Blueland vs. Dropps: Which eco-friendly cleaning subscription is most effective?

If you’re trying to live more sustainably, you’ve probably looked into ways you can reduce the single-use plastic in your life. Using a reusable water bottle, swapping your plastic bags for silicone ones and finding toilet paper and paper towels packaged in paper can all reduce your impact.

On top of these swaps, you’ve likely seen a lot of eco-friendly cleaning brands that promise powerful, natural cleaners in plastic-free packaging delivered on a subscription basis. There are tons of brands that occupy this space, from Grove Collaborative to Clean Cult, so we decided to test two of the most popular services head-to-head. So we got our hands on a wide variety of products from Blueland and Dropps and put them to the test for months to figure out which brand is most effective and sustainable.

Blueland vs. Dropps at a glance

Sustainability

Let’s kick our comparison off the bat by comparing the sustainability of Dropps and Blueland. Both are much better than your average cleaning product thanks to their ingredients and packaging. The ingredients of Blueland’s cleaning products have a litany of certifications that verify their safety. Certifications vary by product, but you’ll come across stamps of approval from Cradle to Cradle, USDA BioPreferred, EPA Safer Choice, Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Made Safe, not to mention Leaping Bunny (cruelty-free) certification for all of its products. None of Blueland’s ingredients are on the EWG Unacceptable List or the Prop 65 Banned Ingredients List and all product ingredients except for the toilet cleaner and Clear Skies oxi laundry booster fragrance (which are waiting for EPA Safer Choice approval) are on the EPA Safer Chemical Ingredients List.

Dropps doesn’t have as many third-party certifications, but all of its ingredients are on the CleanGredients list, a third-party database of chemical ingredients that have been preapproved to meet the US EPA’s Safer Choice Standard. Both Blueland and Dropps are certified B Corporations and Blueland is Climate Neutral Certified, while Dropps partners with Clearloop to offset emissions from shipping.

When it comes to packaging, both brands are miles ahead of traditional cleaning companies and ship their products in plastic-free, recyclable and sometimes even compostable materials. Blueland products are shipped in recyclable cardboard boxes, and its refills are packaged in compostable pouches. All Dropps products are also shipped in cardboard boxes, which are compostable or recyclable.

Blueland does have more third-party certifications and the brands have similar sustainable packaging, but the biggest differentiator between the two is in the cleaning products themselves. Blueland ships its cleaning formulas in powders or tablets, while Dropps uses an ultra-concentrated liquid formula in pods.

The sustainability of pods like the ones used by Dropps isn’t concrete, and there’s some conflicting science out there. When we talked with Dropps CEO Jonathan Propper, he said the pods are readily biodegradable, which means they will degrade more than 60% within 28 days. Propper said that the brand got this designation from third-party testing, though we couldn’t find this designation on Dropps’ site. The pods are made of polyvinyl alcohol, also known as PVA or PVOH. PVOH is on the CleanGredients list and there’s plenty of research that indicates the material is biodegradable, but a recent study (which was funded in part by Blueland) published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found up to 75% of plastic PVA particles from the pods they tested make their way into oceans, waterways and soils after use.

If you’re interested in learning more about each brand’s sustainability, check out the FAQ pages for both Blueland and Dropps for more information.

Variety

Another big difference between Dropps and Blueland is each brand’s range of products. Dropps focuses on laundry, while Blueland is a more comprehensive home cleaning solution. Dropps has recently expanded its offerings past laundry and now also has dishwasher detergent, dish spray, hand soap and air fresheners, as well as accessories like Swedish dish cloths, dryer balls and brushes.

When it comes to laundry, Dropps has a few more product options than Blueland. Blueland offers its basic laundry detergent and an oxi booster, while Dropps has detergent and an oxi booster as well as sensitive skin detergents, active wash detergents, ultra-concentrated detergents in pump bottles and fabric softeners.

Beyond laundry though, Blueland’s variety definitely has Dropps beat. Blueland has products to clean your counters, mirrors, bathroom and even your body and face.

Use and effectiveness

After using both Dropps and Blueland products for months, we can say that we love both of them. They’re easy to use, effective at cleaning and great at reducing your waste. We never ran into any issues using either the Blueland or Dropps dishwasher detergent tabs, and our dishes always came out sparkling clean.

The laundry detergent we used from both brands was unscented, which we personally liked. If you want fragrance in your laundry, you’ll probably want to opt for Dropps, since Blueland only has one, unscented laundry detergent. Both brand’s products worked great in our laundry machine and our clothes came out clean every time. The only issue we ran into was sometimes the pod or tab wouldn’t completely dissolve, which we found was most likely because the water was too cold in our washing machine during the winter. The detergent does normally dissolve, but if there are extra-cold days you might have to run a warm cycle instead of a cold one to ensure a good clean.

When it came to washing dishes by hand, we slightly preferred Blueland’s soap to Dropps’. The Dropps soap is actually a spray, so you’re supposed to spray the soap onto your dirty dishes, let them sit for a little bit, then your dishes will rinse off clean. This worked pretty well, but we still had to scrub a little, which is why we liked Blueland’s dish soap just a bit better. It comes in a powder, so you can just sprinkle the soap onto your dishes or into your sponge and do the dishes like normal. The powder also gives the soap a bit of texture, which helps get really stuck-on messes clean.

The biggest differentiator between the two brands is really Blueland’s cleaning sprays. They’re super easy to use and we found them to be incredibly effective. The sprays cut through grease on our stove and counters, though not quite as well as your typical cleaning spray. With a little elbow grease, however, everything was sparkling clean. We also loved the fact that Blueland’s spray bottles are made of a plastic called Tritan, which won’t break if you drop it like glass would.

Bottom line

There’s no question that switching to a low-waste, plastic-free cleaning solution is better for the planet. Refills from each brand are very similarly priced ($37 for a 120-count of laundry detergent at Blueland and $39 for a 128-count at Dropps), so to help you decide, it’s critical to know what you want out of your cleaning subscription. If you’re already happy with your day-to-day cleaners and you’re just looking for a better way to do your laundry, Dropps has plenty of products to fit your needs. On the other hand, if you want to make a big change and completely replace your cleaning cabinet, Blueland has every type of cleaner the typical house could want.

Whichever you end up picking, remember that you don’t need to live a perfectly sustainable life and that every little change helps. Any cleaner or laundry detergent that cuts plastic out of your life is a good one. So choose Blueland or Dropps, but know that either way, you’re taking a step towards lowering your waste and helping the planet.