Open the cabinet under most kitchen sinks and you'll find a familiar lineup: a glass cleaner, an all-purpose spray, maybe a bleach-based disinfectant. What you won't find, on almost any of them, is a complete list of what's actually inside.
Why the label doesn't tell the whole story
Household cleaning products are regulated more loosely than food or cosmetics. Manufacturers aren't required to disclose every ingredient on the label, and the word "fragrance" is legally allowed to stand in for a mixture of dozens of undisclosed chemicals, some of which have been linked to respiratory irritation or hormone disruption in independent research. This isn't a fringe issue. It's standard practice across a huge share of the conventional cleaning aisle.
What commonly shows up when you look closer
A few categories worth knowing about, not to cause alarm, but because they're genuinely common in mainstream products:
- Chlorine bleach, still widely used as a disinfectant, releases fumes that can irritate the respiratory tract, especially in smaller or less ventilated spaces.
- Ammonia, common in glass and surface cleaners, is a respiratory irritant on its own, and becomes genuinely dangerous if it's ever mixed with bleach.
- Undisclosed "fragrance" compounds, present in the majority of scented cleaning products, which can include phthalates, a class of chemicals studied for potential hormone-disrupting effects.
- Quaternary ammonium compounds ("quats"), found in many disinfecting wipes and sprays, linked in some studies to skin and respiratory sensitization with repeated exposure.
None of this means every conventional product is dangerous in every use. It means the information needed to make an informed choice usually isn't on the label, and that's the actual problem.
What we use instead, and why
Every product in our kit is built from ingredients that predate the "non-toxic" category entirely:
- Castile soap replaces synthetic detergents as our primary cleaner, made entirely from plant oils.
- White vinegar (5% acetic acid) handles disinfecting duties, killing the large majority of common household bacteria and viruses without chlorine.
- Hydrogen peroxide stands in for chlorine bleach as an oxygen-based alternative that breaks down into water and oxygen after use.
- Citric acid replaces harsh descalers for hard water stains and soap scum.
- Baking soda provides gentle abrasion and odor neutralization without scratching surfaces.
- Essential oils (tea tree, lavender, eucalyptus) provide genuine antimicrobial properties and the scent you notice, not a synthetic fragrance layered on top.
Every one of these is documented, with its role and certification, on our ingredients page.
Why this matters more in open-plan homes
We work with a lot of clients in Playa Vista and Culver City, where a large share of homes are newer builds with open-plan layouts and central air circulation. In floor plans like these, whatever's used to clean one room doesn't stay contained. It moves through the HVAC system and settles across the whole home, which is exactly why the ingredient list matters more than the marketing on the front of the bottle.
The simplest way to check your own cabinet
You don't need a chemistry background to do a basic audit. Pull out anything with "fragrance" listed with no further explanation, anything you wouldn't want a child's hands wet with, and anything whose label warns against use in an unventilated room. That's usually enough to separate genuinely non-toxic products from ones borrowing the language without the substance.
If you'd rather skip the audit entirely, our deep clean uses the full ingredient list above on every visit, no exceptions.
