Our pick

Biokleen Spray & Wipe All Purpose Cleaner

This almost scent-free spray wipes cleanly and has a third-party health and environmental-health certification. It outperformed all other similarly certified cleaners we tested.

Biokleen Spray & Wipe All Purpose Cleaner sprays evenly and swiftly wipes up dinner crumbs and desk dust with no streaks, ridding tables, counters, and bathrooms of messes quickly and easily. This cleaner has a higher up-front cost than the competition, but using its concentrated refill bottle lowers the cost to pennies per ounce. Biokleen’s spray cleaner has a third-party certification from the Environmental Protection Agency, an independent-test certification that backs up its claims of being a less harsh alternative to many other cleaners.

Also great

Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner + Bleach

This bleach-based cleaner disinfects surfaces while performing everyday cleaning tasks just as well as our top pick, but it emits unpleasant fumes.

Buying Options

*At the time of publishing, the price was $4.

Some situations, such as a norovirus breakout in the home or potential salmonella contamination in the kitchen, call for a dose of extermination along with your normal cleaning routine. Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner + Bleach kills pathogens on hard surfaces in most kitchens and bathrooms, including sinks, faucets, toilets, tile, and synthetic countertops. It cleared up our messes with the same streak-free ease as Biokleen’s cleaner did, but its bleach odor was noticeably strong. To ensure the elimination of pathogens, this cleaner needs to sit for 30 seconds before you wipe it up; such a delay is a necessary step for all disinfectants, called dwell time, and the length can vary across cleaning products and brands.

Budget pick

Clorox Disinfecting Bleach

Diluted in water, bleach is the key ingredient to a simple but effective homemade disinfectant, but the fumes are even harsher than those of our also-great Clorox spray cleaner.

Buying Options

*At the time of publishing, the price was $6.

A blend of regular household bleach and water can also disinfect many hard surfaces, but the ratio of water to bleach that you should use for a homemade mix can differ between brands. Be sure to read the instructions on your bottle carefully.