Let’s Concentrate on 2019’s Eco-Friendly Cleaning Trend

Spring cleaning is (almost) upon us! Whether you’re hoping to declutter your cabinets or make a switch to more eco-friendly cleaning products, liquid concentrates could be your new best friend. Versatile cleaners that can be diluted at home in reusable spray bottles, these multi-taskers boast a number of benefits.

Instead of buying separate products for each household cleaning need, you can save time, space, energy and money by just using one, powerful concentrate.

The most obvious and immediate benefit? Because you’re buying less cleaner, less often—just a little bit of concentrate can go a long way on most cleaning tasks—you could save a considerable amount of money.

“The price per ounce of a cleaner made from a concentrate compared to RTU cleaners can save you as much as half of your yearly cleaning budget,” says Marilee Nelson, co-founder of Branch Basics.

The average cost of 32-ounce “green” cleaners is $6.18 (or $0.20 per ounce), and their uses are very limited and specialized. Keep in mind, Nelson says, that when you buy prediluted ready-to-use cleaners you are paying for increased waste in packaging and a lot of water which means higher shipping costs. A 32-ounce bottle of a cleaning concentrate, on the other hand, may be less than half the cost of a prediluted cleaner, and go a lot further.

While most cleaners are highly specialized—think Windex for glass or sanitizing spray for counters and other hard surfaces—most concentrated cleaners pack a more efficient punch and can be used on a variety of surfaces in the home. For example, Branch Basics’ natural cleaner can be used on windows and mirrors, in the laundry, on countertops, and in the bathroom—and even as a foaming body soap.

Have a bigger cleaning job and not sure if a concentrate will cut it? Some companies, like Grove Collaborative, offer more specific concentrates, like a floor cleaner that’s safe to use on wood floors and all finished wood.

Another obvious perk of concentrated cleaners is less waste. Not only are you throwing away fewer plastic bottles and containers; Nelson says the actual production of concentrated cleaners saves natural resources since they require less processing, less labeling, reduced filling of bottles, and reduced plastics use.

It also takes less energy to ship products that contain less water, says Alex Crane, Senior Manager at Grove Brand: “Because most cleaning products are primarily composed of water, the concentrates improve consumer carbon footprint because we aren’t shipping heavy water-based products around the country.”

Includes one 33-ounce concentrate; three reusable pre-labeled plastic spray bottles to measure and mix all-purpose, bathroom, and streak-free cleaner; one foaming wash bottle; and one laundry bottle

Includes three one-ounce tubes of concentrate: all-purpose, glass, and tub and tile; three color-coded glass spray bottles; and a three-pack of microfiber cleaning cloths.

Includes four reusable glass spray bottles; plus four one-ounce vials of cleaning concentrates for glass and mirrors, bath and tile, wood and floors, and counters and granite.

Includes one 12-ounce bottle of all-purpose cleaning concentrate.

Includes one 32-ounce bottle of multi-surface concentrate.