23 best refillable cleaning products for reducing plastic waste

Score: 92/100

This multi-purpose cleaner is designed to banish dirt, grease and germs from worktops, sinks, tiles and more. Our panellists were drawn to its “slick and cool” packaging and liked its strong, fresh fragrance. It cleaned brilliantly across all tests, with only a little scrubbing required to remove tough stains, and it left a sparkling, streak-free finish on everything from stainless steel hobs to glass coffee tables.

Everybody found it quick to dissolve in basic cold tap water but the opaque metal spray bottle made it tricky to gauge when a top-up was required. It sprayed finely and evenly though. And, if you already have a bottle, the effective cleaner is available as a standalone refill (£2.50).

It's not the only Neat product we'd recommend adding to your cleaning arsenal; we recently tested the brand's new daily shower spray at the GHI, awarding it an equally high score of 90/100. It impressed in our bath cleaning test and left our shower screen shiny and streak-free.

Score: 90/100

Another top-scorer for Neat. And if you want a fresh-smelling home, this all-purpose floor cleaner is a smart buy. Its mango and fig scent was a huge hit with panellists and the majority said it banished odours effectively.

The cleaner starter pick comes with a compact, refillable bottle made from 100% recycled plastic and a concentrated glass bottle of floor cleaner. Instructions were easy to follow but the consistency of the cleaner was on the runny side, leaving some panellists struggling to dispense the right amount – more of a sprinkle rather than a clean pour.

When it came down to the chores at hand, though, this impressed, barely dropping a mark while cleaning ceramic tiles and leaving behind only minor mud and tea stains on laminate.

Score: 89/100

Method’s multi-purpose cleaner cut through grease and food stains easily, leaving tiles, work surfaces, and the kitchen sink streak-free. It’s also effective for general cleaning around the home.

Our panel all found the bottle easy to use and the majority were impressed by how much surface one spritz covers. In fact, even tougher stains such as tea and coffee only needed two sprays to get the job done.

We trialled Method’s limited edition Cream Custard fragrance, which some found a little too sweet, while others liked its long-lasting scent.

While this fragrance doesn’t come as a concentrated formula, the other multi-purpose scents do (including Lotus Flower + Sage, Cherry + Bergamot, Jasmine + Cypresswood, and Mango + Citrus); simply add 10ml to a 100ml bottle, top up with water and you’ll be ready to spray away!

Score: 88/100

This "clean green" mix is suitable for use on almost all surfaces. It's also both vegan and palm oil-free. Performance-wise, it excelled all-round, eroding stubborn stains with minimal scrubbing for gleaming, non-streaky results.

Most testers liked its allergy-friendly orange fragrance and, though pricey, they appreciated that one bottle of concentrate can make a lot of cleaner, and therefore last a long time. Our panellists did find it messy to dispense, which can make it more time-consuming to use with the small amber glass spray bottle (bought separately for £2).

Score: 88/100

This is another fantastic product from Neat that you’ll want in your cleaning cupboard. The formula turns from liquid to foam (when sprayed and once made up in the refillable bottle), and is designed to cling to the toilet bowl for effective stain and odour removal.

Its cleaning efficacy was something most of our panel vouched for too. After sitting for five minutes, stains were removed from the toilet without the need for excessive scrubbing and it cut through grime around the rim, only needing a wipe to clear it up afterwards.

Plus, it tackled dried toothpaste on tiles, shampoo stains, grease and soap scum throughout the bathroom. It was less impressive at tackling limescale and cleaning grout though, so opt for a specific product for those tasks.

Score: 87/100

Grubby sink or stinky bin? This plant-based cleaning kit will tackle all your household grime. Soft on surfaces and easy on the nose, our panellists found it good value for money and thought it “smelled lovely”. The drops dissolved, mixed and cleaned well, but a lot of elbow grease was needed to lift dried or burnt-on stains, so save it for lighter cleans and everyday spills. It also left some streaks on glass.

Though not very storage-friendly, the bulky bottle included doesn’t require frequent top-ups, which busy folk will appreciate. This starter kit includes three refills or you can sign up to a handy subscription service.

Score: 87/100

With a similar design to our winning refillable, Purdy and Figg’s Counter Clean kit comes with a bottle for life and concentrated refills that just need diluting before you get started.

It left our tiles spotless and the cleaner cut through grease on our countertop without leaving any sticky residue behind. Testers found it struggled more when tasked with removing shampoo and grease from the bathroom, needing some extra scrubbing and a final buffing to remove all stains and leave it clear of watermarks.

If you’re willing to expend some elbow grease on tough stains though, the gorgeous natural scents are a real treat.

Score: 86/100

For daily freshen ups and quick wipe downs, this cleaner was a winner in our panellists' eyes. They loved the pleasant scent, which wasn’t too overpowering, and the compact glass bottle has a nice design that they were happy to display rather than keep hidden away.

In terms of cleaning power, it was best at wiping down tiles and removing light stains such as shampoo and body wash from a shower screen. It removed some limescale too, but this was more superficial and required some scrubbing – for tougher marks and deep cleans, a stronger cleaner may be better. Despite this, most of our testers said they’d continue to use the product as well as recommending it to others.

Score: 85/100

Method’s shower cleaner is a great pick for preventing a build-up of water marks and keeping your shower sparkling. The brand claims you don’t need to rinse either – simply spritz and go.

In the lab, it left our tiles shining and removed marks from taps too. However, we noticed that the spray didn’t quite dissolve all the soap and water marks on our shower screen. It also left surfaces a little streaky when used as advised (without rinsing), so we’d recommend giving it a once over rather than just spraying and leaving.

That said, only minimal wiping is required, which our panellists appreciated, and they loved the long-lasting fragrance, finding the it a pleasure to clean with overall.

This cleaner comes with a bottle but if you already have a reusable one, you can buy a refill separately.

Score: 85/100

Smol's Foaming Handwash can be added to your Smol subscription via their website. For £3 you'll receive the bottle and one refill; after that, it's £10 for a box of six refills.

Smol’s handwash comes in tablet format and dissolves in water, allowing you to refill the same bottle over and over again. Our panel said the foam had a pleasant scent and was effective at neutralising odours such as garlic or onion on your hands from cooking, as well as cleaning mucky hands (although it struggled with dirt trapped under nails).

Note you can't buy the handwash by itself; it's only available if you’re already subscribed to one of Smol’s other products. Our testers also rated the brand's Non-Bio Capsules (a GHI winner, scoring 90/100) as well as its Stain Gel (79/100), so you could order it as an add-on to one of those, or you may want to consider signing up for the home bundle so you can make multiple swaps at once.

Score: 85/100

This starter kit comes with three sachets of cleaning concentrate, a metal bottle and a glass microfibre cloth – everything you need to get cleaning immediately (sorry)! Made using live, healthy bacteria, the formula claims to remove dirt from deep inside the pores of common surfaces, where viruses like to breed.

Our panellists liked its attractive packaging and pleasant scent and found it fast to dilute. It cut through grease a treat, making it a top pick for cleaning kitchen appliances, but it left our ceramic tiles slightly smeary.

Refills can be bought online (albeit at greater cost than from other brands) and there’s a subscription service available too. Our testers particularly liked the inclusion of a pre-paid envelope for returning empty sachets for recycling.

Score: 85/100

This detergent’s mix of aloe vera and rosemary was a big hit with our panellists who loved the scent it left on their clothes. It’s made with natural ingredients and effectively removed baby food, tomato puree and coffee marks from our laundry. Red wine stains on cotton lifted well too.

Across both cotton and polycotton washes, the cleaner struggled to remove mud and grass stains, however, most panellists were still pleased with its vegan cleaning power.

As the refillable product comes as a bulk buy, most found it difficult to refill their reusable bottles or pour the liquid into the washing machine drawer without making a mess. But that’s a small price to pay though for an effective, eco-friendlier alternative.

Score: 84/100

Made with essential orange oil, this citrus all-purpose cleaner is derived from 100% natural ingredients and claims to neutralise 99.9% of bacteria.

Instead of a liquid concentrate, this refillable comes as a pouch that can be used to top up your bottle and then collected free of charge to be cleaned and refilled or recycled. You can use it neat on a cloth or diluted, and our panellists found it effectively cut through grease, sticky stains and soap scum with ease. In fact, it even left most surfaces streak-free and shiny – result!

Burnt-on stains were tricky, but they always are. Most trouble came when refilling our bottle. The pouch is large and the product more viscous, which means it’s difficult to pour without making a mess. Otherwise, it’s an effective, pleasant-scented refillable.

Score: 84/100

If you, or someone in your household, has an allergy or sensitivity, you may want to try this antibacterial, fragrance-free cleaner, which is suitable for use on all hard surfaces. This brand purposefully doesn’t supply a bottle to encourage the reuse of one you already have – an ethos you may or may not welcome, depending on your existing bottle supply!

Our testers found it reliable when tackling grease and light soiling, especially on tiles, but it smeared on glass and failed to lift burnt-on food without some heavy-duty scrubbing.

Score: 84/100

Limescale is every cleaner’s nightmare so we were excited to get our hands on Bower Collective’s dedicated solution. Testers found it successfully removed limescale, soap scum and water marks from tiles and baths with minimal elbow grease.

But it struggled more when combatting the same on shower heads, taps and toilets. Superficial limescale budged but when it came to built-up residue, even tough scrubbing couldn’t clear everything. Most panellists were pleased with the results though.

The product was easy to dispense, and panellists found it worked wonders at descaling a kettle, too. Some had difficulties refilling a bottle with product from the pouch and you need to buy a bottle separately (or use one you already have at home), but all in all it’s an effective cleaner for preventing limescale and ridding watermarks from your home.

Score: 82/100

This versatile Zoflora refillable comes as a concentrated pod that needs diluting with 750ml of water before you can get to work on stains and spills. The instructions were easy to understand but the pod takes around seven minutes to fully dissolve.

Once ready, testers found this pleasant-smelling spray effective at cutting through grease and removing soap scum, leaving surfaces streak-free and shiny after little scrubbing.

Tea, coffee and dried on stains required more attention though. And make sure your refillable bottle can hold 750ml to make the most of the pod (or buy one of Zoflora’s own bottles). Otherwise, it’s a savvy buy.

Score: 82/100

These good-looking, non-toxic refills can be used on most surfaces, including wood and stone. Our panellists loved the clean, contemporary design and felt the metal bottle with its sturdy trigger would last a long time, even if it is slightly tricky to fill up (tip: do so slowly to avoid lots of foaming).

It gave great coverage but our testers had to scrub hard to remove tough stains. The geranium fragrance proved divisive and some testers found the solution best suited to quick, light cleans, but a couple of sprays was ample to freshen up everything from our kitchen appliances to our bathrooms.

Score: 82/100

These soluble tablets are formulated for use as general purpose sprays on everything from granite and marble to stainless steel, laminate and sealed wood. Our panellists found the sturdy, attractively designed bottles (available as part of the Keep It Clean kit, £16) comfortable to hold and use, but noted that the tablet failed to dissolve without a good shake.

Once ready to clean, it rid their hobs of grease but left glass quite streaky. In-house, our testers reported similar results, but found it just as effective as other products at cleaning more stubborn soils.