How awful that the chemicals produced for some of America’s most popular cleaning products are polluting our planet and elevating our cancer risks. That’s why I’m always glad to learn about brands that are mindful of our health and environment. Today I’m sharing eco-friendly products from Common Good, which has been around since 2010 and makes non-toxic cleaners with plant-derived ingredients. The products are vegan, cruelty-free, and contain:
- No harsh chemicals or dyes
- No sulfates, parabens, or phthalates
- No isothiazolinones (preservatives which can cause skin irritations)
- No synthetic perfumes
And they get A ratings from the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Common Good sent me some of their best-sellers to try. Here’s how they performed.
Common Good gifted these products to me and this post contains affiliate links. If you shop through my links, I may earn a commission. As always, all opinions are my own and I only write about items that interest me.
Hand Soap
Common Good Hand Soap Set – $39 (on sale for $29) or $19 for just the refill
Common Good’s hand soap is biodegradable and free of synthetic fragrances. Should you opt for one of the fragrances (lavender or bergamot), the scent comes from 100% essential oils. But there’s also a fragrance-free option.
The hand soap set comes with a 16 fl oz glass bottle and a 32 flz oz refill. If you’d prefer to refill a plastic bottle (perhaps you have small kids), Common Good offers that as well. And if you already have a soap dispenser, you can just buy the refill.
I enjoyed the lavender scent, though I will note it’s not enough to get rid of stubborn fishy smells when you’ve been handling fish and its packaging. The formulation has aloe in it, which makes it hydrating. It felt more moisturizing than Blueland’s foaming hand soap.
All Purpose Cleaner
Common Good All Purpose Cleaner – $12 and $19 for the 32 fl oz refill pouch
This all purpose cleaner contains no ammonia or chlorine and is septic and greywater system-safe. In fact, it only has six ingredients: water, decyl glucoside, essential oil, potassium carbonate, citric acid, gluconic acid. Common Good sent me the cleaner in a plastic bottle. But if you prefer glass, there’s a glass spray bottle as well as a set, which comes with the refill pouch.
The spray comes in lavender, bergamot, or tea tree. I tried the tea tree, another enjoyable scent. In fact, I like the scent more than Blueland’s multi-surface cleaner, which is supposed to be lemon, but has a more powdery note to me. I use this spray in the kitchen to wipe down the stovetop and counters and am pleased to find that it’s effective at cleaning grease.
The spray is concentrated, so you shouldn’t need that much of it. (Something that I have to remind myself of, as I’ve probably been using more than I need.) You can also dilute it 4:1 with water and use it as a floor cleaner. How useful that it can do double duty!
Laundry Detergent
Common Good Laundry Detergent Set – $38 ($24.95 on sale) or $20 for a refill pouch
This liquid laundry detergent is biodegradable, powered by enzymes, and doesn’t contain optical brighteners. Like the all purpose cleaner it’s also septic and greywater system-safe. It comes in lavender, bergamot, or unscented.
And it’s made for sensitive skin. (That would be me, so I appreciate that very much.) Though the bergamot laundry detergent I tried is not in EWG’s database, the unscented and lavender ones both scored an A. I ran every ingredient through the EWG database, and they all scored a 1 (the safest), though there was one ingredient that wasn’t listed in the database: amylase enzyme.
My clothes came out with a faint scent, which was perfect for me. I don’t like my clothes heavily scented, but I still want that freshly-washed clean laundry smell. This detergent strikes a nice balance.
It’s super concentrated so you only need a small amount — just one capful — for a side loading energy efficient laundry machine. I also tried it for hand washing, but wasn’t sure how much to use. I just poured a bit into my washing bin.
So far, I like this detergent. It gets the job done without giving me any issues. Sometimes detergents will leave white smudges on my dark clothes. (I have not figured out why, but this has happened with another liquid detergent.) The Common Good laundry detergent thankfully didn’t do that.
My only quibble is in the dispensing. Using the cap as the measuring device, and then putting it back on the glass bottle is messy! I ended up transferring the detergent to an empty soap pump bottle, and measured out that two pumps is about equal to a capful. So even though the glass bottle is aesthetically pleasing, it’s not practical.
Last Thoughts
Overall, I’m impressed with these Common Good products — both with the non-toxic, eco-friendly formulations and the cleaning power. I recommend all three products and am now interested in trying their other products, like their dish soap.
