Safely Glass Cleaner Review 2021 | Eco-friendly, refillable glass cleaner
The Top Line: It’s not a buy for us. Safely Glass Cleaner is a great, easy to use product that smells and cleans wonderfully - no streaks. But we have a few issues — there are some ingredients that may cause some concern according to EWG, and the liquid formula is heavy to ship, meaning a higher carbon footprint. On top of all of all of that, the pricing is quite high, highest among the other glass cleaners out there.
The Breakdown:
Cost & Products: $7 for 28 fl. oz.
How ‘Clean’ Is This? Cardboard box packaging, but liquid formula means higher carbon footprint from shipping and transport. While it is mostly ‘plant-powered’ with salt and coconut derived ingredients, there are some ingredients that sow cause for concern. Product overall does not appear to be biodegradable.
Packaging: Recyclable cardboard box.
Purchasing & Shipping: We purchased on Safely’s website.
What’s Your Impact?
Comes in liquid format so it requires more energy to ship and transport than a tablet option like Blueland
We like that refills come in a pouch instead of another bottle, but it’s still a plastic pouch. :(
The Experience
Context: We have been predominantly using Blueland and Method glass cleaners.
We really like the fresh scent! While it is stronger than our other eco-friendly options, we didn’t find it to be overpowering.
Cleaned very well, no streaks!
Comes in liquid format so no need to make the solution from a tablet
Overall, we liked the ease of use and the fresh ‘rise’ scent!
Ingredients
We took a look at the list of ingredients on the EWG (Environmental Working Group) database, which rates ingredients from a 0 to 10 scale (0 being the best, 10 being the worst).
Overall, the ingredient list was a bit longer than we typically like to see, and there were two ingredients where we did find some concerns:
Cocamidopropyl Betaine: Rated 1-5 depending on usage. Ingredients linked to harm to the immune system, a class of health problems that manifest as allergic reactions or an impaired capacity to fight disease and repair damaged tissue in the body.
Benzisothiazolinone: Rated 3-6 depending on usage. Ingredients linked to harm to the immune system, a class of health problems that manifest as allergic reactions or an impaired capacity to fight disease and repair damaged tissue in the body.
The Cost
We looked at a range of glass cleaner options - from Grove Collaborative to Blueland to Method to Windex:
Money Report: Safely Glass Cleaner is the most expensive option we found.
The Good:
✔ Ease of use
✔ Recyclable Packaging
✔ Love the scent!
✔ Cleans quite well, no streaks!
The Bad:
✗ Does not appear to be biodegradable
✗ Very pricey when compared to other glass cleaners!
✗ We have concerns about two of the ingredients: Benzisothiazolinone and Cocamidopropyl Betaine
✗ Liquid formula means heavier, higher carbon-footprint transport
Our Recommendation: It’s not a buy for us. Safely Glass Cleaner is a great, easy to use product that smells and cleans wonderfully - no streaks. But we have a few issues — there are some ingredients that may cause some concern according to EWG, and the liquid formula is heavy to ship, meaning a higher carbon footprint. On top of all of all of that, the pricing is quite high, highest among the other glass cleaners out there.
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!
