Is Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Safe? What You Should Know Before Buying

Mrs. Meyer's publishes its ingredients on each product page and in an online glossary. Here's what the current labels say, what EWG's guide shows, and what to look for if fragrance or preservatives matter to you.

By Joseph Wead, March 5, 2025

Published by Natural House

Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day has one of the most effective brand stories in the cleaning aisle. The Iowa farmstead aesthetic, the garden-scented product names, the cheerful label design, it communicates wholesomeness and simplicity in a category that's historically been dominated by clinical-looking blue bottles full of warnings.

This has made Mrs. Meyer's a genuinely popular choice among consumers who care about what's in their cleaning products. And that's exactly why it's worth looking carefully at what's actually inside.

This is not a takedown piece. Mrs. Meyer's products are not dangerous in any conventional sense. But there are specific ingredients and facts about the brand that safety-conscious consumers deserve to know, and that the garden-and-farmstead marketing does not communicate.

The SC Johnson Question

The first thing worth knowing: Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day is owned by SC Johnson & Son, the same company that makes Raid insecticide, Pledge furniture polish, Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles, and Ziploc bags.

SC Johnson bought The Caldrea Company, which made Mrs. Meyer's, in 2008. Mrs. Meyer's says it uses plant resources such as coconut, corn, soy and olive whenever possible, and that it sometimes picks an ingredient that isn't plant-derived for efficacy, consistency and safety.

Mrs. Meyer's Ingredient Concerns

Mrs. Meyer's publishes an ingredient list for its products, which is more transparency than many competitors offer. However, several commonly found ingredients have raised concerns on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Skin Deep database and among independent researchers:

Preservatives: MI and Benzisothiazolinone (BIT)

The current Lavender Dish Soap label lists two preservatives, benzisothiazolinone (BIT) and methylisothiazolinone (MI). Mrs. Meyer's glossary describes both as synthetic preservatives used at under 1% for shelf life. MI also appears on current labels for other Mrs. Meyer's dish soaps and Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaners.

In EWG's Guide to Healthy Cleaning, the Lavender Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner listing scores MI at D and BIT at C. EWG's listed concerns for BIT:

• Moderate Concern: acute aquatic toxicity
• Some Concern: skin irritation/allergies, developmental and reproductive effects, biodegradation

Synthetic Fragrance

Mrs. Meyer's scents come from a mix of essential oils and other fragrance ingredients. Its own glossary labels more than 100 entries as a "synthetic fragrance ingredient," alongside plant oils such as lavender and orange peel.

The word "fragrance" on a label can cover many components. Mrs. Meyer's names its fragrance components in its online glossary and says its products are made without phthalates.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

SLS is a surfactant (cleaning agent) that is effective and widely used. Mrs. Meyer's glossary calls sodium lauryl sulfate a plant-derived cleaning ingredient. SLS is known to cause skin irritation in people with sensitive skin, eczema, or dermatitis, particularly with frequent contact. SLS strips the skin's natural oil barrier. For general household surface cleaning this is a limited concern, but people with frequent hand contact with cleaning products (hand soap, dishwashing soap) may notice skin reactions.

EWG Product Ratings: The Real Numbers

As of October 2026, EWG's Guide to Healthy Cleaning lists 33 Mrs. Meyer's products, with scores from B to D. Most Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner scents score C.

The Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner page says it's "Made without parabens, phthalates, glycol solvents, phosphates, or artificial colors." Its current label lists both BIT and MI as preservatives.

What the ingredient glossary reveals: Mrs. Meyer's does publish an ingredient glossary at mrsmeyers.com/pages/ingredients, a transparency step that most conventional brands don't take. However, scrolling through it, the phrase "Contains fragrance allergens" appears repeatedly across dozens of ingredients. For consumers with known fragrance sensitivity, this pattern across many scent variants is significant.

What Mrs. Meyer's Does Well

To be fair:

• Mrs. Meyer's says its products are made without ammonia, chlorine, parabens, phthalates, formaldehyde, artificial colorants, phosphates or petroleum distillates.
• Ingredients are listed on its labels and in a glossary that names each ingredient's job and CAS number.
• Their formulations perform competently as everyday cleaners
• The product aesthetic and scent experience is genuinely excellent, this is a real advantage

The criticism here is not that Mrs. Meyer's products are dangerous. It's that a garden-inspired image can leave out details that matter to people looking for products without synthetic preservatives or synthetic fragrance.

How to Find Products That Match the Mrs. Meyer's Promise

If the reason you chose (or considered) Mrs. Meyer's was the combination of:

• Plant-derived cleaning ingredients
• Transparent formulation
• Family and home safety
• A genuine independence from large chemical corporations

...then the product you're actually looking for is different from Mrs. Meyer's.

The standard for genuinely transparent, plant-based cleaning with full ingredient disclosure:

Plant-derived surfactants, fully disclosed: Look for coco-glucoside, decyl glucoside, or sodium coco-sulfate on the label. No synthetic fragrance: Either fragrance-free, or essential oils listed individually by name. Preservatives named on the label: check which one is listed and look it up in the brand's glossary or EWG's guide. Independently owned: Verify brand ownership if this is important to your purchasing decision.

Natural House is independently owned, publishes a full ingredient list for every product, uses probiotic Bacillus bacteria as the primary active ingredient, and formulates without synthetic fragrance, without chlorine bleach, and without glycol ether solvents.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mrs. Meyer's good for sensitive skin? Current Mrs. Meyer's dish soap and multi-surface labels list methylisothiazolinone (MI), which EWG's guide lists as a skin sensitizer. If you react to MI, check each label before you buy.

Is Mrs. Meyer's plant-based? Mrs. Meyer's describes its products as "plant-derived", meaning ingredients are sourced from plants before being processed. However, many ingredients undergo significant chemical processing, and synthetic fragrance components are used alongside botanical ones. We don't claim it's a fully natural formulation.

Does Mrs. Meyer's have parabens? Mrs. Meyer's says its products are made without parabens, and no paraben appears in its ingredient glossary.

Is Mrs. Meyer's owned by a big corporation? Yes. SC Johnson, the company behind Raid, Pledge, Windex and Scrubbing Bubbles, has owned Mrs. Meyer's since 2008.

What's a good Mrs. Meyer's alternative? If you want plant-based cleaners made without synthetic fragrance, Natural House is worth a look. Our ingredients page lists every ingredient in every product, and our probiotic cleaners use Bacillus cultures that keep breaking down residue after you wipe.

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The Mrs. Meyer's brand story is compelling, and the products are not dangerous. But for consumers who are genuinely investigating what's in their cleaning products, the ingredient reality is more complex than the lavender-and-farmhouse label suggests.

Explore the Natural House product range: every ingredient listed, probiotic cleaners for everyday messes, and no synthetic fragrance.