Spruce (refillable natural cleaning products)

Spruce uses natural ingredients, sold in starter kits to ‘create your own cleaner’ with tap water. Then just rinse and use the bottles again.

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

• Use with plastic-free cleaning cloths & sponges/scourers.
• Use unscented products for pregnancy/nursing, baby and pet bowls. Citrus oils in particular are toxic to pets (even if rinsed and dried, residue could be licked from paws). Alternatively clean, rinse and dry with unscented cleaning vinegar and baking soda). 
• Never mix vinegar or lemon juice with any bleach (causes toxic gas). 
• Replace chlorine bleach with natural oxygen bleach to remove tea/coffee cup stains. never mix any kind of bleach with acid (lemon or cleaning vinegar) as it causes toxic gas.
• You can recycle empty toxic cleaning bottles at kerbside (for bottles with product, dispose of at your council’s hazardous waste department).

You then just buy refill sachets to make up new batches. 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).
• Eco sponges (add to your order to avoid plastic sponges)
• Glass & Mirror Set (peppermint) for windows and mirrors.

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 and 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 for big houses, housekeepers or professional use (offices, restaurants, hotels etc).