go ahead — spray, scrub and clean the tub without a second thought.
