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Review :: Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner

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Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner
Review Score
Ewg RatedC
Ingredients
Water
Decyl Glucoside
Polysorbate 20
Birch Bark Extract
Lemon Oil
Fir Leaf Oil
Lemongrass Oil
Fragrance
Sodium Citrate
Glycerin
Sodium Methyl 2-Sulfolaurate
Citric Acid
Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate
Sodium Sulfate
PEG-5 Cocoate
Methylisothiazolinone
Benzisothiazolinone
Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner is a multi-surface cleaner with outstanding cleaning power. There are no two ways about it. The fact that two extremely gentle cleaning agents is responsible for this performance is remarkable. That said, there are also a few ingredients that are extremely disappointing, in particular, the isothiazolinones. With one or two tweaks this could be an outstanding product. But with these ingredients, it is hard to recommend. Particularly if you have sensitive skin or are sensitive to fragrances.
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Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner is a multipurpose spray cleaner from a line of “aromatherapeutic” household products that are, according to the manufacturer, “tough on grime” but “gentle on your home.” In this product review we will test the performance of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Spray and take a close look at the formula regarding health and safety impacts. When you know more about what you’re buying you can make smarter, safer, healthier purchases.

Who makes Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day and what else do they make?

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day is a range of household cleaning products widely available at big box stores in the USA. The maker of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day, The Caldrea Company, is a private company with a mission to “make the daily tasks of caring for ourselves easier, safer, and more satisfying.” The Caldrea Company’s products all use naturally derived essential oils, “minimal amounts of preservatives,” and are never animal tested. They are clearly a company who understand the problems with today’s cleaning product industry, and they’ve decided to make their own products.  They’ve clearly hit a niche too, selling an abundance of household and personal cleaners. We’ve reviewed their laundry detergent before, and while I was impressed with its cleaning ability, we were less impressed with one or two ingredients in there. Let’s hope this multi-surface cleaner goes one better…

About the Multi-Surface Cleaner…

The lemon verbena cleaning spray is sold in a 16oz (473ml) spray top bottle made of 25%+ post-consumer recycled plastic. The sprayer pump is very effective – it atomizes the spray thoroughly for good coverage, without spraying an excessive amount of cleaner. This adds to the effectiveness and efficiency of the product. The bottle is also refillable using water and a cleaning spray concentrate (sold separately), which is a nice eco-friendly touch.

Like all products we review at Safe Household Cleaning, this cleaning spray from Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day has a list of ingredients on the bottle; as more customers realize the importance of ingredient disclosure, retailers and companies are catering to that need. After all, as a customer, if you can’t see what’s in your household cleaning products, there is no way to know what you’re buying and whether it’s safe for your health and the environment.

How well does it clean?

We all buy cleaning products to clean.  It’s all well and good having the most gentle formulation on the planet, as it counts for nothing if the product doesn’t clean. With that in mind, we set out to test the product on a variety of dirty surfaces: kitchen sink, stovetop, porch rail, bathroom floors, kitchen counters, kitchen table, and a bamboo kitchen cart. Not all cleaning sprays are created equal, and the performance of Mrs. Meyer’s Everyday Cleaner was quite remarkable. Most surfaces required minimal effort to clean – just spray and wipe away.

The spray created lots of sudsy bubbles that left a shiny, clean surface after they were wiped away. The pump sprayer provided great coverage without releasing an excessive amount of cleaner, which translated into an easy and efficient cleaning experience. Tougher messes requiring more effort also yielded to the cleaner after a few successive applications, and the lingering fragrance was noticeable and pleasant without being overpowering or cloying.

What’s in it?

With such a powerful cleaning action, I was expecting a list of real nasties in this formula. The packaging states that the cleaning spray is made with “plant-derived ingredients, natural essential oils, [and] birch bark extract” and made without any “parabens and phthalates, glycol solvents, formaldehyde, [or] artificial colors.” Which is all well and good, but it doesn’t say what’s actually in it. The cleaning agents in the spray include:

  • Decyl Glucoside  – a non-ionic surfactant used in products for individuals with a sensitive skin, including baby shampoos
  • Sodium Methyl-2 Sulfolaurate – a derived gentle anionic surfactant

I found it incredible that two gentle surfactants could perform so well. They’ve also added a number of plant extracts, for their fragrance I expect, so I was disappointed to see a generic Fragrance listed.  With further investigation, it transpires that some of the ingredients are synthetic fragrances.   Fragrances obviously have their place, but they are volatile compounds which, with too much exposure, can lead to asthma and asthma-like symptoms.  Given a choice, I always choose unfragranced in my cleaning products.  Mrs. Meeyers products, on the other hand, are definitely for the lovers of heavy fragrances. There were a few other disappointing additives too. ● Polysorbate 20 is an emulsifier cited as causing reproductive issues or increased risk of cancer ● Methylisothiazolinone and Benzisothiazolinone are synthetic preservatives known to cause dermatitis in some people.  In fact, Methylisothiazolinone was awarded Allergen of the Year in 2013 and was responsible for a contact dermatitis epidemic.  This too is a volatile compound, and airborne allergies are often forgotten.

Closing thoughts

This is a multi-surface cleaner with outstanding cleaning power.  There are no two ways about it.  The fact that two extremely gentle cleaning agents is responsible for this performance is remarkable. That said, there are also a few ingredients that are extremely disappointing, in particular, the isothiazolinones.   With one or two tweaks this could be an outstanding product.  But with these ingredients, it is hard to recommend.  Particularly if you have sensitive skin or are sensitive to fragrances.

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