Is Blueland Non-Toxic?

Cleaning products can be one of the toughest categories to find truly non-toxic swaps for. Cleaning product labels can be confusing, especially when terms like non-toxic, eco friendly, natural, clean, and plastic free are often used in marketing to make you think the products are all natural. But they aren’t.

I’ve spent years reviewing natural and safer home products, looking closely at ingredients, certifications, packaging, and the claims brands make. And one thing I’ve learned is that you can’t determine whether a product is non-toxic simply by looking at its marketing. You have to look at the actual formula. The ingredients don’t lie (well, mostly, but that’s a topic for another time).

That’s especially true with Blueland. The brand has built a reputation around refillable, plastic-free cleaning products and clean essentials, but does that automatically make its products non-toxic?

The short answer is: Blueland checks many boxes I look for in safer cleaning products, but I definitely wouldn’t make a blanket statement that every Blueland product is “non-toxic.” With this brand, we have to look at the individual product, its ingredients, certifications, fragrance, and other formulation details.

It’s also important to understand that “non-toxic” isn’t a simple regulatory standard that applies to household cleaning products. The FTC says marketers making a non-toxic claim should have competent and reliable scientific evidence that a product is safe for both people and the environment.

So, let’s look beyond the marketing and dig a little deeper. Let’s look at what Blueland actually offers.

Is Blueland Non-Toxic?

This brand is mostly natural but has a few ingredients in certain products that keep it from being entirely non-toxic, in my opinion.

Blueland does particularly well when it comes to reducing single-use plastic. Its concentrated tablets and powders are designed to be mixed with water at home, rather than shipping a mostly-water cleaning product in a disposable plastic bottle. The company says its tablets and powders are formulated in the United States and are 100% plastic-free.

But being eco-friendly or plastic-free doesn’t automatically mean a product is non-toxic. That’s why the ingredients and certifications are important. For me, this line has a few products that stand out and others that I would skip.

What Is Blueland all about?

Blueland is a home and personal-care brand best known for its refillable cleaning products. Instead of buying a new bottle of liquid cleaner each time, you purchase a reusable “Forever Bottle” and add a concentrated tablet to water.

The company sells a variety of cleaning products and clean essentials, including multi-surface, bathroom, and glass cleaners; foaming hand soap; dish and dishwasher products; laundry detergent; toilet cleaner; and various starter kits and bundles.

The format is one of the biggest highlights of Blueland. A single tablet can make a full bottle of cleaner, which means less packaging and less water being transported around the country.

Are Blueland Products Non-Toxic?

It’s better than a lot of conventional brands but its not perfect. While most of the products are pretty clean, there are a few I wouldn’t consider non-toxic.

Here’s why.

Ingredient Transparency

One of the things I appreciate about Blueland is that it provides ingredient information for its individual products. You can find ingredient lists on individual product pages, and it also provides Safety Data Sheets for its cleaning products.

Blueland says its formulas are made without ingredients such as parabens, ammonia, chlorine bleach, phthalates, and dyes in many of its cleaning products, although the exact exclusions vary by product. I’ll note that the hand soaps have some synthetic fragrances, and the exact ingredients aren’t broken down. This isn’t unusual, as fragrances are considered proprietary and they don’t have to disclose that. However, I always appreciate when a truly non-toxic brand proudly lists out everything they’ve used.

Third-Party Certifications

This is one of Blueland’s strongest points. If you’re into that kind of thing. Personally, I don’t put as much weight on most of these. Ironically, one of the few certifications I do put weight on is MADESAFE, and they actually first introduced me to Blueland. They sent a bundle of brands they had recently certified and/or were about to certify. That was a few years ago, and I was surprised to see Blueland no longer (or perhaps never did) carry that certification for any of their products.

Depending on the product, Blueland has certifications from organizations including EPA Safer Choice, Cradle to Cradle, USDA BioPreferred, EWG, Leaping Bunny, and the National Eczema Association. These certifications do not all mean the same thing. So it’s important to look at which certification applies to which product.

Fragrance

Fragrance is one I pay close attention to.

Blueland offers both scented and fragrance-free products. Its current fragrance information says the Multi-Surface Cleaner, Bathroom Cleaner, and some Foaming Hand Soap varieties contain fragrance, while products such as Glass + Mirror Cleaner, Powder Dish Soap, Dishwasher Tablets, and Laundry Tablets are available fragrance-free.

Blueland’s website lists both natural and synthetic ingredients. From what is disclosed on the website, it seems some cleaning products are mostly scented with natural oils (like lemongrass oil), but other products like the hand soap contain natural and synthetic fragrance blends.

If you’re trying to minimize fragrance exposure in your home, I’d choose the fragrance-free options whenever available.

Flagged Ingredients

Blueland has a few ingredients that some natural-living consumers prefer to avoid. Some of these I feel are less of an issue in a cleaning product than something that gets directly applied to your skin. But while some cleaning products don’t have a lot of skin contact (like the toilet cleaner), other products like laundry detergent and hand soap have much more contact.

For example, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is used in several Blueland products, including the Bathroom Cleaner and Glass + Mirror Cleaner. Blueland says its SLS is plant-derived and used as a surfactant to help break down dirt and grime.

Blueland also acknowledges the use of PEG ingredients in some cleaning sprays, hand soap, and dishwasher products. The company says it has not yet found suitable alternatives for those particular formulations.

That doesn’t automatically make these products unsafe, but it’s exactly why I don’t think it’s useful to simply label an entire brand “non-toxic.” If a particular ingredient is something you personally prefer to avoid, you need to look at the formula for the specific product.

A Look at Blueland’s Cleaning Products

Blueland has expanded considerably beyond its original cleaning tablets. Here are some of its most popular products.

Foaming Hand Soap

Blueland’s Foaming Hand Soap uses a reusable glass Forever Bottle and concentrated tablets. You simply fill the bottle with water, add a tablet, let it dissolve, and attach the foaming pump. One tablet makes a 9-ounce bottle of hand soap.

The hand soap is available in scented and fragrance-free varieties. Blueland says the formula is hypoallergenic and free of parabens, dyes, and phthalates, and its current certification information lists the hand soap as EPA Safer Choice certified. This is the product I would personally skip, as it has fragrance and comes into contact with your skin.

Multi-Surface Cleaner

The Multi-Surface Cleaner is designed for everyday messes on surfaces such as counters, sealed wood, and sealed stone.

To use it, fill the reusable bottle with 24 ounces of warm water, drop in one tablet, allow it to dissolve, and replace the nozzle. The current formula is dye-free and made without parabens, phosphates, ammonia, chlorine bleach, or phthalates.

The Fresh Lemon version contains fragrance, so choose a fragrance-free product elsewhere in the line if avoiding fragrance is a priority.

Bathroom Cleaner

Blueland’s Bathroom Cleaner is designed for areas such as tubs, tile, showers, sinks, and bathroom countertops. Like the other spray cleaners, one tablet is dissolved in 24 ounces of water in a reusable bottle.

The Eucalyptus Mint version is fragranced (though it appears to be natural). And Blueland identifies SLS among the ingredients used in its Bathroom Cleaner.

Glass + Mirror Cleaner

The Glass + Mirror Cleaner is a particularly interesting option if you’re trying to avoid fragrance because the current version is fragrance-free.

One tablet makes a full 24-ounce bottle of cleaner. Blueland says it is made without parabens, phosphates, ammonia, chlorine bleach, or phthalates. It also has EPA Safer Choice and Cradle to Cradle certifications.

Clean Essentials Kit

If you’re new to Blueland, the Clean Essentials Kit bundles several of the brand’s core products together. The current kit includes hand soap, Multi-Surface Cleaner, Bathroom Cleaner, and Glass + Mirror Cleaner, along with the reusable bottles and refill tablets.

The starter kit approach can make sense if you want to replace several conventional cleaners at once, while individual refills make more sense once you already have the reusable bottles.

If you’re researching other safer household brands, you may also want to read my branch basics review and my guide to finding the best non toxic laundry detergent.

Where to Buy Blueland

You can buy Blueland is directly from the brand’s website, but it’s also available at many stores.

Blueland has also expanded into major retailers. Select products are currently available at Target, Costco, Whole Foods, and other major chains. Availability varies by store, so Blueland recommends using its store locator.

You can also find select Blueland products through Amazon.

FYI: The initial starter kit costs more because you’re purchasing the reusable bottle or dispenser. But once you have those containers, the refill tablets are cheaper to purchase.

So, is Blueland non-toxic?

Many of the products are pretty natural, especially the unscented versions. Though there are a few problem ingredients here and there. Blueland makes many cleaning products that meet a high standard for safer ingredients and environmental responsibility, but you need to look at each individual product.

*post contains some affiliate links. All thoughts and opinions are my own.