Debug

[0 - 10] - (coughing) Oh my God. Not even acting. I'm... (choking) Woo! (laughing) (upbeat music)

[11 - 13] - Chances are you've got a couple bottles

[13 - 15] of cleaning spray lying around at home.

[15 - 17] Multi-Purpose cleaning spray is designed

[17 - 19] to be super versatile,

[19 - 21] able to tackle any surface in your kitchen,

[21 - 23] - But some cleaners can be harmful

[23 - 24] to both humans and to the environment.

[24 - 27] Recently, our team tested a bunch of natural

[27 - 29] and even eco-friendly options,

[29 - 31] which might offer some more peace of mind.

[31 - 33] - How do the natural options stack up

[33 - 34] against more conventional versions?

[34 - 36] What does natural even mean?

[36 - 38] And what about the eco-friendly options?

[38 - 40] We spent months testing these products ourselves,

[40 - 43] and we sent them out for third party lab testing as well.

[43 - 45] We've got the answers for you.

[45 - 46] - First up, Hannah,

[46 - 49] with the natural, all-purpose cleaning sprays.

[49 - 52] (upbeat music continues)

[52 - 55] - To kick off our cleaning spray testing,

[55 - 57] we looked at a couple basic factors.

[57 - 59] First of all, we wanted them to work

[59 - 61] on a wide variety of surfaces.

[61 - 62] We wanted to make sure we weren't gonna mess up

[62 - 64] our gorgeous countertops.

[64 - 66] This is something called material compatibility.

[66 - 69] Next, we also wanted a bottle that was comfortable to hold.

[69 - 72] Some of these forced our fingers into awkward grips.

[72 - 74] Some were heavy, which stressed our hand

[74 - 75] after just a few squeezes,

[75 - 77] you wanted a bottle that's streamlined

[77 - 78] and comfortable to hold.

[78 - 82] Next, you want something that has a powerful, even spray

[82 - 84] that's not that hard to pull the trigger on.

[84 - 86] You wanna get quick, easy coverage.

[86 - 88] Another thing we looked at was smell,

[88 - 90] which of course is a little subjective.

[90 - 92] We like those that were powerful in their work,

[92 - 94] but not necessarily in their scent.

[94 - 96] We also considered whether or not

[96 - 98] the products left streaks behind.

[98 - 100] This is something that's common with multipurpose cleaners,

[100 - 103] so those that left pristine, shiny surfaces rated higher

[103 - 104] in our testing.

[104 - 106] Multipurpose cleaning sprays

[106 - 108] use chemicals from three main groups:

[108 - 112] surfactants, solvents, and buffering agents.

[112 - 116] Surfactants alter the surface tension of the grease or grime

[116 - 119] and altering that tension allows these solvents in.

[119 - 121] Solvents are usually water.

[121 - 124] The water can come in and break up and clean everything off.

[124 - 127] Buffering agents is the third group of chemicals.

[127 - 129] These essentially keep the mixture as it is.

[129 - 132] These formulas are very carefully designed

[132 - 135] to have the right pH so they can break down the mess

[135 - 136] without breaking down your countertop.

[136 - 140] Some sprays also contain ingredients called antimicrobials,

[140 - 142] which are designed to kill germs.

[142 - 143] Traditional, more conventional options

[143 - 146] like Lysol, 409, Clorox over here,

[146 - 149] use something called quaternary ammonium compounds

[149 - 150] or quats for short.

[150 - 152] These work well, but they're potentially harmful.

[152 - 155] They can cause irritation to your skin or lungs.

[155 - 156] They can actually make asthma worse.

[156 - 158] Now, this is where natural comes in.

[158 - 160] What does natural even mean?

[160 - 162] It's an unregulated term,

[162 - 164] so it can mean all different kinds of things.

[164 - 166] It often refers to something being

[166 - 169] plant-based versus petroleum based.

[169 - 172] It can also reference the type of antimicrobials used.

[172 - 174] So these ones use quats.

[174 - 176] The more natural products use citric acid

[176 - 178] in a high enough concentration

[178 - 180] that it promises to kill germs.

[180 - 181] Now, does it, and how does it compare

[181 - 183] to the more heavy-duty chemicals?

[183 - 185] We sent all of the cleaning sprays we tested

[185 - 186] to an independent lab

[186 - 189] to see how effective their formulas actually were.

[189 - 191] Here was the surprising thing.

[191 - 193] These more natural formulas using citric acid

[193 - 197] were just as effective as the harsher chemicals.

[197 - 199] And in cleaning, they worked even better,

[199 - 201] leaving fewer streaks behind.

[201 - 203] What's the difference between the two winners

[203 - 204] we have over here?

[204 - 205] Both are from Method.

[205 - 208] The Method antibacterial, this is what you wanna use

[208 - 210] if you are handling raw chicken.

[210 - 212] If you have a sick family member in the house

[212 - 214] and you wanna wipe down the doorknobs.

[214 - 216] This one is more of our all purpose everyday cleaner.

[216 - 220] It's super effective, but they still come in plastic

[220 - 221] and you can buy it in bulk.

[221 - 224] It's about two and a half bottles per refill,

[224 - 226] but that bottle is a big plastic bottle.

[226 - 228] They're not necessarily eco-friendly.

[228 - 229] And if you're like me,

[229 - 231] you've been seeing a ton of eco-friendly options

[231 - 232] enter the marketplace.

[232 - 234] So we had to know how do these stack up?

[234 - 236] Could we find a more eco-friendly option

[236 - 238] that cleans just as well?

[238 - 242] Here's Lisa with our results. (upbeat music)

[243 - 246] - If you wanna reduce single use plastic in your home,

[246 - 247] you might wanna consider

[247 - 250] some eco-friendly, multipurpose cleaning sprays.

[250 - 253] So when you buy conventional multipurpose cleaning sprays,

[253 - 256] a huge portion of that is water.

[256 - 259] So in addition to that single use plastic,

[259 - 261] there's also the carbon footprint

[261 - 263] of shipping all that water around.

[263 - 264] So a whole bunch of companies

[264 - 266] have tried to engineer solutions

[266 - 269] to this environmental problem of cleaning sprays.

[269 - 272] Our colleague Chase on our ATK Reviews team

[272 - 273] tested a whole bunch of them.

[273 - 275] Some of them were kind of cumbersome,

[275 - 277] others were subpar cleaners,

[277 - 279] and some had both of those problems.

[279 - 282] But we did find a few that we really liked.

[282 - 285] So we have two ATK recommended favorites.

[285 - 288] Simplehuman, and these are just simply tablets.

[288 - 290] This is what it looks like. This is the whole thing.

[290 - 292] You have to get your own spray bottle.

[292 - 295] We bought glass spray bottles to test.

[295 - 297] You get this little packet and it's resealable

[297 - 299] and you can just add the water,

[299 - 300] put the tablet in and you go.

[300 - 302] The other is Grove Company.

[302 - 305] And in this case, you get this little vial of concentrate

[305 - 307] and it comes in a little box of two.

[307 - 310] It comes with its own glass spray bottles.

[310 - 311] This is the multipurpose one.

[311 - 312] It also has a shower cleaner

[312 - 314] and a bathroom cleaner, and a few others.

[314 - 315] You just adjust it so you know.

[315 - 317] So if you have more than one of these

[317 - 318] and you've bought cleaners

[318 - 320] for different parts of your house,

[320 - 321] you know which one you're grabbing.

[321 - 325] Both of these were very easy to simply add water

[325 - 326] and start working,

[327 - 329] and they actually were very effective cleaners.

[329 - 331] So their environmental footprint?

[331 - 334] This is much smaller than a big bottle

[334 - 336] that you're lugging around from the store.

[336 - 337] This is also a little glass bottle,

[337 - 339] so that's fully recyclable.

[339 - 342] So the simplehuman uses a little tablet,

[342 - 344] and it took less time

[344 - 348] than other tablet-form, eco-friendly cleaners to dissolve

[348 - 350] and become a usable liquid

[350 - 351] that you could start cleaning with.

[351 - 353] But it still took 17 minutes.

[353 - 355] You have to plan 17 minutes ahead.

[355 - 357] Don't get distracted and decide not to clean.

[357 - 359] But once you mix up this bottle, it's good,

[359 - 361] and you can do it once and use it for the next month

[361 - 363] or whatever, however long it takes you to use.

[363 - 367] This cleaner produced really thick suds

[367 - 369] that really broke down fat and oil

[369 - 372] and it wiped away nice and clean.

[372 - 374] These tablets have a geranium scent,

[374 - 375] which is kind of floral.

[375 - 378] It was a little bit strong at first, but it didn't linger.

[378 - 379] It let us know we cleaned,

[379 - 381] but it didn't overstay its welcome.

[381 - 385] So we found in our testing that just 12 of these tablets

[385 - 386] creates the same amount of cleaner

[386 - 388] that you'd get in two large bottles

[388 - 390] of conventional cleaners like Lysol.

[390 - 393] And that saves water, fuel, and money.

[393 - 396] With Grove, they provide this glass bottle.

[396 - 397] You fill it most of the way with water.

[397 - 400] Pour in this little vial of concentrate,

[400 - 402] shake, shake, and you're ready to go.

[402 - 404] In our testing, it performed just as well

[404 - 408] as our ATK-recommended natural cleaning spray by Method.

[408 - 410] In one test, it left a few more streaks,

[410 - 412] but it was beautiful at cutting through grease

[412 - 414] and all kinds of cleaning messes

[414 - 417] that we were setting up for it in our testing.

[417 - 419] We really like it and it smells great

[419 - 420] and it's very easy to use.

[420 - 422] (air swooshes) So in our testing,

[422 - 424] we found a couple of things you really wanna avoid

[424 - 426] when you're looking at an eco-friendly cleaner.

[426 - 429] Number one, ineffective formulas.

[429 - 431] Some of these just plain didn't work.

[431 - 433] One of these products didn't even contain surfactants,

[433 - 436] which meant that it couldn't break down messes

[436 - 438] quickly and effectively.

[438 - 441] You also wanna look at how cumbersome it is to get it going.

[441 - 443] Some of these had tablets

[443 - 446] that took more than 25 minutes to dissolve

[446 - 447] and be ready to clean.

[447 - 449] And you just don't want that delay.

[449 - 450] When you're ready to clean,

[450 - 451] you gotta go with it at that moment.

[451 - 453] You also wanna look at the packaging.

[453 - 456] Some of these, they were trying to be eco-friendly,

[456 - 458] but the packaging was just too fragile.

[458 - 459] The worst of these was one

[459 - 463] that had its liquid concentrate in these wax pods,

[463 - 465] and these were so delicate

[465 - 467] they just would rupture and break and leak.

[467 - 469] It was a waste.

[469 - 471] Some of them had really unpleasant fragrances.

[471 - 473] Now I know that's kind of personal,

[473 - 476] but when all of us agree that it was just too much,

[476 - 478] it's, well, that's our opinion.

[478 - 479] We will say though,

[479 - 483] that none of these were as pungent and miserable

[483 - 484] as some of those chemically smells

[484 - 486] you get from the conventional cleaners.

[486 - 489] Finally, some of them have really short shelf lives.

[489 - 491] One of them, you had to make it

[491 - 492] and then use it within two weeks,

[492 - 495] and then it would just become water again.

[495 - 498] I sure don't want a cleaning spray that gives me a deadline.

[498 - 502] So you've seen our natural and eco-friendly favorites.

[502 - 504] They were just as good or almost as good

[504 - 506] as all those conventional sprays.

[506 - 508] Whether you use natural cleaning sprays

[508 - 509] or take it a step further

[510 - 512] and use eco-friendly cleaning sprays,

[512 - 515] you'll be doing your health and the environment a favor. (air swooshes)

[515 - 516] For more information

[516 - 518] about all the gear we talked about today,

[518 - 519] check out the links below

[519 - 521] or go to AmericasTestKitchen.com.

[521 - 523] - Do you have any great cleaning tips?

[523 - 524] What do you use to clean your house?

[524 - 525] Let us know in the comments.

[525 - 528] Make sure to like this video and hit that subscribe button

[528 - 532] so you never miss an episode. (upbeat music)