Spruce (refillable cleaners with natural ingredients)

Spruce is a cleaning brand with a difference. Instead of selling toxic products in single-use plastic bottles, this brand uses natural ingredients (even the scents) that you fill with tap water to ‘create your own cleaner’. Then you can rinse and use the bottles again!

Use with plastic-free cloths and sponges. Choose unscented cleaners for pregnancy/nursing and near babies/pets.

We don’t recommend the laundry sheets, as most are PLA-based (polyvinyl alcohol) which means that they are not really plastic-free – use Allavare Laundry Powder instead). 

Founded by a young mother (concerned over toxins in the air after the birth of her baby), just buy a starter kit which includes the refill bottles. Then all you do is order refill sachets, to make up new batches, when you run out of cleaner.

To avoid overwhelm, there are just few choices:

• Multipurpose Cleaner (geranium) for countertops, tiles, stone, wood and sealed surfaces).
• Bathroom Cleaner (eucalyptus) for tubs, tiles, ceramic, stainless steel & porcelain)
• Floor Cleaner (bergamot, patchouli, geranium) – choose Miniml almond floor cleaner to avoid essential oils.
• Eco sponges (add to your order to avoid plastic sponges)
• Glass & Mirror Set (peppermint) for windows and mirrors.

Avoid facing indoor foliage to outdoor gardens, to help stop birds flying into windows.

You can order each item separately or mix-and-match. For instance, you may only wish to buy the multi-purpose and glass cleaner (using the former to clean the bathroom). Each order includes aluminium eternity bottles, along with paper refill sachets, which you can compost when empty.

Most users say they use up one bottle’s worth of product in around 2 months, with regular cleaning. Obviously this may be more big houses, housekeepers or professional use (offices, restaurants, hotels, public buildings etc).