Best Cleaning Sprays 2023

Why You Need a Good All Purpose Household Cleaning Spray

When it comes to daily cleanliness, there are few tools in your house cleaning arsenal more effective than a handy household cleaner. These household cleaning solutions – usually contained in a spray bottle – are designed to quickly and effectively break down grime, grease, and bacteria, allowing you to wipe it away and keep your home’s surfaces clean.

The beauty of a trusty household cleaning spray versus a sponge or mop bucket is that it’s a super user-friendly, low impact way to get a deep level of cleanliness without a bunch of supplies, solutions, and time invested.

The reason that all purpose household cleaning sprays are so effective is due to their chemical makeup. 

According to this chemistry text book, all purpose cleaners are made of a combination of “surfactants” and  “water softeners.” Surfactants are molecules that essentially break down the surface tension in liquids, helping to dissolve grime or grease and make it easy to wipe away. The water softeners help reduce the impact of minerals commonly found in hard water.

If you want the most convenience, then a multi-purpose, or all-purpose cleaner is the way to go. But if you have specific messes or surfaces that you want to clean up, you can also get specialized spray cleaners for the job.

The Different Types of All Purpose Cleaning Sprays

There are several types of all purpose cleaners. Here are the most commonly-used:

Multi-use/All Purpose Cleaning Spray

As stated, these types of cleaning sprays are the “catch-all” of the cleaning world. Great for countertops, floors, cabinets, stainless steel surfaces, bathrooms, you can pretty much use multi-use sprays on any surface in your house. 

Glass Cleaning Spray

Designed specifically for windows, mirrors, and other reflective surfaces, glass cleaner is an alcohol-based cleaner that helps clean grime off of those smooth surfaces and leave it streak-free.

Tile Cleaning Spray

Tile cleaning spray contains the active ingredient sodium lauryl sulfate, which is designed to effectively remove dirt, stains, and – most importantly – bad odors. Tiles are a unique surface because they can be uneven and you’ve got to make sure you use something that will be effective on porous grout.

Floor Cleaning Spray

Because floors are often porous and somewhat sensitive, they utilize alkaline chemicals to handle the cleaning as opposed to citrus-based cleaners or alcohol-based cleaners. Floor cleaning spray is designed to handle spot cleanings and are great for stains, grease, sticky spots, and more.

Bathroom Cleaning Spray

Bathroom cleaning spray is very similar to what you’d find in a tile cleaning spray since a lot of surfaces in the bathroom are usually tiled. Bathroom cleaning sprays are best used on shower/bath hardware, tile, grout, acrylic bathtubs, toilets and bathroom floors. In some cases, bathroom cleaning spray may have hydrochloric acid as an ingredient to help kill bacteria and wash away grime.

Pet Odor Cleaning Spray

Pet odor cleaning sprays are specialized mixtures that not only remove disinfect and clean an area, but also help eliminate odors. Often, a pet odorcide is a vinegar-based cleaner that has essential oils to remove the smell and then mask it so that your furry buddies don’t get the idea there’s a dedicated spot to use.

Disinfectant Cleaning Spray

Disinfectant cleaning spray can come in many forms and be used for many applications. The key differentiator here is that they have antimicrobial components such as alcohol, chlorine, or chlorine compounds. 

Eco-friendly/Natural Cleaning Spray

For those looking to use a more natural cleaner, there are a ton of eco-friendly, green, and natural cleaning sprays on the market. These types of sprays usually have natural surfactants, hydrogen peroxide, and remove odors through plant-based enzymes and oils.

The Best Household Cleaning Sprays

The word “best” is thrown around too often and loosely on the internet so we curated lists from reputable sources to help with your buying decisions.

TheSpruce.com’s Best All Purpose Cleaners

TheSpruce.com’s list includes household cleaners that aren’t in spray bottle form, so we’re going to leave those out. Still, this short list has some heavy hitters.

  • Mr. Clean Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist (all purpose)
  • Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner (all purpose)
  • Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner + Bleach Original (bleach-based)
  • Branch Basics Basic Starter Kit (eco-friendly)
  • Blueland Multi-Surface Starter Kit (refillable)

Good Housekeeping’s Best All Purpose Cleaners (According to Experts)

Good Housekeeping’s list focused entirely on all purpose cleaners so we found this list particularly helpful. Again, they included non-spray cleaners so we’re going to leave those off. Here are the products they loved:

  • Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner (best overall)
  • 9 Elements All Purpose Cleaner (vinegar-based)
  • Purell Multi Surface Disinfectant (disinfectant)
  • Clorox Scentiva Multi Surface Cleaner (scented)
  • Microban 24 Hour Multi-Purpose Cleaner (longest lasting)
  • Seventh Generation All Purpose Cleaner (plant-based)

The New York Post’s 9 Best All Purpose Cleaners (According an Expert)

Because the New York Times has become such a good resource for finding quality products, the New York Post has dipped their toes in the water of providing consumer product reviews – and their list isn’t half bad! They talked with Melissa Maker, the owner of a Toronto-based cleaning service, Clean My Space, to find the 9 best all purpose household cleaners. We’ve removed the non-spray items.

  • diptyque La Droguerie Multi-Surface Cleaner
  • Saje Multi-Surface Cleaning Kit
  • Guests on Earth All-Purpose Cleaner Kit with Waffle Cloths
  • Blueland Multi-Surface Starter Set
  • Attitude Nature+ All Purpose Cleaner Disinfectant 99.9%
  • Mr. Clean All-Purpose Cleaner

NYTimes’ Best Wipes, Surface Cleaners, and Disinfectants

The NYTimes’ list is pretty diverse when it comes to the types of cleaning products they’re highlighting. Ultimately, only three spray cleaning products made their list.

  • Clorox Multi-Surface Cleaner + Bleach
  • Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner + Bleach
  • Lysol Kitchen Pro Antibacterial Cleaner

Real Simple’s Best All Purpose Cleaners for Every Part of the Home

Of all the lists that we looked at to rank our best household spray cleaners, Real Simple’s list does the best job of highlighting the best cleaning sprays for different applications in your house. 

  • Clorox Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner (best overall)
  • Everspring All-Purpose Cleaner (best on a budget)
  • AspenClean Natural All-Purpose Cleaner (best natural)
  • Mr. Clean Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist (bathroom)
  • Lysol Kitchen Pro Antibacterial Cleaner (kitchen)
  • Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner (scented)
  • Purell Multi-Surface Disinfectant Spray (disinfectant)
  • Force of Nature Starter Kit (best kit)

 

The Ultimate List of the Best Household Cleaning Sprays

Alright, we’ve covered what other websites are saying are the best household cleaning sprays, so now let’s look at which cleaners are the best overall. First, we’re going to look at overall ranking and then we’ll make recommendations for the best cleaners for specific applications. 

The Best Cleaning Sprays Ranked in Order

  1. Mr. Clean Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist Spray
  2. Clorox Clean-up Cleaner & Bleach Spray
  3. Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner
  4. Purell Multi Surface Disinfectant
  5. Clorox Multi Surface Cleaner

Best All Purpose, Multi Surface Cleaning Spray: Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner

Based on the rankings and our own experience, the best all around, utility cleaning spray is from Mrs. Meyer’s. Not only is it a versatile cleaner, it also has a lot of different scent options. Spot cleaning? Kitchen cleaning? Any and all surfaces? Mrs. Meyer’s is your go to.

Best Bleach-based Cleaning Spray:  Clorox Clean-up Cleaner & Bleach Spray

Surprise, surprise! Clorox, the bleach company, has the market cornered when it comes to a bleach-based cleaning spray. Keep in mind, these types of cleaners are designed for a deeper clean, typically on bathroom surfaces.

Best Bathroom Cleaning Spray: Mr. Clean Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist Spray

Mr. Clean’s Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist Spray is the ideal tool for effectively cleaning bathrooms and all of those hard to reach nooks and crannies. The foaming component does a really good job of covering the surfaces you need to clean, eating away at the dirt and the grime, and helping you wipe it down clean.

Best Kitchen Cleaning Spray: Lysol Kitchen Pro Antibacterial Cleaner

When it comes to kitchen cleaning, you want something that’s tough but also safe because it’s in a food prep environment. Lysol’s Kitchen Pro Antibacterial Cleaner kills germs, cuts through soap scum, prevents mold and mildew, eliminates odors, and kills 99.9% of viruses on various surfaces.

Best Disinfecting Cleaning Spray: Purell Multi Surface Disinfectant

Here’s why we like Purell’s Multi Surface Disinfectant: it kills bacteria with the lowest allowable EPA toxicity rating. That means it’s safe for use with bare hands, safe for food handling surfaces, and doesn’t require any rinsing or wiping down after use.

Best Eco-Friendly/Natural Cleaning Spray: Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner

When it comes to the natural and eco-friendly cleaning spray options, Simple Green’s All-purpose Cleaner is a super powerful surface cleaner and degreaser. This spray  EPA Safer Choice Certified, designed for effective and environmentally safer use on counters, carpet, floors, fabric, equipment, vehicles and more. Concentrated formula provides up to 30x the cleaning value

Best Household Cleaning Spray Kit: Blueland Multi-Surface Starter Set

Blueland is the leader in household cleaning spray kits. You get nice glass bottles and tablet refills for a multi-surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner, and a glass/mirror cleaner.

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