Cleancult Review 2020 | Eco-Friendly, Zero Waste All-Purpose Cleaner, Dish Soap and Hand Soap
The Top Line:
Cleancult is a MIXED BUY for us. We do not think it is a buy for their entire product suite —- while it is a YES for the Dish Soap and Hand Soap given the beauty of the bottles and the quality of the soaps, it is a NO for the All Purpose Cleaner. The bottle is too heavy to tote around the house, and given how pricey the refills are, our recommendation is to go with the Blueland Multi-Purpose cleaner instead (lighter bottle, way less expensive refills).
We break it down for you:
Cost: $45 for the Off-White Starter Kit Bundle (includes a 20% off), $6.95 per liquid-based refill (all-purpose cleaner, liquid dish soap, liquid hand soap), $8.95 per tablet-based refill (dishwasher tablets, laundry tablets). Or you can purchase a-la carte at $15.45 for a filled Liquid Dish Soap bottle, $13.45 for a filled Liquid Hand Soap bottle, and $16.45 for a filled All Purpose Cleander bottle. Note that you will be signed up for an auto-subscription for the refill whether you buy a bundle or a-la carte.
Products Included: The Off-White Starter Kit Bundle includes 3 “forever” cleaning bottles that come filled with All-Purpose, Hand Soap, and Dish Soap, Wool Dryer Balls (3 ct), Bar Soap (complimentary), Funnel (complimentary).
Coupons: You can sign up for their newsletter to receive 15% off your order. 20% off ordered on all bundles as well.
How ‘Clean’ Is This? Cleancult appears to have one of the simplest and cleanest ingredient lists, even when compared to other green cleaning products— and they are Leaping Bunny certified (the gold-standard in cruelty-free certification for personal care and household products companies).
Packaging: Everything was either 100% recyclable, refills come in paper cartons.
Purchasing & Shipping: Very easy purchasing experience. Shipping is also free if you purchase more than 3 items. However, be warned that you are automatically added into a refill subscription. You can of course choose to pause or cancel later, but generally a bit annoying to not have the option to just purchase for one-time.
What’s Your Impact? The biggest impact here is a major reduction in plastic due to the refill model. Additionally, Cleancult has a sustainable shipping system (they work with environmental agencies to plant trees to undo any shipping carbon they emit) and partners with Carbonfund.org to be a fully carbon neutral company.
Cleancult appears to have the deepest commitment to being green — from their simple ingredients lists to their Leaping Bunny status and carbon-neutral shipping process.
How Well
Did the Products Actually Work?
For context, I have been using predominantly Meyers or Seventh Generation products over the last 5 years. I was particularly interested in how the products smell, and how well the cleaning solutions worked.
Cleancult Liquid Hand Soap Review: The scent is a really lovely lavender—despite the fact that there are no other scent choices, I am perfectly happy with this being the default option. The saponified coconut oil and olive oil ingredients helps to leave my hands a bit softer than if I used other soaps.
Cleancult Liquid Dish Soap Review: I really loved this lemongrass scent. Similar to the Liquid Hand Soap, the saponified oil ingredients did their part in leaving my hands a little softer — though I typically use gloves to wash dishes so this is less important to me. Worth noting that it is very easy to overuse — my dishes were a little spotty after it is dried. Using less definitely helped, but I am not sure that I like it more than the Meyers I was previously using.
Cleancult All Purpose Cleaner Review: The orange zest scent was nice though we didn’t love it as much as the hand soap and dish soap scents, and unfortunately there isn’t another scent option. For basic cleaning the cleaner worked well, though there were times where it seemed as though there was a bit of a residue leftover—could be due to the oil based ingredients. The product did seem great for our wood cabinets though! Our biggest complaint here is that while the glass bottles are beautiful, they are heavy to lug around the house for the All-Purpose cleaner.
Cleancult Wool Dryer Balls Review: These worked very well as a replacement for dryer sheets. However, the pricing was quite a bit higher ($10.99 for 3 ct) than options we found on Amazon (eg. $8.99 for 6ct here).
Overall: Cleancult’s bottle design was really the standout for us. Given our open concept living area, you can see everything we have on our counter-tops, so the design of the dish soap and hand soap bottles were especially important here. However, for items that stay stowed away in a closet or cupboard, like an All Purpose cleaner, we would recommend going with a more lightweight bottle with less expensive refills, like Blueland.
1 Year Value
Comparison
All-Purpose Cleaner Value Comparison:
We calculated based on all-Purpose Cleaner only, assuming 10 bottles (16oz each or 160oz in total) for an average household’s use over the course of 1 year.
Cleancult: $0.43 to $0.45 per oz
Their 16oz bottle comes filled, so it would require 9 refills to get to 160oz. Cost of bottle included in average cost per oz over the cost of one year.
Blueland Multi-Surface: $0.10 to $0.15 per oz
Their bottles fit 20oz each, so it would only require 8 refill tablets to get to 160oz. We also incorporated a 19% discount for the bottle and first refill tablet, assuming that it is purchased as part of a kit. Average cost of $0.15 per oz for the first year when factoring in cost of bottle, $0.10 per oz thereafter for refills.
Grove Collaborative: $0.19 to $0.26 per oz
High end of range includes cost of bottle included in average cost per oz over the cost of one year.
Meyers Multi-Surface Everyday: $0.23 per oz
Seventh Generation All-Purpose: $0.17 to $0.22 per oz
Lysol All-Purpose: $0.09 to $0.15 per oz
Liquid Dish Soap Value Comparison:
We calculated based on Liquid Dish Soap assuming 10 bottles (16oz each or 160oz in total) for an average household’s use over the course of 1 year.
Cleancult Liquid Dish Soap: $0.47 per oz
Grove Collaborative Dish Soap: $0.42 per oz
Meyers Dish Soap: $0.24 per oz
Seventh Generation Dish Soap: $0.12 per oz
Dawn Dish Soap: $0.18 per oz
Liquid Hand Soap Value Comparison:
We calculated based on Liquid Hand Soap assuming 10 bottles (16oz each or 160oz in total) for an average household’s use over the course of 1 year.
Cleancult Liquid Hand Soap: $0.46 per oz
Blueland Foaming Hand Soap: $0.28 per oz
Grove Collaborative Foaming Hand Soap: $0.23 per oz
Meyers Hand Soap: $0.31 per oz
Seventh Generation Hand Soap: $0.25 per oz
Softsoap Hand Soap: $0.13 per oz
What We Liked:
✔ Drastic reduction of plastic—though the refill milk carton containers are larger than tablet based refills
✔ The glass bottles are beautiful and shatterproof. Especially important for items that stay out in plain view (eg. dish soap)
✔ Packaging is all recyclable
✔ Light, clean scents. We especially loved the lemongrass dish soap!
✔ Non-toxic, kid-safe, pet-safe, cruelty-free, hypoallergenic, vegan, gluten-free, Leaping Bunny status
✔ The most committed to being carbon neutral with their sustainable shipping process and partnership with Carbonfund.org
What We Didn’t Like:
✗ The most expensive option out there
✗ Auto-subscription into the refills — no option to just purchase one time
✗ No additional options for scent. Not a huge deal for us, but others may want options!
✗ Glass bottles, while gorgeous, are HEAVY. Matters mostly for the All-Purpose cleaner
Our Recommendation:
Cleancult is a MIXED BUY for us. We do not think it is a buy for their entire product suite —- while it is a YES for the Dish Soap and Hand Soap given the beauty of the bottles and the quality of the soaps, it is a NO for the All Purpose Cleaner. The bottle is too heavy to tote around the house, and given how pricey the refills are, our recommendation is to go with the Blueland Multi-Purpose cleaner instead (lighter bottle, way less expensive refills).
We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!
