Anyone who’s ever used bleach knows it’s probably not the healthiest thing you have in your house. Bleach fumes are brutal, and if you accidentally drip it on anything that isn’t white, it immediately turns it white…forever. While it does a fantastic job at disinfecting everything, it is truly one of the most toxic cleaning items you have. And as we all know, extended and repeated exposure to those sorts of products can have significant health impacts over time. That’s the double edged sword with bleach. It works great, but it maybe works a little too great. And as we all learn more about the impacts of items like bleach, we tend to wonder what other options are out there that could provide similar disinfectant capabilities while also not being so caustic.
Why is it worth considering bleach alternatives? The American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) receives over 30,000 calls a year on household bleach exposure. And about a third of those calls involve children under the age of six. So it’s definitely an issue. And even beyond that, there is documented risks that bleach fumes are a respiratory irritant that has been linked to asthma in cleaning industry workers. Bleach can cause acute health issues. And that’s something to really consider the next time you reach for it to clean something on your counters.
But it’s not all bad news. For many of the regular household cleaning chores, there’s a usually a natural alternative that you can swap in without losing the cleaning capabilities. And this isn’t just the hippy world of disinfectants. Many of the alternatives mentioned below have peer-reviewed evidence that backs the claims. And they can apply to most of the major chores you do each day. Everything from disinfecting countertops (this includes the raw chicken that got accidentally dropped on the counter), getting your laundry whiter, killing the mildew in your bathroom, getting at that hard to clean grout and more.
Here’s How I Swapped Out Bleach
I stopped buying chlorine bleach a few years ago. Actually, I think the better way to phrase it is that I started to phase out bleach a few years ago. It’s hard to go completely cold turkey. So I started to make incremental changes to what I was using to clean things. And I made the mistake that most people make right off the bat. If you get all your information from Wellness Instagram, you will just start using every viral option you see. The real important factor to keep in mind is that there’s a big difference between “natural” and “disinfectant.” Those are two very different problems. And while a lot of the alternatives below clean really well, only a few actually disinfect to the level that standard chlorine bleach does.
Knowing that difference is what will make your alternative cleaning product usage actually stick.
After a couple years of trial and error, here’s a basic overview of what I actually use in my house. This doesn’t match the disinfectant ranking below, just FYI:
- White vinegar — this gets used daily. Just keep it in a refillable spray bottle to use on your counters or anything glass. Also works well inside microwaves and in your coffee maker.
- Hydrogen peroxide — Use this two-three times per week when you need to actually disinfect something. Think cutting boards, the bathroom sink or kitchen sponges.
- Castile soap — A great daily soap for dishes and regular hand washing. You can dilute it and use it to clean your floors, too.
- Baking soda — This stuff really gets in there, so use it on your weekly tub and grout clean. Keeping it in the fridge is great to deodorize smells.
- Oxygen bleach — Pick this up for your white laundry loads or even your kid’s clothes.
The other five on the list (sunlight, salt, tea tree oil, lemon juice, steam) are typically used for specific situations or a little more sporadically.
Even better news, you can save money by making this switch
Here’s a quick breakdown of what you can save each year by switching to more alternative natural cleaners. This pricing is a ballpark based on current Amazon prices.
| Item | Per unit | Bottles / year | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional kit | |||
| Clorox concentrated bleach (81 oz) | $5 | 4 | $20 |
| Formula 409 multi-surface cleaner | $5 | 4 | $20 |
| Windex glass cleaner | $5 | 3 | $15 |
| Lysol disinfectant spray | $7 | 4 | $28 |
| Liquid fabric softener (64 oz) | $6 | 4 | $24 |
| Conventional total | 19 | $107 | |
| The Greenest 5-item kit | |||
| Hydrogen peroxide 3% (32 oz) | $2 | 6 | $12 |
| Distilled white vinegar (1-gallon jug) | $4 | 4 | $16 |
| Baking soda (13.5 lb bag) | $10 | 1 | $10 |
| Dr. Bronner’s castile soap (32 oz) | $16 | 2 | $32 |
| OxiClean Versatile (5 lb) | $11 | 2 | $22 |
| Greenest total | 15 | $92 | |
$15 a year in savings isn’t bad!
Here’s the full breakdown of ten alternative cleaners, what it replaces and a bit more context:
10. Sunlight
If you have a backyard, sunlight is the oldest disinfectant in the known universe (don’t hold us to that, we’re not astronomers, but you get the gist.) Direct sunlight is literally one of the oldest known bleaching methods because UV-B radiation breaks down things called chromophores. And chromophores (we had to look that word up, too) are the molecules that hold color in stains. And when you dry laundry outside the UV light has an additional antimicrobial effect.
Best for: whitening white cotton, sanitizing baby items, kitchen rags, cloth diapers. Limits: requires several hours of direct sun; can fade colored fabrics.
9. Salt
In addition to making everything taste better, salt is a great cleanser. Think of it like a scrub that doesn’t scratch. Since it also dehydrates, it pulls spills and stains on carpet out of the fabric. And salt + lemon juice is great for cutting boards.
Best for: cutting board sanitizing (with lemon), grease lift on cast iron, stain absorption.
8. Tea tree essential oil
Tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) is one of the few essential oils with peer-reviewed antimicrobial evidence. A 2006 review in Clinical Microbiology Reviews documented broad-spectrum activity against bacteria, viruses, and fungi at concentrations as low as 0.5%. A few drops in a vinegar or hydrogen peroxide spray bottle adds antimicrobial reinforcement.
Best for: mildew prevention in showers, mold spot-treatment, fabric refreshing. Caution: toxic to cats — keep diluted sprays away from pet areas. Use pure tea tree oil, not fragrance blends.
7. Lemon juice and citric acid
The citric acid in lemons is a great cleaner. It’s actually works as a mild natural bleach which is great for fabric stains. And it’s a good descaler for hard water buildup on showers and faucets. And you can buy food-grade citric acid on Amazon so you aren’t plowing through all your lemons trying to get your shower door perfectly see-thru.
Best for: rust stains, hard-water buildup, light fabric brightening, dishwasher mineral scale.
6. Castile soap
If you’ve heard of Dr. Bronner’s, then you’ve heard of Castile soap. Dr. B is a great all natural vegetable oil-based liquid soap that can take on the majority of daily cleanup work. It is great on grease and can get the food of countertops. It also works on floors and your skin. What can’t it do? Check their label for when you should dilute it with a little water.
Best for: daily counter cleaning, floor washing, dish soap, hand soap. Don’t mix with: vinegar (forms a curdled mess — castile is alkaline, vinegar is acidic).
5. Baking soda
Baking soda is great for removing odors from fabrics, as well as a whitener (when mixed with hydrogen peroxide) to get into the grout in your shower that’s starting to mildew. In fact, the baking soda + hydrogen peroxide is one of th emore famous natural alternative cleaners that can take on soap scum and other hard to clean things. All without the chlorine fumes.
Best for: deodorizing (carpets, fridges, mattresses), scrubbing tubs and sinks, grout whitening with peroxide.
4. White vinegar
5% distilled white vinegar is a documented bactericide for several common household pathogens — E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria all die in vinegar at concentrations of 6% or higher, according to peer-reviewed testing summarized by Healthline. Vinegar is not EPA-registered as a disinfectant because the kill spectrum is narrower than bleach, but for routine surface cleaning, glass, descaling coffee makers, fabric softener replacement, and hard-water rinsing it’s the workhorse of the natural cleaning kit.
Best for: glass, mirrors, descaling kettles and showerheads, laundry softening (½ cup in rinse cycle), drain freshening.
“Vinegar is acetic acid, which has the ability to destroy bacteria and viruses.”
— Dr. Alan Taege, MD, infectious disease specialist, Cleveland Clinic
3. Steam
At the end of the day, straight up heat can be a pretty good cleaner on its own. That’s why steam is a great options for a lot of things like tiles, upholstery and more. Steamers can get so hot that they zap the bacterial cell walls without using any chemicals at all.
Best for: grout, sealed hardwood, tile, mattresses, upholstery, sealed showers, oven interiors. Equipment: a basic handheld steam cleaner covers most household needs; full-size models handle floors.
2. Oxygen bleach (sodium percarbonate)
Sodium percarbonate — the active ingredient in OxiClean and most “oxygen bleach” laundry products — is essentially baking soda bonded to hydrogen peroxide. When dissolved in warm water it releases both, delivering peroxide’s whitening power without the toxicity or fume profile of chlorine bleach. It’s color-safe on most fabrics and breaks down into oxygen, water, and soda ash. Pure sodium percarbonate powder is the cheapest way to buy it.
Best for: whitening laundry, removing protein stains (blood, sweat, food), brightening grout, refreshing tile.
1. Hydrogen peroxide (3%)
And here’s where we get to the part of the cleaners that has the most research behind it. A 3% hydrogen peroxide product is the only EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant. This should be in your pantry at all times. Stanford Environmental Health & Safety’s disinfectant comparison rates hydrogen peroxide as equivalent to most chlorine bleach for most household pathogens. Which is huge! And the good news is the 3% version is what is sold at any drugstore.
“Hydrogen peroxide has fallen out of favor as a wound cleanser. It irritates the skin and can prevent the wound from healing.”
— Dr. Sarah Pickering Beers, MD, family medicine physician, Cleveland Clinic
Best for: kitchen and bathroom surface disinfection, cutting boards, toilet bowls, refrigerator interiors, sponge sanitizing (microwave a wet sponge with peroxide for 30 seconds), mold spot-treatment. Application: spray, let sit 10 minutes, wipe. Storage: keep in the original brown bottle — light degrades it. A small amber spray bottle turns the brown drugstore bottle into a working sprayer.
What never to mix — the safety rules
This is important! Make sure you follow the rules below.
- Bleach + vinegar / lemon juice / any acid — Very important! This will release chlorine gas and could result in a hospital ER visit.
- Bleach + hydrogen peroxide — This can have additional toxic byproducts.
- Bleach + ammonia (window cleaners often contain it) — This mixture will release something called chloramine gas. Which can cause respiratory issues.
- Hydrogen peroxide + vinegar in the same bottle — forms peracetic acid, an irritant. Spraying one, wiping, then spraying the other is fine and actually more effective than either alone.
- Castile soap + vinegar — This isn’t dangerous, it just turns into a curdled gray blob that won’t do anything.
“To reduce improper use and prevent unnecessary chemical exposures, users should always read and follow directions on the label, only use water at room temperature for dilution (unless stated otherwise on the label), avoid mixing chemical products, wear eye and skin protection, ensure adequate ventilation, and store chemicals out of the reach of children.”
— Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, April 2020
How to make the alternative cleanser shift
Going whole hog and jumping into the 100% alternative cleanser may feel a little daunting. So just start with one or two of the options above and see how they are working for you. In the long run the less bleach you use will likely have better impacts on you and your family’s health over time. And you can always add more options as you get more comfortable.
Joseph has been writing and editing for a wide variety of publications over the last decade. He loves covering news in the health and wellness space and has written extensively about all aspects of wellness for a wide range of publications.
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