The Best Green Household Cleaners & Personal Care Products

Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and this one from 2012, we have been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we are using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. And I consistently get a bunch of questions about my skin routine. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners fairly plain and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you are looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this swift little post will give you some ideas. And if you wanna know what I put on my face, that is in here too. Ok, let us go.

Household Cleaners

Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our whole house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here is our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.

We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can simply water it down, which I typically do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our go-to is the lemon verbena scent. Trust me on that. It is heavenly.

The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a truly strong all-purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors, and it also works to clean stainless steel appliances if you buff it on “with the grain” of the steel). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I am good to go. I cannot tell you how pleasant it is not to have the whole cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so low-cost and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I am not consistently running to the store to get more.

Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they are strong for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also enjoy these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.

Laundry Stuff

Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it does not take up much space on the shelf). We have not used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and do not miss it.

Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that does not come out with simply some pretreating with detergent we will reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean spray (a stronger pretreatment than simply the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is pleasant to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (simply in case there is a spot you notice when you are headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse is not a bad idea either.

Freshening The Air

A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there is no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a truly pleasant non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my go-tos (I take the cap and label off so it simply looks clean and plain on a counter or shelf). It smells Simply LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I did not in fact scrub anything down – ha!).

Plants are in this mix too, because they are excellent for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look fairly too, so I am down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is in short a greener version of Febreze (I enjoy the mint smell best) so that is pleasant if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa simply smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you are golden.

And that little gray charcoal bag is something I have mentioned on the podcast, but we enjoy them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal in short absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they are “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be excellent for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.

Shower Stuff

Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we have tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and have not found any we enjoy) and this is our current go-to shampoo and conditioner (by finding stuff that we both do not mind using it saves shower clutter from having a ton of bottles), and I also use this Remarkable curl cream, which I apply when my hair is wet right out of the shower (long story short, I realized my hair is in fact curly and not simply frizzy like I thought – this stuff is strong for thick hair whether it is straight or curly – it tames the frizz and leaves my hair soft & less insane looking). As for the bod, John & I use this giant body wash (lasts for months and months) and we use conditioner as shave gel. #rebel

I also enjoy this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub that gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. I use it 1-2 times a week in the shower on my face, simply to gently slough off dead skin. Occasionally I will also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly with shampoo after you apply it, or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it is strong for softening & detangling).

So We Do not Smell

We are not truly perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we do not smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that in fact works (we have tried a ton, and right now enjoy this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our go-tos was simply to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.

When it comes to the ol’ breath we enjoy these Sonicare toothbrushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine whitening toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we do not use mouthwash and it is all good. Dentist approved even!

The Kids’ Stuff

Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids’ stuff. And for us, we have simply tried to keep things plain from the start. Their bathroom counter in short has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the lively-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).

In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (enjoy one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We have been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I am knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!

Update: It happened. Lice invaded our household and it was the worst (more on that here)… and the lice lady said it likely would not have happened if we hadn’t slacked off on the peppermint spray. So yeah… we are now the most vigilant hair sprayers that have ever lived!

My Makeup

So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and Enjoyed THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I typically have nothing but lip balm and perhaps some salad in my teeth). The Physicians Formula bronzer is excellent. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this concealer under my eyes if I need it – but I am fairly lazy about that.

Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm powder, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them simply a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I am legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara. Note: this mascara blows every other mascara I have ever tried out of the water (and I stop strangers on the street to tell them about it). Truly. It is a miracle and people ask if I am wearing fake lashes or using some sort of growth serum and all it is is this low-cost grocery store mascara! CAN YOU TELL I’MCRAZY ABOUT IT?!

Last step is consistently some of this Boy Brow stuff, which is somehow both extremely natural looking yet it makes a large difference. It is my go-to beauty find of the year for sure, and many many days a year I simply wear this with lip balm and perhaps a dash of mascara and I feel so much more polished than I did without it. I cannot explain it, you simply have to try it (I get the brown color).

Oh and as for what lip balm – consistently Burt’s Bees! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where journal readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my go-to tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.

I am NOT a makeup pro (I am fairly much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it is so fast and straightforward, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I do not know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and perhaps I will work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.

Nail Polish

This is likely the one area where I could be more minimal (I am sure a bunch of folks out there do not have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I am low-cost) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute go-to brand is Butter London. It is eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it is also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some fairly colors too).

The colors shown above are:

• Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer
• Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise

Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine

Here is where I am gonna get weird for a second. I do not buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. That is right, I DO NOT USE FACE WASH. And I am not a doctor or a dermatologist so this is simply what works for me (my derm knows what I do and her response was “your skin looks glad” so I will take it – ha!).

Here is what I do: I buy these three totally natural products that in short do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It is the best/purest/most concentrated!), Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (do not use low-cost/unpure coconut oil either or it can clog pores and generally be bad for your skin – make sure it is pure/organic and from a good brand you trust like Dr Bronner’s), and Thayers Cucumber Witch Hazel Facial Mist Toner. (I lately brought in this third thing and it is so good along with the other two in the photo below – I simply mist it over my face after the other two). I use coconut oil so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I took out the label to make the jar prettier.

I already mentioned coconut oil as being an excellent deep conditioner and it is also truly remarkable for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub a small amount on my face before bed (warning: if you rub too much on in the morning you can look a little shiny – and too much can make your hairline grease too – the key is a light dab here and there). I put it on perhaps 30 minutes before bed and I simply apply a small amount. It does not stain my pillowcase and it soaks in like any moisturizer would. I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it (since coconut oil is naturally antibacterial, I have a theory that it cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I have had as an adult when using other products on my face).

Also, a word on wrinkles: when we share photos like this picture or the one below, people ask if I do not age…

I certainly do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it is less dry and therefore my crinkly eyes and forehead do not show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti agingsecret. I am in short that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex, except I walk around wielding a big jug of coconut oil.

So as I mentioned above, at night it is simply a light coating of Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I swear by that brand because it is so organic/pure) that I rub into my face simply like you’d apply any moisturizer. That is it. No other products. It even takes off makeup if you rub it on like a cold cream and then wipe it off with a warm damp washcloth after applying it (the warm wet wash cloth does most of the work, so do not overdo the coconut oil – simply a dab). All the grime and makeup comes off. Even Gisele (the ridiculously vivid model) uses coconut oil to take off her makeup. It is GOOD. And it is plain and so low-cost. After wiping with the washcloth to take your makeup off, simply dab a bit more coconut oil on if you feel dry after that, but not too much. When I do not wear makeup I skip the washcloth wipe-down and simply rub it on like night cream.

Then in the morning as a toner/skin cleanser I wipe my face down with a light swipe of watered down Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (remember it has to be Bragg’s with “the mother” in it). Water it down about halfway – so it is 50% water and 50% ACV (I premix about 2 weeks worth and store mine in a small lidded tupperware container that you’d use to transport salad dressing). I simply dip a cotton ball in that little tupperware jar every morning and wipe it all over my face as I am pouring my tea.

I in fact keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time (you do not need to refrigerate it). You are going for a light coat, which should not have any smell when it dries. If it does, water it down more and use way less. Do not douse your face like a salad. A little goes a long way, and it seems to also assist with avoiding breakouts, reducing blackheads a ton, and simply generally clarifying my skin.

Once my face dries (perhaps 10 minutes later) I mist some Thayers Cucumber Witch Hazel Facial Mist Toner all over my face. It smells heavenly, and has certainly helped with adult acne (I lately traveled without it and got a zit the day I did not have it! Got back home and put it back on my face and my zit disappeared!). It has over 4,000+ five star reviews (it is a cult go-to on Amazon, which is why I tried it) and it is under $9 for a big 12 oz bottle. Cannot say sufficient good things about this stuff.

Wait but back to the apple cider vinegar for a second. A cotton ball soaked in not-watered-down ACV that is held on a skin tag for a few minutes for a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY. It is nuts. I know that is gross, but it is also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)

You can also apply a quite light coat of coconut oil in the morning on top of the apple cider vinegar (smells so good and feels more moisturized if you are feeling dry). Lately I have been using this jade roller to assist it absorb, because we know I enjoy all the woo-woo things and it feels so good and cool on my skin in the morning – and apparently it has a ton of benefits. You can even see my eye bags disappear when I am using it in this series of IG stories.

I also have been microneedling once a week in the evening with this and enjoy it so far. It is supposed to make your skin firmer, even out skin tone, assist with fine lines and imperfections, and generally made compact compact damage to your skin which then regenerates stronger and better if that makes sense (most essential thing to me = it does not hurt – feels kind of like scrubbing my face with exfoliating beads). Make sure to clean it well after each use (I spray mine with alcohol in a compact spray bottle and let it air dry). I keep meaning to research some sort of serum to use afterwards (this one and this one look good), but as of now… I am simply using coconut oil. Who is surprised? Anyone? Bueller?

Oh and I do this face mask once a week (typically about 3 days after microneedling). You can mix it with apple cider vinegar or water AND YOU KNOW WHAT I USE! Ha! Makes my skin so soft and helps with acne. It is crazy well rated too (over 16,000 five star reviews!!!).

Still have questions? Wanna see my face in action after I microneedle or watch me jade roll away my bags? Simply watch this series of IG stories for plenty of extra info.

And if you are looking for other general go-tos of mine (like fav shoes, slippers, clothes, household stuff, etc – this page has you covered).

More House Cleaning Advice

If you are interested in more ways to keep your home clean, check out these posts below:

• How To Clean A Stainless Steel Sink
• 2-Ingredient Homemade Window Cleaner
• Are Robot Vacuums Worth It?
• How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies
• A Beginner’s Guide to Pressure Washing
• The Best Home Air Purifier

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