My cleancult Review
A Marriage of Green Ingredients and Design
Pros:
- Beautiful, minimal design that looks good on your countertops
- Less is needed for the same amount of clean
- Low carbon footprint
Cons:
- Higher cost to get started if starting with glass suite
- Only one scent option for each product
Verdict:
cleancult is a green cleaning company that uses coconut-derived and non-toxic ingredients to make products for every aspect of your home. They strike me as being really passionate about reducing plastic waste since they’ve opted for a sustainable glass and silicone design, with zero-waste refill packaging that comes in paper milk cartons. What I think sets them apart, though, is how beautiful their bottles are which I am happy to keep in view, unlike other cleaning supplies.
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Heads up: The CDC recommends cleaning and then disinfecting surfaces to help stop the spread of disease.
I have a strange affinity for cleaning products, as you may have noticed. I’ve tried a myriad of natural products from brands like Grove Collaborative, Brandless, Blueland, and ThreeMain. cleancult kept popping up via Instagram and several of my pals from the MSA team brought it to my attention, so I thought I’d give them a whirl. After all, any cult that is all about cleaning is one I can get down with.
If you’re curious about cleancult, keep reading for my in-depth review. And if you’re into finding more home-centric subscriptions, take a peek at our list of the best subscription boxes for your home!
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
Quick Facts
Cost
The overall cost of cleancult is variable and depends on how you filled out your survey and/or which products you choose to start with. If you choose to purchase the “glass suite” products, they’ll come filled with the product but it’s a slightly higher cost to get started ($13.45-$16.45 with mandatory subscription). You can also purchase their home starter bundle kit (which includes everything but the tablet items) for 20% off which takes it from $56.30 down to $45.04. That’s a nice deal since the total value is $64.40 if you purchased each item separately. On the other hand, you’re free to simply order their refills that come in paper milk cartons for the liquids and paper mailers for tablets. The refills are cheaper ($6.95-$8.45), but you’ll have to provide the vessels to hold the various products. cleancult offers free shipping on four or more evergreen glass products as well as on three or more of a refill cartons shipment. At the moment, you must subscribe to purchase their products but can change or cancel auto-shipments at any time from your account.
Products:
- Evergreen Glass Suite (Now with new colors)
- All Purpose Cleaner, 16 oz.
- Liquid Dish Soap, 16 oz.
- Liquid Hand Soap, 16 oz.
- Dishwasher Tablets, 18 ct.
- Laundry Tablets, 18 ct.
- Refills
- All Purpose Cleaner, 16 oz.
- Liquid Dish Soap, 16 oz.
- Liquid Hand Soap, 16 oz.
- Dishwasher Tablets, 18 ct.
- Laundry Tablets, 18 ct.
- Wool Dryer Balls, 3 ct.
- Natural Bar Soap
- Silicone Funnel
Perks:
-
- Made with green ingredients
- Utilizes a sustainable shipping system
- Leaping Bunny certified
- Biodegradable zero-waste packaging
- Auto shipments for refills
Here are the ingredients for the products featured in this review:
All Purpose Cleaner: Saponified Coconut Oil, Saponified Olive Oil, Potassium Soap, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Gluconate, Zemea Propanediol, Limonene, Citric Acid, Essential Oil Blend
Liquid Dish Soap: Saponified Coconut Oil, Saponified Olive Oil, Potassium Soap, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Gluconate, Aloe Juice, Limonene, Citric Acid, Zemea Propanediol, and Essential Oil Blend.
Liquid Hand Soap: Saponified Coconut Oil, Saponified Olive Oil, Potassium Soap, Sodium Chloride, Aloe Juice, Citric Acid, Vitamin E, and Essential Oil Blend.
Dishwasher Tablets: Sodium Citrate Dehydrate, Sodium Chloride (table salt), Sodium Percarbonate, Sodium Carbonate (Soda Ash), Sodium Silicate, Cellulose, Surfactants, Lauryl Glucoside, Granulation Excipient, Sodium Silicate, Glycerin, Subtilisin, Distilled Water, Alpha-Amylase, Polycarboxylates, Plant Extract, and Water Soluble Film.
Laundry Tablets: Sodium Citrate Dehydrate, Sodium Chloride Table Salt, Sodium Percarbonate, Sodium Carbonate (Soda Ash), Cellulose Gum, Surfactants, TAED (a non-toxic, biodegradable, mineral-based compound), SAS (derived from coconut oil), Lauryl Glucoside, Lignin, Granulation Excipient, Polyethylene Glycol, Sodium Silicate, Glycerin, Subtilisin, Distilled Water, Alpha-Amylase, Lipase, Polycarboxylates, and Water Soluble Film.
Natural Bar Soap: Saponified Coconut Oil, Water, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Gluconate, and Lemongrass Oil.
Dryer Balls: 100% Natural New Zealand Wool (ethically-sourced).
*Learn more about their ingredients here.
Signing Up & Choosing Your Products
I started using Earth Breeze laundry strips and I really like them. We have softened/treated water and I only use white vinegar as a rinse and laundry balls, so there’s not a lot of build up in my clothes fibers to begin with. They come in a light packet and are comparable price wise to other products.
I have not yet purchased anything but I am very interested I finding green,plastic free shampoos conditioner lotion and face creams. Do you have any plans to expand your product list?
I thought I ordered just a box of products from CleanCult, then 2 months later got a notification of another payment… when I went to check, it said I was on a 2-month subscription plan. I don’t remember seeing this mentioned during ordering, and the order email doesn’t mention it either.
When I go to try to cancel the subscription, there’s no link to cancel, and the item quantity section won’t go below 1. There’s just a shipment “pause” feature… well that’s fine if I need to delay a shipment because I’m away from home or moving or something, but I want to cancel the subscription.
When I go to their FAQ, the cancel question says to “change the timing or details of your Cleaning Plan shipments on your Profile page to make sure that your next order is just the way you like it”… but cancelling a subscription butts heads with a “next order”, doesn’t it?
I can’t tell if they’re being deceptive or the site words things poorly. I’ve worked for companies that were shady with cancellations or made it difficult or impossible, and they didn’t last long. If CleanCult isn’t confident in their products’ quality, then they should close up and make something else, because they sure don’t seem confident in returning customers without forcing them into an unclear subscription with unclear cancellation procedures.
This has definitely left a bad taste in my mouth, though I haven’t tried the initial products yet (because I haven’t run out of my previous soap yet). The owners now look bad to me, and their commercials show in my YouTube stream.
Dave,
If you log in to cleancult then go to your profile. click on your next shipment date then pause, this pauses your membership, not just next shipment. You can also send an email to support asking them to cancel.
Brandless is no longer in business, just thought I’d let you know!
FYI – you do not need to sign up for recurring shipments, unless of course you want to. (Yay!!)
I just ordered 4 items (laundry tabs, dishwasher tabs, all purpose cleaner, and a bar of soap). In my shopping cart for each item I could “x” out the recurring shipments option, thus just making a one-time purchase. Using the code MSACLEAN15 gave me 15% off and the bar of soap for free. Thanks MSA! (After ordering, I went back into my accounts to see my list of recurring shipments, and nothing was listed. Success!)
Hey Marne, now that you’ve had the cleaners a few months, how are the pumps and sprayers holding up? I often find that by the time a plastic bottle is empty, the sprayer is starting to act up or the pump is all gummed up with soap residue. Now of course I can soak the soap pump in hot water and get rid of the residue, but I’m just curious for an update. Have the pumps and sprayers held up?
Love the LOOK of the products, definitely sleek enough to live on the counter! Appreciate any insight you can give after using these products for 4 months.
Hey Chelsea- great question. They’re both holding up just fine! I must admit that I haven’t been using the sprayers as much since I have other products to use as well (Grove Collaborative, ThreeMain, etc) but both of the soap/dish pumps from cleancult have been great in the kitchen and the bathroom. I’ve been using their laundry detergent tablets exclusively since writing this as well and I’m very pleased with them! I have mainly been using the cleancult multi-cleaner for my hardwood furniture since it has coconut oil in it and that’s been working great.
Though I love the idea, especially the “milk carton” refills (that is the reason I tried the product in the first place), the dish soap itself has not impressed us. The smell is great! However, I am surprised you say in your review that it takes less product to clean. We just don’t get the “suds” that we want or the grease cutting power that we expect. Though I was willing to live with it because of the plastic free refills, my husband really dislikes the soap.
We love the hand soap refills. This is the only product I am continuing with.
For the laundry I have decided that just buying powder soaps instead of liquid at the store (such as Seventh Generation) is more economical. Just wish they didn’t include a new plastic scoop in every box.
the refills are not plastic free, the cartons are lined with plastic
I wish to stop my automatic refill of all products please.
Hi Deborah, you can change or cancel your automatic refills at any time through your profile. If you have any issues, we recommend calling Cleancult directly at 833-437-3363. I hope this helps!
Thank you for your review. It was very helpful in helping me determine the efficacy of their products. Totally sold me.
This seems really cool. I currently use grove so I have all the glass sprayers and such I just wish they also did the concentrated refills those have saved me so much space since you just dilute the tiny tube with 16 oz of water.
I was about to write the same thing. I recently switched to refill tablets for my foaming hand soap and the refills are about the size of a Crystal Light single serving packet that I add to 12oz. Of water. I am looking for a great sustainable, reduced water dishwasher detergent. If anyone has a recommendation, I would appreciate the info.
Where are your concentrated hand soap refills from? Would like to try.
Have your Grove sprayers held up? Mine has not and I don’t know if I should ask for a replacement if it will break just as fast (a few weeks).
I use SoluSoap for the hand soap and it is working really well. Not sure if the URL will post, but their website is https://reordersupply.com/collections/packets
I haven’t had any clogging issues from my Grove Collaborative bottles, but I am a slob who rarely cleans. I have had a few of their bottles for about 2 years without an issue.
It looks like my comment with the URL didn’t go through, so I will try again. The foaming hand soap refills I use are called SoluSoap. I am very pleased with how they work and I was able to use a foaming soap bottle that I already had (from Method) for the refills.
I have several of the Spray bottles from Grove Collaborative and while I am a slob who rarely cleans, I haven’t had any trouble with the bottles and I have had the bottles for 2-3 years. If yours isn’t working correctly, I would suggest that you contact the company. I have found that their customer service is great.
I’m intrigued by SoluSoap as I have a few foaming dispensers (I found some decorative ones at Ross/TJ Maxx). What does it smell like? I dislike flowery or powder scents.
Regarding SoluSoap: SoluSoap is clear and 100% unscented. One can add fragrance oil if it is desired. Web site for SoluSoap is http://www.SoluSoap.com. Free shipping on all products and foaming hand soap refills are $.89 when ordered in set of 20 packets. I have been using it and love it!
Wow, what a detailed and informative review. Thank you. I think I’d like something like this, thanks for brining it to my attention. I don’t use my dishwasher often but I do like to keep some tabs on hand for once in a while so I like that they include both the tabs and soap. I also love lemongrass scent so that is perfect too!
My pleasure. Glad you found it helpful, Anna!
Thank you for reviewing this, Marne. I’ve been looking for more environmentally friendly products that I could have delivered. With the chaos of grad school (and a teaching/research assistantship) I often end up forgetting to buy cleaning stuff until I’m out! This may be worth a go!!
That’s a great point, Carolyn! I don’t think of myself as all that busy, but having auto-refills can certainly help with busy people/households.
Awesome that you’re doing so much to accomplish your goals! Kudos!!