How Clean Is Your Clean?

When I walk down the cleaning aisle at the grocery store, the strong smell of bleach always grabs my attention. My immediate thought? Wow, that must kill every germ alive. The smell alone feels like it’s killing me. Ironically, that might not be too far from the truth.

Yes, this is where the lecture happens - but let’s call it a rant or an outcry instead. The cleaning products we use daily have an impact on our health, yet the very things harming us are promoted as essentials for a hygienic home. How crazy is that?

I took a peek at the hidden toxins in everyday cleaning products. Newsflash - it’s not great.

Many conventional cleaning products contain harmful chemicals, but to keep this blog at a readable length, let’s focus on just three:

• Phthalates (found in scented cleaners - can disrupt hormones)
• Ammonia & bleach (can cause respiratory issues)
• VOCs (we’ll get to those in a second)

Big word, big word, another big word. Let’s break it down.

VOC - What Are They?

VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) are gases emitted from certain liquids or solids. They have high vapour pressure and low water solubility, which makes them easy to inhale and hard to avoid. You’ll find them in cleaning products in the form of benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, ethylene glycol, methylene chloride, tetrachloroethylene, xylene and 1,3-butadiene.

To be honest, the only ones I recognised were gasoline, paint strippers, and pesticides. But the point is: when these volatile gases are released, they don’t just disappear. They linger - and we breathe them in.

Ammonia & Bleach - A Cleaning Nightmare

Ammonia is found in glass cleaners, oven cleaners, and even floor polish. Bleach is in disinfectants, toilet cleaners and laundry whiteners. Separately, they’re already bad for you.

Now, if you think mixing bleach and ammonia will create a super cleaner, it’s actually more of a super weapon. This combo produces toxic gases called chloramines, which can cause severe breathing problems, throat burns, and even fluid-buildup in the lungs. Trust me, you do not want to DIY a chemical hazard zone in your own home.

But, hypothetically, now your home is a chemical hazard and you are still struggling with that stain, because we never give up, do we? So, you revert to the good old vinegar stain remover trick - and pull a power move by mixing it with bleach… now you’ve created chlorine gas! Well done!

Phthalates - Sneaky & Harmful

(Pronounced thal-ates - yes, I wondered too.)

Phthalates are chemicals that make plastics flexible and durable. So why are they in cleaning products? Oddly enough, not for the packaging. Instead, they’re added to extend the longevity of fragrances in household cleaners. That means every time you smell that "fresh" scent, you might be inhaling something you really shouldn’t.

Big deal? Yes.

Phthalates are endocrine disruptors, which means they interfere with hormone function. After a brief revisit to my Biology lessons ,our endocrine system controls metabolism, sleep, blood sugar and more. Endocrine disruptors block hormones from reaching their receptors, throwing everything off balance.

So, how do companies preach "self-care" and "hygiene" while selling products that actively destroy both? Great question.

Good news, please?

At this point, I thought I had reached my shock factor limit. But I was wrong.

Not only are these ingredients harmful, but they’re not even that effective at cleaning.

Yep. Just because something smells clean doesn’t mean it’s actually disinfecting. Your home could still be full of bacterial hotspots - think of:

• That dishcloth you fold over the basin and wash once a week.
• The sponge you use until the scrubber side falls off.

So, What Now?

After this deep dive, I sat on my couch, eyeing my sponge, sneering at my bleach, and glaring at my dishwasher soap. No more.

That’s when I started looking into alternatives. And no, this isn’t just a well-timed sales pitch - this is me realising that I never understood terms like non-toxic or fragrance-free until now. (This is also not me suggesting Evolve's Cleaning Combo with Refills.)

Sometimes, even when warnings are right in front of us, we stick to the norm because it's what we’ve always known.

But if you want a truly clean clean, here’s what to look for in household cleaning products:

• •       Plant-based ingredients (like vinegar, baking soda, essential oils)
  •      Fragrance-free or naturally scented (no synthetic perfumes)
  •      Biodegradable & eco-friendly packaging.
  •         Third-party certifications (organic, cruelty-free, non-toxic)

The benefits?

Better air quality
Non-toxic ingredients
Safer for you, your pets and the environment

Now I am not saying that Evolve's cleaning products meet those requirements (even though I totally am), nor was the purpose of this blog to market Evolve’s Oxygen Bleach. It was to give you an informed opinion - one I definitely didn’t have before. 

So, how clean is your clean? 😉