Seventh Generation Zero Plastic Kitchen Cleaner Powder Review | Zero Waste, Plant- and Mineral-Based Kitchen Cleaner
The Top Line: BUY. We like Seventh Generation’s Kitchen Cleaner Powder. We think it does a good job and does it at a good price. The ingredients are pretty minimal and the packaging is zero plastic. Additionally, we look forwrd with Seventh Generation’s upcoming refills for the kitchen cleaner, the price will come down even more, and we would reuse the steel canister.
The powder is made of only 6 non-toxic ingredients, unlike other powders cleaners that contain bleach among other chemicals. Seventh Generation also employed waterless technology so that the powder will not cake.
The Breakdown:
Cost & Products: $10.49 for 11oz canister of Kitchen Cleaner or$60.75 for the Zero Plastic Complete Bundle (saving 20% by the bundle) via the Grove Collaborative Shop
Note: Grove Collaborative has increased the price of the Seventh Generation Zero-Plastic line since we first bought it — by about 33%.
How ‘Clean’ Is This? Pretty clean — only 6 ingredients in the kitchen cleaner. There is no phosphate or bleach. Mostly plant-derived or mineral based cleaners.
Packaging: Packaging is made of steel, one of the most recyclable and recycled material, according to SG. We verified by our own research here, here, and here. Quote from the Arch Daily:
“When recycled, the consumption of electricity lowers by 80%, causing a lower environmental impact and eliminating completely the extraction of raw materials.”
Purchasing & Shipping: We bought ours from the Grove Collaborative site, which we reviewed extensively here. $49 gets you free shipping, unless you have a VIP account.
For this delivery, many of our tins showed up pretty banged up and dented with a bit of powder inside the box. We reached out to Grove Collaborative and are waiting to hear back (we will update you!). Hopefully this is just new-product hurdles that get worked out over time.
Good to Know: The addition of Seventh Generation Zero Plastic Products may change our advice on the Grove Collaborative site. We still wish the site was better organized.
Extra Info: Seventh Generation is a Certified B-corporation. We love that. You can read about their mission and other values on their website.
FYI: Seventh Generation is working on refills for their canisters, including the Kitchen Powder.
What’s Your Impact? No more plastic packaging and fewer ingredients from a kitchen cleaner.
The Experience
What we’ve tried before: We had used powder cleaners with bleach (like Ajax or Comet) even in our kitchen and then transitioned to greener cleaners like Seventh Generation and Method sprays in plastic bottles. The powdered bleach stuff works like no other and is insanely cheap. But we did not want those crazy toxins in our home, let alone our kitchen.
Ignoring the directions on the canister, we used the Seventh Generation Kitchen Powder the way we would have used Ajax or Comet: sprinkle it around a damp surface to be cleaned.
Use a wet sponge or a swedish dishcloth (like the ones we reviewed here and here) to wake up and lather up the powder. You only need a tiny bit!
Because the Seventh Gen technology is even more water resistant than other powders we’ve used, it took a bit more water to get the scrub going.
We did not leave it on our kitchen counters or sink for long and it did not seem to streak. Note: you do only need a little bit of powder and plenty of water!
Safe for a variety of materials, including marble, granite, acrylic, stainless steel, corian, and laminate.
Versus our Coment/Ajax days, this took a little more elbow grease to work up suds — but that means the powder won’t cake over time.
No. Toxic. Smell. The scent is the standard Seventh Generation cleaning smell, which you would get with their standard spray bottle.
One drawback is that you can’t use it like a spray and just attack vertical surfaces; you would have to work it a bit with water onto a sponge or dishcloth first.
The Cost
We compared Seventh Generation’s Kitchen Powder cleaner to Lysol as well as ‘greener’ brands versions of all-purpose cleaners like Meliora (our review), Method, Seventh Generation sprays, Ecos, Cleancult (review), Veles (review here), and Blueland (our review). The Seventh Generation Kitchen Powder is the only kitchen-specific cleaner. We assumed the average household of 4 uses 10-16oz bottles per year.
Like the Seventh Generation Bathroom Cleaning Powder, which we reviewd here, we think that kitchen powder will last at least 4x longer than the liquid sprays, but it is possible that it may be more. About a teaspoon of Seventh Gen’s powder created enough suds to clean the entire kitchen sink area and counters of food, grease, and spills.
*We assumed that 1oz of powdered kitchen cleaner was equal to 4oz of liquid cleaner.
Money Report: Seventh Generation is one of the cheapest cleaners when comparing per ounce, especially if ordered as the bundle. The powdered kitchen cleaner is even cheaper than the Seventh Generation all-purpose spray cleaner.
The Good:
✔ Mineral-based ingredients that are biodegradable
✔ Dye-free, fragrance-free, bleach-free
✔ Plastic-free - the container is steel which is one of the most recycled materials in the world
✔ Certified B Corp
✔ Cleaned our sink as well as countertops of sticky food
✔ Non-Scratching powder (unlike Ajax/Comet)
✔ One of the cheapest cleaners on the market, even when comparing to non-eco friendly options like Lysol
The Bad:
✗ A little extra elbow grease to get bubbles going versus Ajax/Comet due to waterless technology
✗ Less spray-and-go, since you would need to work the foam up onto a sponge or swedish dishcloth
Our Recommendation:
BUY. We like Seventh Generation’s Kitchen Cleaner Powder. We think it does a good job and does it at a good price. The ingredients are pretty minimal and the packaging is zero plastic. Additionally, we look forwrd with Seventh Generation’s upcoming refills for the kitchen cleaner, the price will come down even more, and we would reuse the steel canister.
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!
