If you’re looking to cut back on your plastic waste, there’s one easy place you can start immediately - your cleaning products.
While cleaning chores are a necessary evil to keeping your home spick and span, the waste they produce doesn’t have to be.
Invest in the right refillable products, and you’ll soon save tonnes of waste from landfill, making the planet a much cleaner place too.
Only a short few years ago, you’d have real trouble finding refillables with only a handful of companies offering the eco-friendly alternative.
But as plastic waste takes the forefront of the news agenda and we all look for ways to turn the tide against the rubbish clogging up the planet, more and more companies are bringing refillable cleaning products to market, echoing the switch to refillables in other areas such as beauty, makeup and food.
From formulas that’ll get your windows and glass sparkling to designer multi-surface cleaners from leading fragrance brands, we’ve made it our mission to put together a roundup of the very best cleaning products that you can refill.
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Bower Sparkling Clean Home Bundle
Give your home cleaning kit a total overhaul with the help of Bower Collective, a specialist brand in this area. The bundle means you’ll save more than buying each product individually and there’s enough here to clean your home from top to bottom: hand wash, washing up liquid, toilet cleaner and an all-purpose spray fragranced with notes of fresh grapefruit.
All formulas, made from 100 per cent naturally derived ingredients, are packed into a refillable dispenser and this set includes keep-forever dispensers and spray bottles.
A portion from this purchase will go to the Marine Conservation Society to help protect endangered seagrass, so you’re helping the planet in more ways than just cutting down your plastic waste habit.
Buy now £56.99, Bower Collective
Spruce Starter Kit Duo
Start your journey with Spruce and you’ll never go back to standard cleaning products again. This starter kit is ideal for newbies, with two aluminium spray bottles included alongside sachets of non-toxic multipurpose and bathroom cleaner.
Just add water and you can get to work scrubbing away grime and dirt. Both will leave behind nothing but a gentle geranium or eucalyptus scent. Vegan and cruelty-free, sign up for a sachet subscription and say hello to a new dawn in clean cleaning.
Buy now £15.00, We Are Spruce
Smol starter pack
Home cleaning gets a lot greener thanks to Smol, a company that believes eco-cleaning shouldn’t leave you out of pocket.
The starter pack is a brilliant buy for anyone curious about giving it a go, containing (deep breath): 9 x bio laundry capsules, 9x non-bio laundry capsules, 9 x dishwash tablets, 1 x fabric conditioner, 3 x surface spray bottles, 1 x mixed surface spray refill pack - not bad for £25.
Smol also offers free trials on certain cleaning products; all it asks is that you pay a quid for postage.
Buy now £25.00, Smol
Wilton London Eco Multi Surface Cleaner Eucalyptus 725ml
With the uplifting and refreshing scent of eucalyptus, you may find yourself reaching for this refillable bottle of multi-surface cleaner even when your surfaces are gleaming. The fragrance is just a bonus though; cleaning is where this eco formula really shines.
Chemicals with names few can pronounce on the first try have been swapped out in favour of naturally derived counterparts and the essential oils included not only impart a wondrous scent but are full of germ-battling properties too. A resounding win in the fight against grime.
Buy now £3.50, Holland & Barrett
Eco Family Co. Eco Friendly Household Cleaning Tablets
The kitchen is probably the one room in the house when you need to bring the big cleaning guns. With stubborn grease, spills and stains, it takes a tough action formula to restore it back to new. This mixed tablet box from Eco Family Co. contains 10 formulas to see to every part of the home, kitchens included.
The concentrated tablets arrive in a flat, letterbox-friendly box and need just 500ml of water added to get them ready to do their thing. The non-toxic mixes are kind to the home as well as the planet, and past shoppers have raved about the clean scents: "after a week of using them, they are doing a great job at cleaning and the most important thing is that at the end you remain with a beautiful fragrance filling your home.
“I strongly recommend this product, not only because you will help the environment, but you will save some money as well, while keeping your house crystal clean and fresh."
Includes mixes for 3 x multi-purpose, 2 x bathroom cleaner, 2 x floor cleaner, 2 x kitchen cleaner, 1 x window cleaner and glass cleaner.
Buy now £12.99, Amazon
Method Antibacterial Spray Refill, All Purpose Cleaner, Peach Blossom, 2L
Already a fan of eco cleaning brand Method? Welcome to the club.
The company has amassed a loyal following for its vegan grime-fighting formulas with lovely scents packaged into reusable bottles made from 100 per cent post consumer recycled plastic. Funnel this formula into your existing spray bottle, or simply attach a spray trigger to the top and use straight from the refill - although admittedly this could be rather bulky to carry.
As well as the all-purpose cleaner, there are refills available across a host of categories, from hard floors to glass and more.
Buy now £4.32, Amazon
Ecover Washing Up Liquid - Lemon & Aloe 5Ltr
Ecover is one of the leading lights in the eco-cleaning game. Amongst its offerings are bulk 5L tanks of refills for everything from washing up liquid to floor cleaner and fabric softener, allowing you to top up your spray bottles and dispensers when you start to run dry.
This washing up liquid, fragranced with lemon and nourishing aloe vera will get your dishes and glassware squeaky clean. A little goes a long way, even on stubborn grease, so the 5L tank will last you a while.
Buy now £13.45, Holland & Barrett
Homethings Get It Started Bundle
Waving goodbye to household products that come in single use plastic bottles or contain harmful microplastics, Dragon’s Den success story, Homethings, has produced a cleaning range that’s vegan, plastic free, liquid free, recyclable and refillable.
The Get it Started bundle contains three refillable spray bottles for kitchen, glass and bathroom, plastic free laundry and floor pods and fully compostable sponges that work miracles in removing tough stains on pots and pans.
The small cleaning tabs are convenient to store if you’re short on space and are incredibly easy to use - add 500ml of water to one tablet and you’ll have a fresh smelling and effective spray for wiping down surfaces, sprucing up the bathroom or giving your mirrors a once over.
Buy now £45.00, Homethings
Diptyque La Droguerie multi-surface cleaner 500ml
Better known for its collection of cult fragrances, Diptyque’s move into home cleaning may be a surprise one, but it’s a welcome one too. The packaging on this spray bottle of multi-surface cleaner is as pretty as its perfumes, so you’ll have no trouble keeping it casually on display instead of stuffed into a utility cupboard. If a cleaning product shelfie isn’t yet a thing - it’s about to be.
Once the formula has run out get a refill pouch, £22, to keep it in action.
Buy now £32.00, Selfridges
