Grove Collaborative Glass Cleaner Review 2020 | Plant-based, Refillable Glass Cleaner Concentrate
The Top Line:
Even though we know glass is the most earth friendly material, it is also really heavy, so the Grove Collaborative Glass Cleaner Set is NOT a buy for us. Truthfully, we will probably buy their concentrated refill tubes but only when on sale… like now. Until it becomes a permanent price, we cannot recommend it as a buy.
Other Note: There are many freebies with Grove Collaborative, especially when ordering the first time, which can lower your overall cost of stocking up your home. We did not incorporate those into pricing since we cannot rely on them.
[Note: as of 18 May 2021, the old products are no longer available. Now, a totally plastic-free NEW product set is available.]
The Breakdown:
Cost & Products: $16.95 for a glass bottle with silicone bottom and 4 concentrated tubes. The glass cleaner refill is $10.95 for 4 (on sale as we write for $6.95) and a 3-pack of cleaning concentrates is $9.95.
***Note that the set of 4 no longer exists the 3-pack of cleaning essentials is REDUCED to $8.95. The new glass cleaning refills are a 2-pack for $6.95.
How ‘Clean’ Is This? Pretty clean. Once you have the glass spray bottle, you just order concentrate. Ingredients of the concentrate are unpronounceable. But, from out quick search on EWG, a website that determines how toxic chemicals are, we noted the ingredients are mostly low risk but one or two are mixed results in their environmental rating. However, the refill tubes are made from non-recyclable plastic.
Packaging: Typical: there was a box & bubble wrap (ick) for the glass; the concentrate was free-floating in the box (we loved that!).
Purchasing & Shipping: We have now ordered twice on the mobile site. The mobile site is so finicky that we ended up not ordering exactly what we wanted. The desktop site is a little better, but still not intuitive to navigate, since they have duplicate products listed.
PSA: The subscriptions is automatically applied, but there is a ton of flexibility - but it’s on you to remember. If you try to order before your next due shipment, all of the items are pre-loaded into your cart. We like the thought behind it, but would prefer opt-in versus opt-out.
Coupons: None that we know of, but there are freebies when you order the first time. After the first time, orders have minimum spend amounts for perks, which include additional products and free shipping. A lot of free gifts with purchases: A bonus that may make up for being a bit more pricey than Blueland.
Good to Know: Grove Collaborative is a B-corporation. Normal corporations have a goal to make more money for their owners. B-Corporations do that too, but they also set specific, social and ethical goals such on governance, environment, and workers. Read about Grove Collaborative’s goals here.
What’s Your Impact? No more plastic bottles. Glass bottles for the glass cleaner (and all of their other cleaners) replace the plastic ones you toss in the bin. We like this. A lot. But the refill tubes are not recyclable plastic — we do not like this.
The Experience & Efficacy
Context: I used Public Goods bathroom cleaner to clean the tiles and the tub. Next up: Grove Collaborative’s Glass cleaner for the glass shower doors. In a past life, we swore by Windex, but in the past 5-7 years have moved to either Method or Seventh Generation, whose natural ingredients do not compromise on quality of results. We ordered the Orange Rosemary scent.
Step one: get concentrate into glass bottle
Doing this caused about 5% of the product splattered out of the tube when we opened it. Not sure if we could have been more careful - you’ve been warned.
Fill up glass bottle with water
At about 2/3 full, there was so much foam that we decided to let it sit for a minute or two, but nothing happened.
We ended up tipping out the bubbles so we could fill the bottle all the way up. Twirl the bottle around to mix contents. Aside from the foam issue, contents mixed pretty easily.
Spray and clean shower doors
This part was really nice: the nozzle had a great spray.
Shower doors came out clean/streak free.
While enclosed inside of our tub, we did not experience the noxious fumes that standard cleaners can emit. we are happy to report that the experience was pleasant as the scent is very, very light.
A word on the glass bottles (and glass bottles in general)
They are pretty and can be cleaned on the exterior to maintain a tidy appearance.
Grove collaborative’s bottles have a silicone wrapper on the bottom to avoid breaking.
However: they are heavy. If you had to lug around multiple bottles around a house, we can see this getting tiresome. Plus, even with our quick tidying of the bathroom, we felt the weight of the handle rub into our skin between the thumb and forefinger. The heaviness of the glass is something to keep in mind if you have a very active household or clean very often.
The Cost
We compared all kinds of brands, from Windex and Sprayway to Seventh Generation, Method and Ecos Glass Cleaners. Grove Collaborative’s main competition is Blueland, which we have reviewed here and here. We assume a family goes through about 4 x 20oz bottles of glass cleaner per year in the last column (80oz).
Money Report: Grove Collaborative refills are only cheap if you buy a bonus 4-pack and on sale. The glass bottle on its own is $14.95, which seems a little steep to us, but bundling with the starter pack makes it much more cost effective. Bottom line is only buy when on sale.
The Good:
✔ Non-toxic and natural fragrance ingredients
✔ The scent is so much more pleasant and very, very light
✔ Refill tubes cut down on giant plastic bottle waste (let’s be real - plastic doesn’t get recycled)
✔ Glass bottle is pretty
✔ Streak-free clean
The Bad:
✗ Even though it’s much less plastic than normal bottles , the tubes are non-recyclable (check image above)
✗ It is more affordable on average, but Blueland is the cheapest
✗ If ordering their glass bottle, it is heavy
✗ Refills are more affordable than most standard brands but only when on sale
Our Recommendation:
The Grove Collaborative start kit is a personal choice on whether the heavy glass bottle will work for you. We know glass is the most earth friendly from a recycling standpoint. If you prefer a light bottle, but want to give Grove Collaborative a try, their refills are great, but only when on sale. Overall, we won’t recommend the glass cleaner refill unless their sale price becomes their permanent price. (
We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!
