Americans are increasingly scrutinizing what’s in the products they bring into their homes, and that scrutiny has now extended well beyond food and skincare into something more mundane: the spray bottle under the kitchen sink. A new buyer’s guide from the New York Post, built on nearly a year of hands-on testing, surfaces a fact that matters more than any single product recommendation: words like “natural,” “eco-friendly,” “green” and even “clean” carry no legal weight on a cleaning product label.
“Natural, eco-friendly and plant-derived aren’t regulated terms, so a brand can put them on any packaging, regardless of what’s inside,” said Jamie Koll, founder and CEO of Girls Who Eat, a digital media and commerce platform focused on helping women make informed purchasing decisions. Koll said that makes reading the actual ingredient list, not the marketing copy, the only reliable way to know what a product contains.
“Getting familiar with a few key ingredients can help you quickly scan a label so you’re able to see past those marketing terms,” Koll said. “Additional words I would look out for are ‘clean’ and ‘green,’ because again, they’re not regulated in the way people think they are.”
What’s actually in the bottle
Conventional cleaning products often rely on synthetic chemicals, fragrances, dyes and preservatives to boost performance and shelf life. Some of those ingredients draw particular concern. Erin McCarthy, associate director of owned home, health and beauty brands at Thrive Market, named several the company refuses to use in its Rosey line: chlorine (sodium hypochlorite, the active ingredient in bleach), boric acid, ammonia, triclosan, phthalates and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, which are a common skin allergen. McCarthy also flagged synthetic musk compounds like galaxolide as worth avoiding.
“Heavy use of synthetic fragrance can impact indoor air quality and irritate airways, so for our Rosey products, we opt for either fragrance-free or fragrancing our products with essential oils or naturally-derived fragrances,” McCarthy said.
Koll pointed to a counterintuitive habit many consumers have: equating a strong chemical smell with effectiveness. “One thing to keep in mind is that most non-toxic products don’t smell as heavily as conventional products, and I think that a lot of people will assume something isn’t working because it doesn’t smell as strong or overly fragrant,” she said. “However, that smell doesn’t mean something is cleaning better; it just means that there is probably synthetic fragrance or harsh chemicals in that product.”
Reading labels instead of trusting claims
The guide reviewed 13 specific products across categories — all-purpose cleaners, bathroom spray, stainless steel cleaner, glass cleaner, dish soap, hand wash, stain remover, laundry pods and detergent, disinfectant spray, toilet bowl tablets, dish sponges and dishwasher pods — walking through the active ingredients in each, from hypochlorous acid and plant-derived surfactants to enzyme blends like protease and amylase. The point of listing them wasn’t brand promotion so much as demonstration: every one of these formulas can be understood by reading the back of the package, without relying on front-label buzzwords.
Koll’s broader advice is aimed at people overwhelmed by the idea of replacing an entire cleaning cabinet overnight. “Start by swapping out what you use most often, or replace things as you run out with a fragrance-free or fully non-toxic option,” she said. “It’s an easy first step that can make your home feel cleaner, reduce the toxins in your air and be a safer option for kids and pets.”
She also pushed back on the assumption that heavy-duty disinfecting is necessary for routine cleaning. “Most of the time, a good non-toxic cleaner can do the job and help to remove dirt and grime from surfaces,” Koll said. “A disinfectant is useful for specific situations, such as after handling raw meat or fish, when someone is sick, or when there might be germs on a surface.”
None of this requires a new regulation or a government mandate — it requires consumers willing to flip the bottle over and read what’s actually printed on the back, a habit the guide’s authors and the experts they consulted argue is the only real defense against marketing language designed to sound meaningful while legally meaning nothing at all.
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