Did you know that many of the cleaning products you buy are mainly formulated with water? It’s true: although they may have enough of an active ingredient to power-wash your house or get pasta sauce off dishes, what you’re paying for is mostly water. When you buy cleaning products, you’re often paying for that water to get shipped from a production facility to a store, or if you’re ordering online, your home.
When I first learned about this issue on "Shark Tank," I was shocked. But it did lead me to me learn more about Blueland, a cleaning product company that aims to solve the problem.
How does Blueland work?
It's surprisingly simple. I purchased a Clean Essentials Kit that contained four reusable bottles, each with a different purpose. There’s a multi-surface cleaner, glass and mirror cleaner, bathroom cleaner and hand soap. You simply put one of the cleaning tablets into each of these bottles and fill it with water. Instantly, the tablet dissolves and you have bottles filled with super-effective household cleaners.
Blueland The Clean Essentials Kit
Blueland also has products for doing laundry, dishes and almost any kind of household task you can think of. The packaging is slick — clear bottles (the cleaning bottles are made of acrylic while the hand soap bottle is made of glass) with a tint of color to them so you can tell them apart.
What are the benefits of using Blueland?
I was impressed by the performance of Blueland products. A couple of spritzes of the bathroom cleaner obliterated some pesky mold in the same way a traditional cleaner would. The glass cleaner never leaves any streaks and the multi-surface cleaner truly lives up to its name by working everywhere. Better yet, the hand soap left my skin feeling fresh but not too dry. The cleaners also smell great, with scents like iris agave, fresh lemon and eucalyptus mint.
The coolest thing by far is that the refill tablets for each of the products cost just $2 and get shipped right to my home. As someone who cares about what ingredients go into just about everything I buy, I was happy to see from the brand that they’re made without any triclosan, parabens, phosphates, ammonia, chlorine bleach or phthalates.
What are the drawbacks?
Even though Blueland certainly saves you money in the long run, I can imagine that people may not want to pay $39 for a bundle of cleaning products when they can buy products for much less at their local pharmacy or big box store. There's also the issue of keeping track of just how many tablets you have before ordering more, but that's a small trade-off for such an otherwise convenient system.
Overall, I've found it to be a smart investment in my health and the planet. My wallet also eventually thanked me for those $2 refills. Plus, I definitely feel good knowing that I'm not paying for water or plastic bottles — just those active ingredients that keep my home clean and fresh.
More Blueland products to shop
Blueland Dishwasher Starter Set
This dishwashing starter set comes with plastic-free tablets that are free of polyvinyl alcohol so you can consciously wash your dishes. The set includes a forever tin and 40 tablets which can clean dishware, glassware, silver and porcelain, the brand says. Once you run out of tablets you can find refills on their website, which come in compostable paper pouches.
Blueland Cleaning Companions Pack
Included in this clean pack are three plastic-free, compostable products that can help cut down on waste. The cloud cloth is an ultra-absorbent reusable cloth that can replace the need for single-use paper towels. There are also two sponges, the pop-up sponge, which can be stored at one fifth of the size of a typical sponge, the brand says, and the scrub sponge, a dual-action loofa scrubber to use on tough surfaces.
Blueland Toilet Cleaner Starter Set
This bestselling toilet cleaner has already sold out five times, says the brand, and is the first plastic-free foaming toilet bowl cleaner tablets in the U.S. The starter set comes with 14 tablets and a tin to hold them in. Tin sizes are available in pack sizes depending on the number of bathrooms in your home. The lemon cedar scented tablets are designed to be tough on stains and easy to use — all you have to do is drop, brush and flush.
Blueland Laundry Starter Set
Blueland not only offers products to clean your home, but they also have laundry tablets as well. This kit comes with 40 tablets and a forever tin for storage. The tablets are fragrance-free and are formulated without parabens, phosphates, ammonia, chlorine bleach and only uses ingredients that are vegan, gluten-free, soy and nut free, the brand says.
Hand Soap Refill Packs
If your hand soap runs out, Blueland offers refill tables that cost $2 or less. Each tablet is packaged in compostable paper and the soap is available in three different classic scents, which are iris agave, perrine lemon and lavender eucalyptus.
For more stories like this, check out:
- 23 Amazon low-waste finds for beauty, fashion and more
- Simple eco-friendly swaps for your beauty bag, according to a dermatologist
- Would you try a reusable cotton swab? I did and I'm never going back to Q-tips
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