The 10 Best Pet-Safe Cleaning Products For Floors, Furniture, and So Much More
Even the most well-behaved pets can rarely resist licking the floor for food crumbs or exploring an open trash can, and the fact that animals spend ample time licking their paws, laying on the floor, and cleaning themselves means that they're bound to pick up—and possibly ingest—whatever they find. That includes the remnants of cleaning products, and if you've recently scrubbed your floors or tidied up your upholstery, your furry friend might get a whiff of whatever solution was used.
"Pets are curious beings who love to stick their nose (and sometimes mouth) into places they shouldn't," says Katy Nelson, DVM, senior veterinary relations manager at Chewy Health. "Even accidentally breathing in chemicals can cause health issues."
To make your product search easier, we've rounded up 10 of the best pet-safe cleaning products available, from laundry detergents to disinfecting wipes.
Our Top Picks
- Best for Laundry: Seventh Generation Free & Clear Laundry Detergent ($27 for 2-pack)
- Best for Carpets: Nature's Miracle Deep Cleaning Carpet Shampoo ($14)
- Best for Floors: Eco-me Concentrated Multi-Surface and Floor Cleaner ($9)
- Best for Furniture: Puracy Natural Carpet & Upholstery Shampoo ($16)
- Best Powder: Bon Ami Powder Cleanser For Kitchens & Bathrooms ($8)
- Best for Outdoors: BioTurf BioS+ Artificial Turf Cleaner & Odor Eliminator ($70)
- Best for Glass: Aunt Fannie's Glass & Window Cleaner ($9)
- Best for Toilets: Method Antibacterial Toilet Cleaner ($4)
- Best Heavy-Duty: Skout's Honor Professional Strength Stain and Odor Remover ($20)
- Best Wipes: CleanWell Botanical Disinfecting Wipes ($8)
Best for Laundry: Seventh Generation Free & Clear Laundry Detergent
Like many of Seventh Generation's other eco-friendly products, this laundry detergent has been deemed an EPA-safer choice with nearly 100-percent plant-based ingredients. Its powerful formula is hypoallergenic and great for sensitive skin, and it comes in a two-pack so you'll have enough detergent for dozens of loads.
Best for Carpets: Nature's Miracle Deep Cleaning Carpet Shampoo
Nature's Miracle is a go-to cleaning brand for many pet owners dealing with stains and odors, and its deep cleaning carpet shampoo is yet another must-have. In addition to being completely safe for use around animals, the professional-strength formula erases tough messes and removes pet allergens, too.
Best for Floors: Eco-me Concentrated Multi-Surface and Floor Cleaner
With a lovely herbal mint scent, this plant-based cleaning solution will leave your floors—whether they're wood, stone, tile, vinyl, or more—looking and smelling good. It breaks down dirt and grease with ease, and it's entirely free from sulfates, ammonia, and bleach.
Best for Furniture: Puracy Natural Carpet & Upholstery Shampoo
Got a couch or mattress that needs some heavy-duty cleaning? Look no further than this pet-safe shampoo from Puracy, which uses plant-based cleansers to erase stains and odors from furniture while leaving behind a fresh citrus scent. You can use it on carpets, too, without the worry of bleach spots getting left behind (but always spot test new cleaning products before using in a large area).
Best Powder: Bon Ami Powder Cleanser For Kitchens & Bathrooms
This unscented, hypoallergenic, multi-purpose cleaner from Bon Ami doesn't contain chlorine, perfume, detergent, bleach, or dye, so it's safe for even the most sensitive noses. Use the gentle scrubbing powder to sanitize and scrub everything from cooktops to tiles and toilets, and watch as stains disappear (without scratching surfaces) and odors absorb without a trace.
Best For Outdoors: BioTurf BioS+ Artificial Turf Cleaner & Odor Eliminator
For yards that have artificial grass, this cleaning solution from BioTurf is a serious life-saver. Its enzymatic, formula breaks down ammonia and proteins to erase stains and odors, leaving the area spotless and with a light, fresh scent. It's safe to use not just around pets, but plants, too, so you don't have to fret about it harming your garden.
Best For Glass: Aunt Fannie's Glass & Window Cleaner
This plant-based solution from Aunt Fannie's leaves out dyes, petroleum, sulfates, and other ingredients in favor of plant-based cleansers and essential oils. It effectively removes grime and streaks from windows and other glass surfaces, and it can also be used on countertops, tubs, light fixtures, and more.
Best For Toilets: Method Antibacterial Toilet Cleaner
Method's popular line of plant-based cleaning products include this powerful antibacterial toilet bowl cleaner, which relies on citric acid to eliminate germs and dirt. It kills 99.9 percent of household germs, including the influenza a virus, rhinovirus, and salmonella enterica without the overpowering scent of bleach.
Best Heavy-Duty: Skout's Honor Professional Strength Stain and Odor Remover
This pant-bases surfactant formula from Skout's Honor takes care of stubborn stains, and the molecular deodorizer targets and eliminates odors on contact rather than just masking them. Its powerful formula is plant-based and biodegradable, and even better, every bottle bought provides a rescue animal with a day's worth of meals, per the company's initiative.
Best Wipes: CleanWell Botanical Disinfecting Wipes
These high-strength disinfecting wipes from CleanWell work from an EPA-registered plant-based formula without bleach or ammonia, leaving behind a nice lemon scent. They're skilled at tackling grease, mold, grime, and the like, and are meant to be used specifically on hard, nonporous surfaces.
Cleaning Ingredients to Avoid
When shopping for cleaning items, Nelson says to keep your eyes peeled for ingredients that are dangerous to animals, including:
- Ammonia
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Chlorine
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Bleach
Read ingredient lists closely, look for "pet safe" labels, and watch out for ingredients that sound natural and safe. Essential oils, for instance, "may sound 'organic,'" says Nelson, "but are not always safe for pets" due to ingredients known to be harmful for dogs and cats like garlic, cinnamon, thyme, and peppermint.
And if you're ever not sure if an ingredient or product is okay to use, don't be afraid to reach out to your veterinarian or check the ASPCA's list of poisonous household products. There, you can find info on what common cleaning tools and solutions are safe or not safe around animals, ranging from carpet cleaners to fabric softeners.
How to Keep Cleaning Safe for Pets
Buying pet-safe cleaning products is an important start to ensuring your animals' safety, but you also have to be cautious about the way you use said products around them. Keep these tips in mind when cleaning to keep it safe for your pets:
- Keep cleaning products out of reach of pets
- Keep pets out of the room while cleaning
- Allow cleaning products to fully dry before letting pets back in the room
- Air out the space (opening windows if you can)
If you do need to use a formula to clean floors, litter boxes, or other spaces that isn't 100-percent safe for pets, thoroughly rinse and dry the area before allowing your pet back in the space.