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Cleaning

Four ways we work in a home, priced by rooms and condition rather than by guesswork.

Sensitivities

What we change when someone in the house reacts to scent, dust or residue.

Studio

Who turns up, where we work, and what we have written down about the trade.

Start

Book a first visit, ask a question, or read the answers we give most often.

Every ingredient, published.

Seven products. Every intentionally added ingredient named, where it comes from, and what it is actually doing. Including the one that is not plant-derived.

  • Fragrance-free by default
  • Seven products
  • One synthesised exception
A flat lay of small glass bottles, dishes of powder, salt and dried citrus peel, eucalyptus and rosemary sprigs on a pale surface

"Non-toxic" is not a regulated term. Read that again.

No United States agency defines non-toxic for cleaning products, and none certifies it. Any company can print it on a bottle tomorrow. The closest thing to a rule is the FTC Green Guides, which say a general non-toxic claim needs competent and reliable scientific evidence that the product is safe for both people and the environment. That is a genuinely high bar, and very little on any shelf clears it.

We still use the phrase, because it is what people type into a search box when they are worried about what gets sprayed near their children. What we do about it is publish the list below, so the phrase is a starting point for a conversation rather than the end of one.

Two further things worth saying plainly. Plant-derived is not the same as harmless: the dose makes the poison, and essential oils are among the more reactive things you can put into indoor air. And where a conventional disinfectant is genuinely necessary, we use one and name it, rather than reaching for a plant-based product with no registration behind it.

Four cloth colours, and a rule nobody bends.

Cross-contamination is not solved by a stronger product. It is solved by a cloth that never leaves the room it belongs to. This is the single most useful thing we do, and it costs nothing but discipline.

  • Red

    Toilets and urinals only. These cloths never touch another surface and never leave the room.

  • Yellow

    Bathroom sinks, tile, tubs, taps and mirrors. Separate from red so nothing travels upward.

  • Green

    Kitchen and food-contact surfaces. Green never enters a bathroom.

  • Blue

    General low-risk dusting, glass and living areas.

The kit, in full.

Each product below lists every intentionally added ingredient, its source, and why it is in the bottle. The honest note at the end of each one is the part most sites leave out.

Everyday surface cleaner

Counters, tables, cabinet fronts, painted trim, appliance exteriors

  • Fragrance-free by default, essential oil on request
  • Every room, every visit
Ingredients in Everyday surface cleaner
IngredientWhere it comes fromWhat it is doing
WaterMunicipal, filteredCarries everything else and does most of the actual soil removal.
Decyl glucosideCorn glucose plus coconut or palm kernel fatty alcoholA mild nonionic surfactant. Lifts grease so it can be wiped away. Readily biodegradable under OECD 301.
Sodium citrateCitric acid, fermented from sugarSoftens hard Portland tap water so the surfactant is not wasted on minerals.
Sodium gluconateGlucose fermentationA chelator. Stops calcium and iron in the water leaving a film behind.
Lactic acidFermented plant sugarsHolds the pH slightly acidic, which handles light mineral haze on glass and chrome.
Essential oil blend, only if you askopt-in onlySteam-distilled lavender, rosemary or bergamotScent. Nothing else. It does not make the product clean better.
Dwell time
No dwell time. It is a cleaner, not a disinfectant.
Certification
EPA Safer Choice (partner ID SC-DEMO-0000)

The honest bit. The essential oil version is the one we would talk you out of if anyone in the house has asthma. Terpenes such as d-limonene and linalool are themselves volatile organic compounds, and they can react with indoor ozone to form formaldehyde and ultrafine particles. Plant-derived is not the same as inert.

Glass and mirror

Windows, mirrors, glass shower doors, appliance fronts

  • Unscented only
  • Blue cloths only
Ingredients in Glass and mirror
IngredientWhere it comes fromWhat it is doing
WaterDeionisedDeionised water is what stops the streaking. Most streaks are dissolved minerals, not product.
EthanolFermented corn, denaturedFlashes off fast so the glass dries before it can spot.
Caprylyl/capryl glucosideCoconut fatty alcohol plus glucoseA very low-foaming surfactant for fingerprints and cooking film.
Dwell time
No dwell time.

The honest bit. Ethanol is a VOC. The quantity here is small and it evaporates within a minute, but if you are chemically sensitive we will open the window and do glass first, not last.

Bathroom descaler

Tile, grout, shower glass, taps, toilets

  • Fragrance-free
  • Red and yellow cloths only, never leaves the bathroom
Ingredients in Bathroom descaler
IngredientWhere it comes fromWhat it is doing
Citric acidFermented sugarDissolves the limescale and soap scum that Portland water leaves on glass and chrome.
Lactic acidFermented plant sugarsWorks on the same deposits at a slightly different pH, and rinses cleanly.
Coco glucosideCoconut oil plus glucoseHelps the acid wet the surface instead of beading off vertical tile.
WaterFilteredDilution.
Dwell time
Five to ten minutes on scale, kept wet.

The honest bit. Acidic cleaners will etch unsealed marble, travertine and some terrazzo. If your bathroom has natural stone we use a pH-neutral product instead and tell you why the scale takes longer to shift.

Oxygen paste

Grout, oven interiors, stained porcelain, tea and coffee marks

  • Fragrance-free
  • Deep cleans and move-outs
Ingredients in Oxygen paste
IngredientWhere it comes fromWhat it is doing
Sodium percarbonateSoda ash plus hydrogen peroxideIn water it releases hydrogen peroxide and soda ash. It bleaches organic stains without chlorine and breaks down to water, oxygen and soda ash.
Sodium carbonateMineral soda ashRaises pH so grease saponifies and lifts.
Calcium carbonateGround mineralA very fine abrasive. Softer than porcelain and glass, so it will not scratch them.
Dwell time
Twenty minutes to two hours depending on the stain.

The honest bit. This is what replaces oven spray. It needs time rather than fumes, which is why an oven is quoted as a separate line and not thrown in.

Sealed wood floor cleaner

Finished fir, oak and engineered floors

  • Fragrance-free
  • Damp mop, never wet
Ingredients in Sealed wood floor cleaner
IngredientWhere it comes fromWhat it is doing
WaterFilteredThe point is how little of it we use.
Coco glucosideCoconut oil plus glucoseA mild surfactant at a low enough concentration to leave no film underfoot.
Sodium citrateCitric acidWater softening, so the floor dries without a haze.
Dwell time
None. It should be dry within a minute of the mop passing.

The honest bit. On a hundred-year-old Portland fir floor the finish is usually the weak point, not the wood. We test an out-of-sight patch first, and if the finish is worn through we mop less and vacuum more rather than push water into open grain.

Enzyme treatment

Pet accidents, litter areas, bins, drains

  • Fragrance-free
  • Spot use, by request
Ingredients in Enzyme treatment
IngredientWhere it comes fromWhat it is doing
Protease and amylase blendBacterial fermentation, Bacillus speciesEnzymes break proteins and starches into smaller pieces so the odour source is removed rather than covered.
Coco glucosideCoconut oil plus glucoseWets the soil so the enzymes can reach it.
Sodium citrateCitric acidBuffers pH into the range the enzymes work in.
Dwell time
Fifteen minutes minimum, kept damp. Longer is better.

The honest bit. Enzyme products are not disinfectants and should not be sold as one. They are the right tool for odour and the wrong tool for illness.

Hydrogen peroxide disinfectant

Only where disinfection is genuinely warranted

  • Fragrance-free
  • By request, or when someone in the house is ill
Ingredients in Hydrogen peroxide disinfectant
IngredientWhere it comes fromWhat it is doing
Hydrogen peroxide, 0.5 to 1.4 percentnot plant-derivedSynthesisedAn EPA-registered disinfectant that breaks down to water and oxygen. This is not a plant-derived ingredient and we do not pretend otherwise.
Stabilisers and a wetting agentnot plant-derivedProprietary to the manufacturerKeeps the peroxide from decomposing in the bottle and keeps the surface wet long enough for the dwell time to mean anything.
Dwell time
The label time, usually one to ten minutes, with the surface visibly wet throughout.
Certification
EPA-registered, registration number DEMO-00000-0

The honest bit. Most homes, most weeks, do not need a disinfectant at all. Soap, friction and a rinse remove the great majority of what is on a kitchen counter. We reach for this when someone is sick, after raw meat, in a bathroom shared with an immunocompromised person, or when a landlord requires it. We say so on the invoice.

When a conventional disinfectant is the right answer.

A plant-based product is not automatically the safer choice when the risk is a pathogen rather than a chemical. There are situations where reaching for something gentler is the irresponsible option, and we would rather say so than sell you a feeling.

  • Norovirus. No plant-based product is an adequate substitute for a chlorine-based disinfectant here. If someone in the house has had it, we will tell you what to use and how long to leave it.
  • Raw meat and poultry surfaces. Wash first, then disinfect, then rinse. Cleaning alone leaves a real risk on a food-contact surface.
  • An immunocompromised household member. Shared bathrooms and high-touch surfaces get the registered peroxide product, at label dwell time, every visit.
  • A lease or a landlord that requires it. We will do it and note it on the invoice, so there is a record.
  • Mould past roughly ten square feet. This is not a disinfection problem at all. It is a moisture problem, and it needs a remediation contractor rather than a cleaner with a spray bottle.

What a certification actually tells you.

Two of these are third-party programmes with published criteria. The third is insurance. None of them is the same as a company publishing its own ingredient list, which is why this page exists.

  • EPA Safer Choice

    Partner ID SC-DEMO-0000

    Products carrying the Safer Choice label have had every intentionally added ingredient reviewed by the EPA against its Safer Chemical Ingredients List.

  • Green Seal GS-37

    Certificate GS-DEMO-0000

    A standard for institutional cleaning products covering toxicity, biodegradability, VOC content and packaging.

  • Bonded and insured

    Policy VH-DEMO-0000

    General liability and a janitorial bond. Certificates are shared with any client who asks, before the first visit.

Certification identifiers on this site are deliberate placeholders. Verdant Home is a design demonstration, not a trading business, and inventing a real registration number would be exactly the behaviour this page argues against.

Bring us your own list.

If you already have products you trust, send the labels over. We will tell you which ones we would keep using in your house and which ones we would not, before you book anything.

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