Are Method Products Safe?

Are Method products safe?

If you’ve looked for safe cleaning products, you’ve probably come across Method cleaners.  You may have noticed their hand soap, body wash and bar soaps too.

Or maybe you saw a method cleaning product review that said they were non-toxic or environmentally safe. 

But is Method actually a safe brand?

Is Method non-toxic?

Are Method cleaning products chemical-free?

They would like you to believe so.

If you look through their website, they talk about keeping potentially toxic chemicals out of homes and using naturally derived ingredients that are safe for families and pets.

Sound pretty good, doesn’t it?

It might even be enough to convince most people that their products are safe and completely non-toxic.

However, a closer look at Method cleaning products ingredients will show you that’s not the case.

Years ago, I started using Method cleaning products, thinking they were safer than regular brands like Clorox and Lysol.  Eventually I switched to Green Works, since they were more affordable, but I would still buy Methods handsoaps because I loved the smell of them.

It wasn’t until a couple of years ago, when I started revamping my life, that I started to question how natural these products really were.

I knew that food companies often lied on their labels, like naming their product 100% juice, even though it contains other ingredients too, and that there were no regulations when it came to labeling food as “natural”.  

Since one of my priorities is to eliminate as many chemicals and toxins from my home as I can, I figured it was time do some research into these so-called natural cleaning products and see if they really were safer than the regular brands.

About Method

Who Owns Method?

Method is owned by SC Johnson, the same company that owns other regular brands of cleaning products like Windex, Fantastik, Pledge and Scrubbing Bubbles.

What are Method Cleaning Products?

Method offers a wide range of cleaning products, like all-purpose cleaners, bathroom cleaners, laundry and dish soap, and more.

What else does Method make?

In addition to a large line of cleaning products, Method also offers a good variety of hand soaps, as well as body wash, bar soaps, and men’s deodorant.

Does Method actually clean?

If you read any of the Method cleaning product reviews online, you’ll see that most people find them to be just as effective at cleaning than regular brands, which was my experience with them too.

What’s so good about Method?

Method products come in some great scents and nice-looking bottles, which is what makes them so appealing.

Finding Safe Cleaning Products

So, what are the best natural cleaning products?

Unfortunately, there aren’t any regulations or tests that companies have to pass to be allowed to claim that their products are “green” or “natural”. 

While many companies making these claims may ensure that they aren’t using certain harmful ingredients (like phosphates and parabens), that doesn’t mean that all the other ingredients they are using are non-toxic.

By highlighting the harmful ingredients they don’t use, they can lead customers to believe their product is non-toxic or made from all-natural ingredients.

It’s called greenwashing, and many “green” and “natural” brands selling cleanering products or body care products do it.

Because of this, we can’t just take a company’s word that their product is safe.

So, how do we know what really is safe?

The only way to really know whether or not a product is safe is to look at the ingredients that are in it. 

Luckily, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has done this for us and has two databases that look at each ingredient in a product and provide ratings for the individual ingredients and an overall rating for the product, making it easy to figure out which product is truly safest.

EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning

The EWG cleaning products ratings database uses an A, B, C, D, F rating scale.

A is for lowest concern and is green.

B is for low concern and is green.

C is for moderate concern and is orange.

D is for high concern and is orange.

F is for highest concern and is red.

The database also provides a rating for how transparent the company is about the ingredients in the product, and gives products with poor ingredient disclosures lower scores.

EWG Skin Deep

EWG’s database for make up and body care products gives products and ingredients scores from 1 to 10. 

1 and 2 mean low hazard and are green.

3 to 6 mean moderate hazard and are orange. 

7 to 10 mean high hazard and are red.

It also provides a rating for data availability, which rates how much scientific data and studies there are on the safety of the ingredients.

EWG Verified

For both databases, EWG also has products that are rated higher than an A or a 1. 

These products are EWG verified, which means they meet all of EWG’s criteria for a safe product, including not containing any ingredients from EWG’s unacceptable list and providing full transparency on the products ingredients.

Are Method Cleaning Products Safe?

So, is Method really a safe brand?

Below I have summarized the scores from EWG’s databases for some common Method cleaners and body care products.  I have also listed the data availability or ingredient disclosure rating, to help you decide if each product meets your standard for a safty.

If you decide that Method products are not safe enough for you, I have also listed alternative brands that have better ratings on EWG. 

The products I considered the best deal were based on a combination of the overall EWG score, the individual ingredient ratings, the price of the product and how easy it was for me to find it online to purchase.

If there were any products that were EWG verified, I have listed the one/ones with the best price too.

*Note: The ratings listed below and prices that the best deals were determined by were accurate as of March 1, 2020.

Method All-Purpose Cleaner- Grapefruit

EWG Score: B

Ingredient Disclosure: Good

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Moderate/High Concern: 9
• Low/Lowest Concern: 8

Safer Alternatives:

For all-purpose cleaners, there were 14 brands that had A rating, and one that was EWG verified.  While there was more than one affordable option, I chose the earth Friendly one as the best deal because the price is for a 2/pack.

Best Deal:

• Attitude All Purpose Cleaner- Lavender
  • EWG Score: A

EWG Verified:

• AspenClean All-Purpose Cleaner- Grapefruit & Lavender

Method ANTIBAC Antibacterial Bathroom Cleaner- Spearmint

EWG Score: F

Ingredient Disclosure: Poor

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Highest Concern: 1
• Moderate/High Concern: 1
• Low/Lowest Concern: 1

Safer Alternatives:

While there were no bathroom cleaners that were EWG verified, there were 6 brands that had A-rated products, including a Lysol product. 

While the Lysol product was the cheapest option, I didn’t rate it as the best deal as it did contain one D-rated ingredient and the Attitude bathroom cleaner didn’t have any higher than a C. 

Best Deal:

• Attitude Natural Bathroom Cleaner
  • EWG Score: A

Method Glass + Surface Cleaner- Mint

EWG Score: B

Ingredient Disclosure: Some

Number of known ingredients that are:

• Moderate/High Concern: 4
• Low/Lowest Concern: 7

Safer Alternatives:

There was 1 glass cleaner that was EWG verified and 5 brands that had A-rated products, though you could also just make your own with vinegar and water.

EWG Verified:

• AspenClean Glass Cleaner- Lime

Best Deal:

• 365 Everyday Value, Glass Cleaner- Unscented
  • EWG Score: A

Method Squirt + Mop Hard Floor Cleaner- Lemon Ginger

EWG Score: D

Ingredient Disclosure: Poor

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Highest Concern: 1
• Moderate/High Concern: 4
• Low/Lowest Concern: 1

Safer Alternatives:

While there were 3 brands of Floor cleaner with A ratings, Aunt Fannies was the only one I could find to purchase online.  It comes in 5 scents, bright lemon, eucalyptus, fresh lime mint, lavender, and sweet mandarin.

There was also 1 floor cleaner that is EWG verified.

EWG Verified:

• AspenClean Floor Cleaner

Best Deal:

• Aunt Fannie’s Floor Cleaner Vinegar Wash Concentrate
  • EWG Score: A

Method Heavy Duty Degreaser- Lemongrass

EWG Score: D

Ingredient Disclosure: Good

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Moderate/High Concern: 8
• Low/Lowest Concern: 12

Safer Alternatives:

There were only 4 brands of degreasers with A ratings and none that were EWG verified. While the Attitude brand is labeled as a kitchen cleaner, not a degreaser, it does say “with degreasing power” on the label so I counted it as a degreaser.

Best Deal:

• Attitude Kitchen Cleaner
  • EWG Score: A

Method Wood for Good Daily Clean- Almond

EWG Score: F

Ingredient Disclosure: Some

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Highest Concern: 1
• Moderate/High Concern: 10
• Low/Lowest Concern: 3

Method Wood for Good Polish- Almond

EWG Score: D

Ingredient Disclosure: Some

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Moderate/High Concern: 7
• Low/Lowest Concern: 5

Safer Alternatives:

There were not a lot of safer options for wood cleaners and polishes.  There were only 2 brands that had A-rated wood cleaners, and only 1 wood polish with an A rating and none that were EWG verified.

Best Deal:

• Truce Wood Cleaner Concentrate
  • EWG Score: A

Best Deal:

• Eco-Me Wood Polish
  • EWG Score: A

Method Steel for Real Stainless Steel Polish- Apple Orchard

EWG Score: D

Ingredient Disclosure: Some

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Moderate/High Concern: 6
• Low/Lowest Concern: 6

Safer Alternatives:

While BuggyLOVE’s was the only brand with an A rating in metal cleaners, it was specifically for cleaning strollers.  I wasn’t sure if this would work to clean appliances too so I decided to list the best deal with a B-rating instead.

Best Deal:

• Breathe Stainless Steel Polish- Fragrance-Free
  • EWG Score: B

Method Detergent Pour- Beach Sage

EWG Score: D

Ingredient Disclosure: Some

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Moderate/High Concern: 16
• Low/Lowest Concern: 10

Safer Alternatives:

Finding safer laundry detergent wasn’t hard at all.

There were over 20 brands on EWG with A ratings and 1 brand that is EWG certified. Since some people prefer liquid and others prefer the laundry pods or packs, I have listed the best deal for both.

EWG Verified: AspenClean Laundry Detergent- Unscented or Lavender Lemongrass

Best Deal- Liquid Detergent:

• Better Life Laundry Detergent, Lavender Grapefruit
  • EWG Score: A

Best Deal- Laundry Pod/Pack: 

• Presto! Laundry Detergent Packs- Fragrance-Free
  • EWG Score: A

Method Fabric Softener- Fresh Air

EWG Score: D

Ingredient Disclosure: Some

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Moderate/High Concern: 6
• Low/Lowest Concern: 5

Safer Alternatives:

The only A-rated fabric softener listed was for Greenshield organic, but I was not able to find their fabric softener anywhere online.  Instead, I have listed the best deal of the 4 brands with a B rating.

Best Deal:

• Ecover Fabric Softener- Morning Fresh
  • EWG Score: B

Method Dish Soap- Lemon Mint

EWG Score: D

Ingredient Disclosure: Some

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Moderate/High Concern: 10
• Low/Lowest Concern: 7

Safer Alternatives:

There was one brand of dish soap that was EWG verified, in both unscented and lavender lemongrass. There were also 14 options for brands with A-rated products, many of which were over $5 a bottle.

EWG Verified:

• AspenClean Dish Soap- Unscented

Best Deal:

• Earth Friendly Products ECOS Dishmate Dish Soap- Free & Clear
  • EWG Score: A

Method Smarty Dish Dishwasher Tabs-Fragrance Free

EWG Score: C

Ingredient Disclosure: Some

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• Moderate/High Concern: 7
• Low/Lowest Concern: 5

Safer Alternatives:

There was one brand that has an EWG verified dishwasher soap and 11 brands with A-rated dishwasher soaps.  I have listed both the best deal for liquid dishwasher soap and the best deal for dishwasher pods/packs.  

EWG Verified:

• AspenClean Dishwasher Packs- Unscented

Best Deal-Liquid:

• Better Life Dishwasher Gel
  • EWG Score: A

Best Deal-POD:

• Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent Packs- Free & Clear
  • EWG Score: A

Method Gel Hand Wash-Sweet Water

EWG Score: 4

Data Availability: Limited

Number of known ingredients that are

• High Concern: 3
• Moderate Concern: 6
• Low Concern: 10

Safer Alternatives:

When it comes to hand soap, there are lots of safe options, including 4 that are EWG verified.  I found two affordable options so I have listed both.

EWG Verified: 

• Everyone Hand Soap- Apricot + Vanilla

EWG Verified: 

• ATTITUDE Sensitive Skin Hand Soap- argan oil

Method Foaming Hand Wash-Sweet Water

EWG Score: 4

Data Availability: Fair

Number of known ingredients that are

• High Concern: 3
• Moderate Concern: 6
• Low Concern: 7

Safer Alternatives:

There were 5 EWG verified options for foaming hand soap, so I have listed the two that are the best deal.

EWG Verified:

• Everyone Foaming Hand Soap- Meyer Lemon + Mandarin

EWG Verified:

• ATTITUDE little leaves Foaming Hand Soap- Blueberry

Method Bar Soap- Simply Nourish

EWG Score: 3

Data Availability: Limited

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• High Concern: 1
• Moderate Concern: 4
• Low Concern: 14

Safer Alternatives:

There were nearly 5 full pages of bar soaps that were EWG verified, but some of them had ridiculous price tags.  These were the two best deals I found.

EWG Verified:

• Honey Sweetie Acres Goat Milk Soap- Unscented

EWG Verified: 

• Makes 3 Organics Coriander Ginger Oatmeal Soap Bar

Method Body Wash- Stay Hydrated

EWG Score: 4

Data Availability: Limited

Number of Known Ingredients That Are:

• High Concern: 3
• Moderate Concern: 5
• Low Concern: 10

Safer Alternatives:

The body wash also had several pages of EWG verified options, but again some were just outrageous prices.  I have listed the best deal I found for a kid’s body wash and an unscented one.

EWG Verified:  

• Everyone 3-in-1 Soap for Kids- Lavender Lullaby

EWG Verified: 

• ATTITUDE Sensitive Skin Body Wash- fragrance-free

What I Use

While it is my goal to eventually start making my own cleaning products, right now I don’t have time to make everything, so there are still a few things that I do buy. 

For now, I do make my own floor cleaner, multi-purpose cleaner and hand soap, using water, castile soap, fractionated coconut oil, and essential oils. 

For the rest of the cleaning products that I use, the best brand I have found locally is Eco-max.

Their dish soap is rated A on EWG and their laundry detergent is rated a B.

Unfortunately, those are the only products they have listed on EWG, so for the other products I had to look up each ingredient listed on the packaging instead. 

While most ingredients were A or B rated, the Dishwasher tabs have 2 C rated ingredients, and the Essential oils in the bathroom cleaner are rated D (though I ignored this rating as I am not sensitive to essential oil scents).

For body soap, I currently use locally made soap bars that I buy at craft sales or a local shop that sells handmade products, so I really can’t confirm that their ingredients are safe.  But, after seeing how many of Attitudes body washes are EWG verified, I will be giving them a try.

When I went looking for Method products this week to get some pictures, I looked for them in the natural section of my local grocery store, as that was where they used to be back when I bought them.

Instead, I found them in the regular cleaning supply section.

Right next to Lysol products.

I guess even the grocery store no longer believes that they are a natural cleaning product.

I think it is safe to say that Methods greenwashing techniques are becoming less effective now that customers have resources to verify their claims.

As much as I do like some of the scents of Methods hand soaps, knowing that they contain ingredients that are considered a high concern on EWG means I won’t be using them or any of their products.

Of the 16 products rated above, only 2 had a rating of low concern.  5 were considered a moderate concern, 7 were a high concern, and 2 were the highest concern.

Are Method products safe?

In my opinion, no. 

While they do offer some products that are safe, and avoid using certain ingredients that are considered unsafe, many of their products still contain other ingredients that are considered hazardous to our health and/or the environment.

For a company that promotes itself as being non-toxic, it really is shocking that any of their products would receive an F rating on EWG.  Even a D rating is unacceptable from a company that is claiming their products are safe for families.

What do you think after reading all the scores for Methods products?  Will you still use Methods cleaning products or have you decided to switch brands?  What are the best non-toxic cleaning products you’ve found?

Let me know on my Facebook post, and follow me on Facebook to see what else I learn on my journey to live a healthier and happier life.