Spring cleaning is a genuine Australian tradition - a good moment each year to swap out harsh, single-use cleaning products for something better for your home and the planet. So before you reach for the same plastic bottles and disposable wipes you always do, here's how we'd freshen things up properly this year.
Start in the kitchen
The kitchen is usually where the most plastic sneaks in - sponges, scrubbers, dish soap bottles - and it's also the easiest place to make a swap that actually lasts.
- The Seed & Sprout Eco Brush Set replaces your plastic dish brushes with bamboo-handled, plant-fibre bristles across five different brushes, so there's no single-use plastic shedding into your sink. For taller bottles, thermoses and smoothie cups, the Seed & Sprout Beechwood Long Bottle Brush is a great plastic-free companion, 15cm longer than the standard brush to reach right down to the bottom
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- The Cellulose Sponge Set does the job of a year's worth of disposable sponges - machine washable, fully compostable when it's finally done. The Cellulose Sponge Dish Cloth 4pk is the same story in cloth form, soaking up 20 times its weight in liquid and lasting 3-6 months before it goes in the compost too. For the stubborn stuck-on bits, pair either with the Pot Scrubber - a bamboo handle with plant-fibre sisal bristles instead of plastic or animal hair.
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- Swap the bottle of dish soap for the Lemon Myrtle Dishwashing Bar - one bar does the work of roughly three and a half bottles of the liquid stuff, with none of the plastic packaging. There's also a Pink Grapefruit Dish Soap Bar if you'd rather a citrussy scent, made with the same palm-oil-free, 100% plastic-free formula. Got a dishwasher instead? The Lil'Bit Concentrated Eucalyptus Dishwasher Powder is made entirely from Australian ingredients, biodegradable, and septic-safe. And for cleaning on the go or travelling, the ANSC All Natural Dish and Laundry Soap is a handy plant-oil bar that covers both dishes and laundry in one.
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Move on to the laundry
Laundry is one of those routines that's easy to overhaul without changing a single habit - you're doing the wash either way.
- The Clean & Protect Bundle covers most of it in one go: plastic-free laundry sheets, a plant-based all-purpose cleaner, a natural clothing protector, and a hand and surface sanitiser - a full swap without hunting down four separate products. If it's wardrobe care specifically you're after, the Wardrobe Care Essentials bundle pairs a natural clothing protector and drawer sachet with a rose essential oil and soap flakes for washing delicates. Speaking of which, ANSC Soap Flakes 1kg on their own are a gentle, biodegradable alternative to conventional detergent - just a tablespoon per wash, gray-water friendly, and free of the sulfates and parabens that end up in waterways.
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Finish with the everyday essentials
- The Eco Max Premium Pot Scourer Twin-Pack is the easiest one-for-one swap for the green nylon scourer sitting by your sink - same job, without the plastic or the grease build-up.
- For the outdoor jobs - window sills, cobwebs, patio furniture - the Eco Max Mini Coconut Palm Broom is tough enough to live outside year-round and composts at the end of its life.
Why it's worth the switch
Plastic cleaning tools shed microplastics every time you use them - CSIRO research has found synthetic fibres shed by the hundreds of thousands per wash cycle - something that doesn't happen with beechwood, bamboo, coconut fibre, or cellulose. None of these swaps ask you to change your actual cleaning routine; they just mean what's left behind at the end is compost, not landfill.
A proper spring clean doesn't need to mean a cupboard full of single-use plastic by the time summer rolls around. Small swaps, done once, tend to stick.
