Home & Kitchen — Cleaning Products
Clean should not
compromise your health
We clean our homes to protect our health — yet most conventional cleaning products introduce a daily chemical load that works against that very intention. The spray bottle under the sink, the dishwasher tablet, the surface cleaner — used every day, in an enclosed indoor environment, by the people we are trying to protect. Shake thinks the cleaning routine deserves the same scrutiny as everything else.
Ingredient Literacy
What to look for on the label —
and what to put back on the shelf.
Cleaning product labelling laws in most countries do not require full ingredient disclosure. Understanding the most common harmful compounds — and knowing what to look for instead — is the foundation of a conscious cleaning routine.
| Ingredient / Category | Assessment | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Synthetic fragrance / “parfum” | Avoid | The word “fragrance” on a label can legally conceal over 3,000 different chemicals — including phthalates, benzene derivatives, and VOCs. No disclosure required. Synthetic fragrance is the single most common source of hidden endocrine disruptors in household cleaning products. Always choose fragrance-free. |
| Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) | Avoid | Found in most disinfectant sprays and antibacterial cleaners. The EU banned benzalkonium chloride (a QAC) from rinse-off products in 2016. Studies show QACs exhibit immunotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, and developmental toxicity. California prohibited quaternium-15 in personal care products from 2025. |
| Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) & ethoxylates | Avoid | SLS is a known skin and mucous membrane irritant. Ethoxylated surfactants (PEG compounds) can be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane — a probable carcinogen — during manufacturing. Neither is required to be disclosed on cleaning product labels. |
| Chlorine bleach & ammonia | Use with caution | Both release VOCs that contaminate indoor air. Bleach fumes cause respiratory irritation, asthma exacerbation, and skin damage. Never mix bleach and ammonia — they produce toxic chloramine gas. People working in cleaning industries using these compounds show a 50% higher risk of developing asthma. |
| Phthalates (in fragrance) | Avoid | Phthalates are endocrine-disrupting compounds used to make synthetic fragrance last longer. They are absorbed through inhalation and skin contact, accumulate in the body, and are linked to hormonal disruption, reproductive issues, and developmental toxicity in children. |
| Triclosan & triclocarban | Avoid | Antibacterial agents banned from consumer hand soaps by the FDA in 2016 due to insufficient safety evidence. Still found in some surface cleaners and dish soaps. Associated with endocrine disruption and contributing to antibiotic resistance. |
| Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives | Avoid | Compounds like DMDM hydantoin, quaternium-15, and imidazolidinyl urea slowly release formaldehyde — a known human carcinogen according to the IARC. Found in some antibacterial dish soaps and multipurpose cleaners. Check the full INCI name, not just the marketing. |
| Plant-based glucoside surfactants | Seek out | Decyl glucoside, coco-glucoside, and lauryl glucoside are derived from coconut and corn. Non-toxic, biodegradable, non-irritating to skin and respiratory tissue. The active ingredients in Branch Basics concentrate. These clean effectively without any of the health concerns of synthetic surfactant chemistry. |
What to be mindful of
Conscious homes begin with awareness —
have a clean conscience.
The cleaning products used daily in most homes contaminate indoor air, absorb through skin, and accumulate in household dust — creating a sustained low-level chemical exposure that is rarely visible but consistently documented. Understanding the primary vectors of this exposure is the first step toward a genuinely clean home.
01
Indoor air quality — cleaning products are a primary pollutant
A peer-reviewed study found that conventional cleaning products emit an average of 22 hazardous VOCs per use. Indoor air is typically 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air — with cleaning products as a primary contributor. Some products continue to emit VOCs for days or weeks after use. People working in cleaning industries show a 50% higher risk of developing asthma and a 43% higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
02
The fragrance loophole
In most countries, cleaning product manufacturers are not legally required to disclose the full ingredient list — and the word “fragrance” or “parfum” can conceal a proprietary blend of hundreds of individual chemicals. This single ingredient category is responsible for the majority of hidden endocrine disruptors, VOCs, and allergens in household cleaning products. If a product contains fragrance and does not disclose its components, treat it with significant scepticism.
03
Greenwashing in the cleaning aisle
The terms “natural,” “eco-friendly,” “plant-based,” and “green” carry no legal definition in cleaning product regulation. A product can claim to be natural while containing synthetic preservatives, undisclosed fragrance, and ethoxylated surfactants contaminated with carcinogenic 1,4-dioxane. Meaningful certifications — MADE SAFE, EWG Verified, EPA Safer Choice — require actual ingredient screening. The label claim alone means nothing.
04
Microfibre cloths — plastic in disguise
Microfibre cloths are made from polyester and polyamide — synthetic plastics. Each wash releases up to 700,000 microplastic fibres that are too small to be filtered by wastewater treatment plants, entering waterways and the food chain. These fibres have been found in human blood, lungs, and placentas. The cleaning tool designed to remove dirt is simultaneously introducing plastic into the water system with every wash cycle. Natural fibre alternatives — organic cotton, linen, bamboo — do not shed microplastics.
05
Cleaning brush bristles & plastic fragments
Most conventional dish brushes, scrubbing brushes, and sponges use nylon or synthetic plastic bristles that degrade over time — releasing microplastic fragments into washing water and onto food contact surfaces. The sponge touching your plates and pots is one of the most overlooked microplastic sources in the kitchen. Natural bristle alternatives — coconut fibre, sisal, plant-based fibres with wooden handles — eliminate this variable entirely.
06
Skin absorption & residue on surfaces
Cleaning products leave chemical residues on the surfaces they are applied to — countertops, dishes, cutting boards, children’s toys. These residues are absorbed through skin contact and ingested from food-contact surfaces. Hands absorb compounds from cleaning products during use. The home becomes a sustained low-level exposure environment when conventional products are used daily without adequate ventilation or rinsing.
The Microfibre Cloth — What Most People Don’t Know
Microfibre is plastic. Specifically, it is a blend of polyester and polyamide — two petroleum-derived synthetic fibres woven into an incredibly fine mesh. When you wash a microfibre cloth, it releases up to 700,000 plastic fibres per wash cycle. Wastewater treatment plants cannot filter fibres this small. They enter rivers, oceans, and drinking water. They have been found in human blood, breast milk, lungs, and the placentas of unborn children. The long-term health effects are still being studied — but the precautionary principle is clear. Swap microfibre for organic cotton, linen, or bamboo cloths. They clean just as effectively, biodegrade fully at end of life, and release nothing into the water system.
Conscious homes begin with awareness —
have a clean conscience
What to look for
Clean, conscious, and genuinely effective.
The goal is not a sparkling home achieved at the cost of indoor air quality. It is a home that is genuinely clean — surfaces, air, and water included. These are the markers of a conscious cleaning routine worth building.
MADE SAFE or EWG Verified certification
MADE SAFE is one of the strictest ingredient safety certifications available — screening every ingredient against databases of known carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, reproductive toxins, and neurotoxins. EWG Verified applies similar rigour. These certifications mean a brand has submitted to independent scrutiny, not just made a marketing claim. Branch Basics holds both.
Fragrance-free formulations
Fragrance-free is not the same as “unscented” — unscented products often contain masking fragrances. True fragrance-free means no synthetic fragrance compounds anywhere in the formula. EWG research shows fragrance-free green products emit just 4 hazardous chemicals on average, versus 22 in conventional products. Fragrance-free is the single highest-impact switch available in the cleaning aisle.
Full ingredient disclosure
Any cleaning brand that publishes a complete ingredient list — with each ingredient named, sourced, and explained — is operating at a meaningfully higher standard than the industry norm. Branch Basics lists 7 ingredients. Dr. Bronner’s publishes their full saponified oil blend. Koala Eco discloses every essential oil used. This is what transparency looks like in the cleaning category.
Plastic-free or refillable packaging
Conventional cleaning products generate enormous single-use plastic waste. Concentrate systems — one bottle diluted into many — dramatically reduce plastic per use. Tablet refill systems eliminate plastic bottles entirely. Glass spray bottles, aluminium packaging, and compostable sachets represent the direction the conscious cleaning category is heading.
Natural fibre cloths & brushes
Organic cotton, linen, and bamboo cloths replace microfibre without compromising cleaning performance. Wooden-handled brushes with natural bristles — coconut fibre, sisal, plant-based materials — replace plastic dish brushes. These materials biodegrade, shed nothing into water, and carry no microplastic contamination risk. The tool matters as much as the product.
Concentrate formats — one bottle, everything
The most elegant conscious cleaning system is one concentrate that replaces every product in the home — all-purpose, bathroom, glass, laundry, dishwasher, hand soap — diluted in different ratios. Less packaging, lower cost per use, fewer products to research and store. Branch Basics Concentrate achieves this with 7 ingredients. Simplicity is a form of consciousness.
Featured Brand
Branch Basics
MADE SAFE Certified · EWG Verified · 7 Ingredients · Fragrance-Free
Branch Basics was built on a simple principle: one concentrate that replaces every toxic cleaning product in the home. Their flagship concentrate contains just seven plant and mineral-based ingredients — purified water, decyl glucoside, coco-glucoside, organic chamomile flower extract, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate, and sodium phytate. Nothing hidden. No fragrance. No synthetic preservatives. MADE SAFE certified — one of the strictest third-party ingredient safety certifications available — and EWG Verified. Diluted at different ratios, it becomes all-purpose cleaner, bathroom spray, glass cleaner, laundry detergent, dish soap, and hand wash. One bottle. Seven ingredients. A genuinely clean home.
Why It Aligns
- MADE SAFE certified — every ingredient screened against carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, and neurotoxins
- EWG Verified — among the highest independently verified safety ratings in household cleaning
- Completely fragrance-free — no hidden VOCs, no synthetic scent compounds
- 7 published ingredients — all plant and mineral-based, all fully disclosed
- One concentrate replaces every cleaning product in the home
- Refill model — prevented 14 million single-use plastic bottles from landfill
Conscious Alternatives
Moving in a more conscious direction.
These brands are not presented as perfect. They represent cleaning products that have moved meaningfully away from synthetic chemistry — toward transparency, plant-based formulation, and packaging that doesn’t outlast the century.
Dr. Bronner’s
Pure Castile · 18 Uses · Regenerative Organic · Fair Trade
Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Soap is one of the most versatile, transparent, and long-standing conscious cleaning products available. Made from saponified organic oils — coconut, olive, hemp, jojoba — with no synthetic detergents, preservatives, or foaming agents. One bottle diluted appropriately cleans dishes, floors, surfaces, laundry, and skin. Regenerative Organic Certified, Fair Trade, and Leaping Bunny certified across the entire range.
- Saponified organic oils — no synthetic surfactants or detergents
- Regenerative Organic Certified and Fair Trade throughout
- 18 documented uses — one product, entire home covered
Blueland
Tablet Refill System · 100% Plastic-Free · EPA Safer Choice
Blueland has built its entire brand around eliminating single-use plastic from the cleaning routine. Their tablet-based system — drop a tablet into water in a reusable glass or aluminium bottle — covers multipurpose, bathroom, glass, dishwasher, and laundry. EPA Safer Choice certified on key products. Choose fragrance-free options for the cleanest formulation — their scented lines do not fully disclose fragrance components.
- 100% plastic-free packaging — tablets shipped in compostable paper
- EPA Safer Choice certified on core product range
- Tablet format eliminates single-use plastic bottles permanently
Koala Eco
Australian MADE SAFE · Essential Oil Scented · 1% for the Planet
Koala Eco builds every product around Australian native plant extracts and essential oils — lemon myrtle, peppermint, mandarin — with complete ingredient transparency and MADE SAFE Toxic Free certification. Vegan, cruelty-free, recyclable bottles, and 1% for the Planet committed. For households that want a genuinely scented conscious cleaning range without synthetic fragrance chemistry, Koala Eco is the most credible option.
- MADE SAFE Toxic Free certified — Australian third-party verified
- Essential oil scenting only — full disclosure, no synthetic fragrance
- 1% for the Planet — every purchase funds environmental conservation
Ingredient & Material Awareness
What cleans your home
stays in your environment.
The EWG and University of California Berkeley both conducted research demonstrating that conventional cleaning products release hundreds of VOCs — volatile organic compounds — into indoor air during and after use. Indoor air in a typical cleaned home contains 2 to 5 times the level of hazardous chemicals found in outdoor air, with some estimates as high as ten times. The cleaning routine, repeated daily in enclosed spaces, is one of the most significant contributors to indoor air quality degradation.
The microplastic problem from cleaning tools is equally documented. A single microfibre cloth releases up to 700,000 plastic fibres per wash — fibres that wastewater treatment cannot filter, that accumulate in waterways, and that have been measured in human blood and placental tissue. The transition from synthetic microfibre to organic cotton and bamboo cloths is one of the most overlooked conscious home swaps available — and one of the most impactful.
The home cleaning routine is not a minor variable. It is a daily chemical event — surfaces sprayed, air contaminated, skin exposed, residues left on food-contact areas. The conscious cleaning routine does not require more effort than the conventional one. It requires one simple decision: to choose products whose ingredients can be named, certified, and trusted — and tools that leave nothing harmful behind.
“A clean home is not one that smells like chemicals. It is one where the air, the surfaces, and the water are all genuinely free from what you were trying to remove.”
What cleans your home,
stays in your environment
The home you clean every day is the environment you live in every day.
Choose what you fill it with as consciously as what you bring into it.
Awareness over overwhelm · Clarity over confusion · Conscious choices over blind consumption