People do a lot of cleaning in our day-to-day lives – which, on average, adds up to over 100 days of cleaning over a lifetime!
That’s a lot of cleaning, and a lot of cleaning supplies. With the uptick in awareness of sustainability, we all want our equipment to be effective and environmentally responsible.
Welcome to the rise of environmentally friendly cleaning products!
Most natural cleaning methods use white vinegar and baking soda, but if you want to save those for cooking instead, these sustainable and non-toxic cleaning products will do the trick. Many of them are even made right here in Australia!
(TIP: If you regularly hire a house cleaning service, leave these products out for them to use.)
Want to know what the best eco-friendly cleaning products in Australia are? We’ve made a list of the top sustainable brands (in no particular order) to help you keep your home clean and healthy – and yourself, too!
Zero Co | Biome | Koala Eco | Koh | SimplyClean | ENJO | Euclove | Pleasant State | Seed & Sprout
1. Zero Co
No more single-use plastics in your cleaning arsenal when you shop with Zero Co! Their system is simple: what goes around, comes around.
As the brand says, “buy once, refill forever.” With their new ForeverFill™ system, you’ll only need to buy one Forever Bottle that you can then refill over and over.
Zero Co has three types of refills: liquids, powders, and dissolvable tablets – all packaged in recyclable paper.
The Forever Bottles themselves are made from 80% recycled plastic and will last a good, long time, reducing the number of single-use plastics in your home cleaning arsenal.
No worries about tearing, either – for liquid refills, their packaging slips right into the Forever Bottle to minimise the risk of wear, tear, and spills.
Plus, the brand creates its products with eco-friendly formulas that are vegan, cruelty-free, and septic-safe.
Since they’ve revamped their product line to use even less plastic, they’ve also levelled up their formulas to be more effective. Many even come as concentrates to maximise their use!
For Zero Co users who still have their old Forever Bottles, the brand is offering a Restarter deal that allows you to send back your old bottles using their free return label.
2. Biome
What’s in a name? That’s right – Biome has a vision of a safe, healthy environment, and they’re setting out to achieve that with their products.
They believe that your daily choices can influence the world, and that includes which products you choose to use in your home.
One point of pride for Biome is that their products are 100% free of palm oil.
This means you can feel confident shopping from a brand that’s wholly cruelty-free. Deforestation and logging are serious issues, and Biome has taken equally serious steps to address them.
At Biome, the goal is to build a better tomorrow with the choices you make today.
They hold a B Corporation certification for being a purpose-driven business, and support hundreds of local Australian suppliers by providing them a market to sell their products.
Help save the Australian biome by checking out Biome for all the natural cleaning products you need.
3. Koala Eco
For a clean home and a clean self, head over to Koala Eco! These safe and efficient plant-based products promise a full clean without compromising the environment.
Koala Eco’s cleaners incorporate sustainable ingredients as the brand brings you closer to nature.
Their products use Australian essential oils combined with biodegradable ingredients that work as good – if not better – than commercial chemical cleaners. All of their products have formulas that are septic and greywater-safe.
Additionally, they’re non-toxic, cruelty-free, Australian-made, and their bottles are all made of 100% recycled (and recyclable) plastic!
Begin your eco-friendly cleaning journey with their Starter Collection for your kitchen and laundry.
The brand also supports environmental conservation efforts. Koala Eco proudly partners with #NaturePact (People and Parks Foundation), and supports 1% for the Planet, WWF-Australia, and Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary.
Plus, many of their ingredients (including the essential oils) are locally sourced to support Aussie communities and livelihoods. Choose Koala Eco to give yourself a clean home while giving back.
4. Koh
Koh proudly helps you clean with fewer products, fewer chemicals, and less environmental impact. They’re out to make cleaning simple with no fuss and no frills.
You don’t need a mountain of products to clean your home – just Koh.
The brand offers refillable cleaning products in Australia that reportedly help you use 10x less plastic than other commercial cleaning products. Their packaging uses Roll’n’Recycle technology so they’re 100% “kerbside recyclable” in Australia.
In particular, their Universal Cleaner is GECA-certified and approved by the National Asthma Council Australia’s Sensitive Choice™ program. Koh products are also 100% vegan and cruelty-free!
Beyond their clean product advocacy, Koh has partnered with environmental advocacies such as Eden Reforestation Projects and Good360. As of April 2024, every order placed allows Koh to rescue plastic from the ocean through Greenspark and Plastic Bank.
The Koh philosophy is simple: “A clean home for a clean planet!”
5. SimplyClean
This is a cult favourite cleaning product in Australia. Crafted in New South Wales, SimplyClean uses locally sourced essential oils in their plant-based formulas to make cleaners that are non-toxic and effective.
SimplyClean products are biodegradable, vegan, and greywater-safe. Their formulas are hypoallergenic and pet-safe, getting cleaning boosts from essential oils and H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide).
For their packaging, they’ve focused on sustainability in manufacturing and storage – they reuse over 95% of empty returned containers, and over 80% of their bottles are made of recycled plastic.
And while their products allow you to help the environment, your purchase allows them to help koalas! SimplyClean donates 5c of every product purchased to Friends of the Koala, who care for half of all rescued koalas in NSW. You can also purchase one of their Koala gifts – 100% of proceeds go to the initiative!
6. ENJO
ENJO brands itself as “cleaning without chemicals,” so you can keep your home tidy without the worry.
For over 30 years, the company has been changing how people clean their homes with its reusable fibre technology. ENJO uses the finest raw materials to create its signature fibres that are durable, long-lasting, and effective.
Alongside a healthier way to clean, ENJO also recycles! They collect old ENJO Fibres, which they then shred and press into bales, which are used for insulation or car seats.
ENJO firmly believes in ethical and responsible business practices to create cleaning products that don’t harm our planet.
With unique ENJOtex tech, the ENJO Fibre products remove dirt more effectively for cleaner surfaces. You just need to add water, then wipe and dry.
You can get their starter bundle to kick off your journey to a cleaner and healthier home. Or try out some of their more popular products, such as the ENJO Mop and ENJO Window Cleaner.
7. Euclove
Love for you, the plant, and the future – that’s what Euclove products are built on.
As a brand, Euclove is dedicated to providing cleaning products that are “effective without compromise.” They work just as well as traditional cleaners but with 100% natural ingredients, including antibacterial essential oils.
Don’t worry, though! Euclove has worked with professional vets to ensure that the products are safe even around pets.
Euclove products are septic-safe, and do not contain sulphates, bleach, phthalates, and synthetic fragrances and dyes.
They’ve even launched a line of microfibre cloths made out of recycled plastic! These cleaning cloths are durable, absorbent, and machine-washable.
8. Pleasant State
If you’re ready for good, clean fun, then get down and (not!) dirty with Pleasant State. The future of home cleaning is here with their concentrated bars that are non-toxic and plastic-free!
No single-use plastics here – all their cleaning products are Australian-made, vegan, and cruelty-free.
How does it work? It’s easy! Fill a bottle with hot water and drop in one concentrated cleaning bar. Let it fizz, dissolve, and then you can start spraying on any dirty surface.
If you like lemon myrtle, their Homebody Multi-Purpose Starter Kit is an all-surface cleaner that’s perfect for starting out.
What started as a crowdfunding campaign has now become a cleaning revolution. Pleasant State is out to change how we tidy up with planet-changing products.
And with every purchase, they donate 2% of sales or 20% of products to Take 3 For The Sea, so you can clean your home and the ocean!
9. Seed & Sprout
Cleaning products that are aesthetic and eco-friendly? Head on over to Seed & Sprout!
They have a whole range of cleaning supplies, from their best-selling dish soap bars to a 6.9L kitchen compost bin that’ll fit even in an apartment.
All their cleaning bars are vegan-friendly and cruelty-free. Their high-performance formulas use sodium bicarbonate and saponified coconut oil, plus naturally antibacterial essential oils.
Best of all, these cleaning bars are zero-waste – the compostable cardboard packaging ensures each product leaves nothing behind.
In terms of manufacturing, Seed & Sprout’s office and warehouse are emissions-free thanks to their renewable energy use. They reuse cardboard boxes for packaging, and offer a Take Back Program for silicone products that are no longer usable.
