The Cleaning Products You Can Stop Buying

Most homes have a cupboard full of cleaning sprays, and most of them do the same handful of jobs. You can clear out a lot of them, save money, and cut a surprising amount of plastic without your home getting any less clean. Here's what you can stop buying.

A different spray for every surface

The kitchen spray, the bathroom spray, and the "multi-surface" spray are usually near-identical. One good multi-surface cleaner handles counters, tables, stovetops, sinks, and most of the bathroom. Keep one, drop the rest.

Single-use wipes

Disposable wipes are convenient, wasteful, and surprisingly expensive over a year. A reusable cloth and your multi-surface cleaner wipe down the same surfaces, and you wash the cloth instead of binning it.

Paper towels, mostly

You don't have to give them up entirely, but a couple of washable cloths cover most of what you reach paper towels for. We wrote a whole guide on cleaning without paper towels if you want to make the switch properly.

Specialty cleaners you use twice a year

Glass cleaner, stainless steel polish, and most "specialty" sprays can be handled by simple staples. A little vinegar and water does glass and mirrors. A dab of oil on a cloth does stainless steel. You don't need a dedicated bottle for every single job.

Air fresheners

Plug-ins and aerosols are mostly packaging and fragrance. Opening a window does more for a stuffy room, and if you want a scent, simmering citrus or herbs on the stove works without the plastic.

What's actually worth keeping

You really only need a few things: one multi-surface cleaner, ideally refillable, a couple of reusable cloths, and simple staples like white vinegar and baking soda. That covers most jobs in the house. If you'd rather start with products built around refills instead of rebuying, our refillable cleaning range is made for exactly that. And if you're not sure whether something already in your cupboard is a good choice, the household chore app Plastnofy lets you snap a photo of a product and check, then suggests a cleaner swap if it isn't. Download Plastnofy free on the App Store or Google Play.

Fewer products, less plastic, less money, same clean home. Start by clearing out the duplicates, and for a room-by-room version, here's our sustainable cleaning guide.