When it comes to cleaning, people are being exposed to chemicals linked to cancer and hormone disruption more than ever before. Is there a happy medium that combines safer cleaning products that are also effective in cleaning viruses and bacteria in your home? Yes. You’ve trusted Mamavation to bring you topics like best & worst cookware, best & worst organic mattresses, and best & worst air purifiers, now join us for the best cleaner that passes the EPA and Mamavation’s prerequisites for safe cleaners.
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.
Table of Contents
What Does the EPA Recommend for Cleaning Products During Lock Down?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) starts off by saying they have not tested these products specifically against SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19. But this is what they say they are looking for in a cleaner:
- Demonstrate efficacy (e.g. effectiveness) against a harder-to-kill virus; or
- Demonstrate efficacy against another type of human coronavirus similar to SARS-CoV-2.
All surface disinfectants on List N can be used to kill viruses on surfaces such as counters and doorknobs.
But What Are These Cleaning Products Doing to Us and The Environment?
According to the latest science, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) coming from inside your home are worse for the environment than car fumes.
The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitting from common cleaning products in your home evaporate into the air.
Then they either attach themselves to dust particles or they escape outside and find their way into the outdoor air.
Outside they interact with sunlight and other substances and undergo chemical reactions that contribute to poor air quality.
Compared to the amount of pollution coming from automobiles, common household products are worse for the environment.
New research cites “pesticides, coatings, printing inks, adhesives, cleaning agents, and personal care products” as key sources of VOCs inside the home.
Cutting down on toxic cleaning products will help clean up the air inside your home and cut down on your own personal pollution. There are safe cleaners during the coronavirus for your home.
GOT KIDS? Stop Right There! When It Comes To Children & Chemicals, Small Amounts Matter
It’s important to understand that some of these chemicals can disrupt hormones in trace amounts.
The trace amounts are so small, they are similar to a drop in an Olympic sized pool.
And for pregnant women, some smaller doses can be more dangerous than larger ones to the baby.
Which begs the question, if these chemicals are so dangerous to the hormones of humans, why aren’t they banned?
And if that’s the case, perhaps some of these chemicals should be banned.
Children, in general, are more vulnerable to the effects of toxic chemicals in cleaning products.
Their organs and immune systems are not yet fully developed, and they breathe more often and more deeply than adults, and consume more food & water per pound of bodyweight than adults.
They also crawl on the floor transferring what is on the ground, like residue from cleaning products, on to their hands, and then into their mouth.
Your Indoor Air is Typically Between 2-5x More Polluted Than the Outside Air. Swapping to Natural & Non-Toxic Cleaning Products Will Help Alleviate This Inside Your Home.
Before the world became infected, 90% of your time was likely spent indoors. Today, that’s likely closer to 100%.
So even though you can’t control the air you breathe outside, you CAN control the type of air you breathe indoors.
It’s estimated that indoor air quality can be anywhere from 2-5x more polluted than outside, so focusing on indoor air is in your best interest.
Cleaning up VOCs inside your home is as simple as switching to safer cleaning products, avoiding anything with synthetic fragrance, opening a window, getting some NASA approved plants, cleaning up dust, and getting a powerful air purifier.
These Ingredients Should Be Avoided As Much as Possible Inside All-Purpose Cleaners & Disinfectants
Here is a simple list of chemicals to avoid when purchasing all-purpose cleaning products. They range in toxicity from very toxic to just an irritant.
- Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone
- SLS/SLES: Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
- Styrene
- Undisclosed Fragrance/Perfume
- Benzophenone
- PEGs/Polysorbates
- Ethylene Glycol
- Ethoxylated Compounds
- Sodium Dodecylbenzenesulfonate
- Methyl Alcohol
- Ethanolamine
- Butylphenyl Methylpropional
- Benzyl Salicylate
- Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chlorides
- Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate
- Octylisothiazolinone
- Artificial Dyes
- Dimethicone
- Phenoxyethanol
- Propanediol
- Coumarin
Products On Both EPA & Mamavation Best Lists!!
Best Disinfectant Cleaners
Mamavation went through the official EPA list of coronavirus-friendly products and these brands passed both our specifications and theirs for safe cleaners using Electrolyzed Oxygenated Water & Hypochlorous Acid.
- Back to Basics Cleaner Than Clean (Use discount code “MAMAVATION” for 5% off product)
- Clean Republic (referred to as “Excelyte Vet” on the EPA database)
- Force of Nature (get 40% off plus free shipping on bundles–use the discount code “MAMAVATION” at checkout. If you want a starter kit use “MAMAVATION30” for 30% off a starter kit. )
More on Force of Nature
Force of Nature is not a cleaning solution you can purchase. It’s a cleaning system that enables you to make your own formulation on your kitchen counter.
It combines three simple ingredients and then electrocutes those ingredients within the machine to create a safe and effective cleaning solution that is just as powerful as bleach without all the toxicity that comes with it.
Those ingredients are water, salt, and vinegar. That’s it. Watch the video below to see how the machine transforms simple ingredients from your kitchen into a powerful cleaning solution that is safe for the entire family.
Click here to discover more about Force of Nature and get 40% off plus free shipping on bundles–use the discount code “MAMAVATION” at checkout. If you want a starter kit use “MAMAVATION30” for 30% off a starter kit. )
Additional Cleaner that Made Our “Better” List Also Making EPAs List
This brand made our better list and also make EPA list for safe cleaners during the coronavirus.
- Seventh Generation All-Purpose Cleaner, Free & Clear: Contains Methylisothiazolinone
- Seventh Generation Disinfecting Wipes: Contains Methylisothiazolinone
Unfortunately, this brand has been completely sold out for some time but be on the lookout when you see it.
The 10 Minute Rule
Both of these brands take 10 full minutes to kill viruses on contact so please make sure to leave the solution there for 10 minutes before wiping surfaces down.
Some more toxic brands will take between 3-5 minutes to work, and some also take 10 minutes. Like Clorox Disinfecting Wipes need 4 minutes, Clorox Disinfecting Spray needs 10 minutes, and Clorox Performance Bleach needs 10 minutes to0.
About the Author
Leah Segedie is a consumer watchdog, author, entrepreneur, environmental activist, and mother of three boys.
She wrote Green Enough: Eat Better, Live Cleaner, & Be Happier (All Without Driving Your Family Crazy!) in 2018. She’s consistently been featured in the media for the past 15 years in media outlets like ABC, CBS, CNN, Yahoo, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, Ladies Home Journal, Shape Magazine, Fitness Magazine to name a few.
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Best & Worst Non-Toxic Infrared Saunas, Portable Infrared Saunas, & Infrared Blankets 2021
As we navigate through our daily lives, cleanliness and hygiene have become more important than ever. With the ongoing pandemic, people are more aware of the need to maintain a clean environment to prevent the spread of germs and viruses. However, not all cleaning products are created equal. Many disinfectant cleaners in the market contain harmful chemicals that can be hazardous to our health and the environment. That’s why it is essential to use non-toxic disinfectant cleaners that are both effective and safe. In this blog post, we will discuss the safest non-toxic disinfectant cleaners recommended by both the EPA and Mamavation.
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Seventh Generation is not on the EPA list…
Thank you for talking about how AMAZING hypochlorous acid is!!
It truly is a miracle molecule. I first heard about it from my dentist who uses it to cleanse the mouth before and after doing fillings.
It’s 100 times more powerful than bleach and it doesn’t require the use of PPE nor does it need to be rinsed off and it’s not only safe to use on skin it’s actually used for treating wounds.
People should really check it out. I use it on my veggies, my counters, as a hand sanitizer, as a mouth rinse, to kill fungus and mold in the shower, to deoderize carpets, to sanitize water bottles, etc.
AND there are no other ingredients besides salt and water. That’s a huge deal because you’re avoiding all sorts of chemicals and GMOs.
My dentist uses Briotech, and in my research that’s the only company that has made HOCl in a stable form at the right pH of 4.1—which ensures that is was made with salt and water, not with bleach.
What I don’t love about Force of Nature is that it doesn’t last that long and they add vinegar, which is either from GMO corn or petroleum-based (yes vinegar can be made from synthetic ethanol or from methanol, which is always synthetic).
Yes, it is actually. Seventh Generation’s thymol-based disinfectants and their hydrogen peroxide-based disinfectants are both on EPA’s N-list.
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When I say “I cleaned my room” I usually mean, I made a path
Have you thought about updating this list, now that the availability of many products is more assured across the country, and perhaps new products have come on the scene in the last year?
I always have about 8 brown bottles of 99-cent Walmart type of hydrogen peroxide on hand, and I mainly use that as a disinfectant spray, depending on the surface.
Hydrogen peroxide has been readily available in supermarkets, drugstores, and online stores for quite a while now, so you might want to edit the part of this article which states that it’s unavailable in most places and extremely expensive on Amazon.
Fortunately, these days you can get a 4-pack of brown bottles of hydrogen peroxide from Walmart online for about $3.96, and it’s about the same for the Target version at Target online.
Here are the best cleaning products that will leave your home sparkling!
Help protect against coronavirus by cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched.
Thank you for this, your blog is one of the few sites that actually provided a thorough list of chemicals that we should avoid, especially if we have little ones at home. I’m pretty amazed that it really boils down to simple and few ingredients, and you can have a natural and effective cleaner to use.
All surface disinfectants on List N can be used to kill viruses on surfaces such as counters and doorknobs.
I use Melaleuca brand cleaners and their disinfectant is EPA certified!!!
Yes, but it’s not in our safe list. There aren’t many of their products we have in our safe list. Sorry!
curious as to what is in Melaleuca cleaners that makes them unsafe cause the pride their products as “safe”
I don’t believe they’re as safe as the company claims.
I’ve looked at the ingredients too…
Not nearly as “clean “ or safe as they say.
Jennifer, “priding your product as safe” means nothing. My standards of *safe* and the EPA’s standards (or your standards, even) are worlds apart. Be careful of wording and look for facts and specifics.
Well you have seventh generation on here, and their green washing has been documented for quite some time. The moment I saw them on your list, I realized this article was a biased piece of shit.
I’m curious about your thoughts on cleansmart. I’ve been using that and it’s the same concept as force of nature. Thank you so much!
Melaleuca is on your list. List N: Products with Emerging Viral Pathogens AND Human Coronavirus claims for use against SARS-CoV-2
66251-2 SBT 2 to 1 Concentrate
Active Ingredient(s) Citric acid; Thymol
Company Melaleuca Inc
Follow the disinfection directions and preparation for the following virus Rhinovirus, Poliovirus
Contact Time (in minutes) 10
Formulation Type Dilutable
Surface Type Hard Nonporous (HN)
Use Site Residential
Emerging Viral Pathogen Claim? Yes
What, exactly, does “EPA Certified” mean? That doesn’t mean much as it’s stated.
Do you need to wipe down or air dry the force of nature solution?
Me too, I Love Eco Sense cleaners by Melaleuca. Started using them in 2007 because my daughter has bad allergies to chemicals.
peroxide is supposed to be better at killing germs than bleach!
What about hydrogen peroxide?1
Yes, you can get two gallons of hydrogen peroxide on Amazon right now for about $80 or so if you want to go that route. We’ve looked into this and things are so expensive or sold out completely…it’s not any cheaper to go that route UNLESS you already had lots of this at home already. If you did, yeah you! But here’s a link to some hydrogen peroxide, https://amzn.to/35A2LiR
Did you look at Thieves cleaners by young living
I curious too! I love thieves cleaner!
Seventh Generation is not on the EPA list
You can go check the link above. It’s there. There’s about 5 products or so in there. It would take you about 3 minutes to check.
Seventh Generation is NOT on the list. I just checked.
List N was last updated on May 7, 2020.
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Feel free to check for yourself, but Young Living did not make the list, https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2.
It’s not on the EPA list I’m sorry!