For my pans, chef’s knives, and dishwasher-fearing novelty mugs, out came Blueland’s dry dish soap dispenser. It looks a bit like a rubbery cocktail shaker, and once I shook out a teeny hill of powdered soap onto a wet sponge, suds formed quickly to handle every dirty dish in the sink. I’ll still want to break out the Bar Keepers Friend to turn blackened pans back to silver, but otherwise, count this as another conversion. I look forward to never buying liquid dish soap ever again.
Laundry
I already swear by Blueland’s laundry tablets. They cost much less than any laundry pods I can pick up in my neighborhood, and they’re the first dry detergent that has never failed me in a cold wash cycle.
If only I had been enjoying Blueland’s dryer balls this whole time too. They’re easily my favorite discovery from my time as guinea pig for the Blueland line. Yes, these felted softballs reduce wrinkles, but the real miracle is how much they cut down on dryer time—especially when it comes to heavy, absorbent items like bath and kitchen towels. Goodbye dryer sheets and extra hours spent at the laundromat.
Toilet Cleaner
Instead of shooting an inverted jug of liquid chemicals around the inner lip of a toilet, Blueland had me plop a fizzing cleaning tablet to dissolve right into the bowl. Many days after a quick and breezy scrubbing, the porcelain of my commode remained white, bright, and had a lemon-cedar scent that I strongly prefer to the eye-watering aroma of bleach. You’d never know it’s the spot in my house where people are allowed to poop. Another win.
Spray Cleaners
All spray cleaners are mostly water, and none of them are magic. But Blueland’s original product is excellent. I was happy to supply my own tap water to combine with Blueland’s cleaning tablets inside the starter kit’s hardy, reusable Tritan plastic bottles, rather than encouraging the shipment of dilution around the country. The multi-surface cleaner spiffed up my kitchen counters with fewer spritzes and wipe passes than other eco-friendly brands I’ve tried, the bathroom cleaner carries a whiff of eucalyptus and mint, and the glass cleaner left no streaks on my mirrors and even got the smudges off my eyeglasses.
Personal Care
Here is where my “This works great, I’m converted forever” train comes to a stop. Blueland’s body wash comes in their familiar arrangement of powder + water + reusable bottle, but a lather required more soap than I’m used to, and the scent packed a nose wallop so cloying, I rinsed it all off as fast as possible.
The facial cleaner is made of mild, hypoallergenic ingredients, and worked fine for me, but I don’t have a particularly tricky face to clean, so it’s not much of a trial here. If you’re pickier about face cleanser than I am, take a look at their ingredients, and maybe call your favorite dermatologist for advice.
Cleaning Tools
To round out my test of Blueland cleaning products, I tried the “pop-up sponge” (as in “add water to pop up the thin, dehydrated sponge brick”), the scrub sponge, and what they call a cloud cloth.
The sponges successfully shuttled around soap and water, scrubbed off stuck-on food, and didn’t fall apart. Good job sponges. You sponged. The cloud towel is a reusable absorbent cloth that promises to replace up to 1,500 paper towels. Unfortunately, I found it quickly saturated with filth, took more time to clean than the surfaces it wiped off, and was then slow to dry. If I only had to use one paper towel a day, maybe this could replace them, but for now I’ll stick with a stack of dish towels.
The Bottom Line
Even if you aren’t particularly worried about single-use plastic waste or frightening lists of ingredients, Blueland’s offerings are inexpensive, effective, and take up very little space in your home. Subscribe to the ones you love, save even more money, and enjoy knowing that the packaging won’t pile onto an ever-towering landfill somewhere. All of it can be recycled or composted—just be sure to check the labels to see which empty packs can be turned into dirt in your backyard, versus those destined for an industrial composting facility.