The first job my mom had after she went back to work when I was three was as a professional housekeeper. She worked with one family for 12 years and cleaned a six-bedroom house in an affluent neighborhood in California. Her bosses would host big gatherings and family celebrations, and, on those nights, I remember my mom coming home with her hands peeling from having to scrub the towers of dishes. My mom’s hands were calloused, and she no longer reacted to touching or smelling bleach. I later learned that bleach is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a pesticide, and workers who use bleach regularly were found to be more likely to have asthma symptoms. Bleach also irritates the eyes, skin, and lungs.  My mom used Bar Keepers Friend (a powdered cleaner) so often that her job stocked it by the bottle. Bar Keepers Friend, although it does not fully disclose its ingredients, contains oxalic acid, another registered pesticide. Oxalic acid can affect the kidneys, nervous system, and other organs.

Over time, her clientele changed, and the houses she cleaned stocked fewer cleaning products, sometimes none. For those occasions my mom made her own cleaning sprays and mopping fluid. She made her own cleaning products from ingredients that her clients already had like dish soap and vinegar; those products worked so she stuck to them. I admire my mom for her ingenuity and adaptability. And this was my first introduction to DIY cleaning products, which is why my work as the Safe Cleaning Fellow for Weaving Voices for Health & Justice was a natural fit. 

For those looking to clean their homes safely, Weaving Voices for Health & Justice (Weave) has the recipes and tools. Weave is an organization working to reduce the burden of harmful chemicals. Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to reimagine the Green Cleaning Party for a new generation during my fellowship. 

For me, the Green Cleaning Party is a way to regain agency as a community. This is especially important for people whose jobs involve cleaning, like my mom, as they often face a disproportionate burden from these products through daily exposure. But it’s not just workers—this is something that affects all of us. Cleaning products are often marketed with friendly language and imagery that create the impression that they’re safe, even when they may contain ingredients linked to health concerns. 

Low-income communities can face additional challenges, as budget-friendly products may contain ingredients of concern while safer alternatives are often less accessible. The Green Cleaning Party helps bridge that gap by providing practical, affordable recipes and resources that empower people to make informed choices about the products they bring into their homes.  

In addition to raising awareness about product safety, during my fellowship it became clear that societal norms exist about cleanliness. The Green Cleaning Party sparks discussions that can challenge our household cleaning routines and support us in becoming conscious consumers, to reduce exposure to harmful chemicals.    

The Green Cleaning Party was first developed in 2008, in response to a lack of transparency in the ingredients in household cleaning products. In 2017, the “California Cleaning Product Right to Know Act” passed and required cleaning products sold in California to display their ingredients. In 2021, Women’s Voices for the Earth (now Weaving Voices for Health & Justice) published the “Beyond the Label Report,” which examined chemicals in cleaning products that were being disclosed because of this legislation. Even today, there is no federal regulation requiring ingredient transparency for cleaning products. Companies can avoid disclosing certain ingredients in the name of “protecting trade secrets.”  

Consumers are more concerned than ever about the toxic chemicals in products. A recent national poll found that a majority of voters view harmful chemicals in household products as a significant problem and believe there is not enough company oversight to prevent harm.2 At the same time, many people are looking for practical, affordable ways to reduce their exposure. As we continue to advocate for stronger protections through policy change, Weave’s Green Cleaning Party serves as a bridge between systemic change and everyday action. We’ve developed household cleaning recipes that are effective, contain no hidden ingredients, and are often more affordable than store-bought alternatives. 

Throughout the fellowship, I learned a lot about making the event more accessible and fun! I hosted a Green Cleaning Party on my campus, at Amherst College, and led a demonstration on how to make my personal favorite recipe, laundry detergent. The laundry detergent fights odors more effectively than laundry products I’ve tried in the past, without the toxic chemicals, a clear win-win. Since I hosted the party in my dorm, I realized that living on campus we move into a room that hundreds of people have lived in. During the fragrance collage activity, we realized that the products we were using to mask odors like carpet deodorant and plug in air fresheners had the potential to cause us harm. Disinfecting products are also full of ingredients of concern. Cleaning with trusted ingredients, which have been around for centuries like baking soda, washing soda, vinegar, and castile soap allowed me to reclaim cleaning at a time where industry standards do not yet require that cleaning products avoid ingredients that negatively affect our health. 

That sense of discovery and empowerment is something I hope others can experience, too. I invite you to host a Green Cleaning Party! You will learn more about potentially dangerous ingredients that could be lying around your home. This guide is intended for:

• • Community organizers interested in raising awareness about household cleaners
  • Students, who can consider hosting as an activity through a club or with friends
  • Parents and caregivers interested in bringing their communities together to learn more about creating safer environments for children and loved ones. 
  • Cleaning professionals and others who clean as part of their jobs—may want to host or participate in a Green Cleaning Party to explore safer, more accessible cleaning practices. 

Learning about green cleaning alternatives is just the beginning; it invites you into a community of people taking action to ensure policies and companies are protecting us.