I’ve just finished doing up my flat after years of living with magnolia walls and mismatched (not in a good way) crockery. I have a new kitchen and everything I bring into it has to be functional and stylish. I’m talking Our Place pans and Maison Flaneur plates. I also use Kit & Kin’s refillable washing-up liquid and Neat’s all-purpose refillable cleaner because they do good and, importantly for me, look good.
Now I can add a new brand to the list: Seep. Okay, the name’s not the sexiest (it stands for Sustainable, Everyday, Essential Products) but the purpose and the origin story are pretty impressive.
Seep in a nutshell
Seep’s mission is to offer plastic-free alternatives to your standard cleaning products. Its range of sponges, scourers and cloths are made from natural materials and ‘won’t leave a trail of microplastics behind’. Even better, you can get them delivered to your door every month.
The company was founded in 2020 by Laura Harnett. After going through breast cancer, she wanted to eliminate as many toxins as possible from her home, but she struggled to find plastic-free alternatives to her cleaning sponges, cloths, gloves and brushes. So, she decided to make them herself and ‘disrupt the dusty cleaning tool category’ in the process. She also appeared on Dragons’ Den last year and walked away with £50k investment from Deborah Meaden and Trinny Woodall.
Not only are they more eco-friendly and effective, they're chic enough to show off on your countertop. These are our top buys, including some GHI Approved sponge scourers.
Even better, new and existing Seep customers can currently get 25% off site-wide. Valid online on full-priced products only. Cannot be used with another offer, promotion or discount code. Exclusions may apply. Seep may amend or withdraw the offer at any time.
Our top cleaning essentials from Seep
Seep The Wild One - Eco Sponge Cloths (6 cloths)
Seep The Wild One - Eco Sponge Cloths (6 cloths)
As well as being 100% plastic free and claiming to be 15 times more absorbent than regular kitchen towels, these stylish sponge cloths are machine washable at 30 degrees so you can freshen them up when needed. The pack includes leopard print, zebra print and monochrome spot designs, plus three more neutral options. They had me at leopard print.
The brand says the cloths will last 1-2 months and you can either buy them as a one-off or get them on a flexible subscription every three, four or six months.
On arrival, they looked just like the slightly stiff, regular cleaning cloths you can buy at the supermarket (albeit with chic animal print designs). But after using them to clean my air fryer after over-cooking the halloumi again, as well as for doing rounds of dirty dishes, I can confirm these cloths are more absorbent and robust. I haven't washed them yet (you can also put them in the dishwasher at 30 degrees), but I love that you can freshen them up in between uses, too.
Seep Clean with Amore - Eco Sponge Cloths (4 cloths)
Seep Clean with Amore - Eco Sponge Cloths (4 cloths)
And if you're not a leopard print fan, this limited edition summer pack features bold stripes and blue and yellow colourways to brighten up any kitchen.
Seep Eco Sponge Scourers (4 sponges)
Seep Eco Sponge Scourers (4 sponges)
Who knew regular traditional washing-up sponges contain plastic? I certainly didn't. But Seep's best-selling scourers are made from loofah and wood pulp cellulose instead. They're also GHI Approved. Scoring 85/100 in our lab, they left all glassware and cutlery sparkling in our wash tests. They also removed grease and burnt-on stains with ease. The loofah side did suffer a little wear and tear when we tried to remove burnt-on rice stains, but a quick run through the machine should sort that.
Read the full review in our best eco cleaning sponge roundup.
Instead of traditional (and, let's be honest, ugly) plastic scrubbing brushes, this bamboo dish brush won't ruin your stylish sink set-up. It's made with natural plant bristles and designed to tackle grease and stubborn grime without scratching your best Maison Flaneur (or similar) dishes.
Finally, for anyone who wants to upgrade their cleaning products and go plastic-free in one go, Seep has a host of cleaning kits. With its House Reset bundle, you get everything from sponge scourers and cloths to copper scourers, bin liners and even some stylish turquoise rubber gloves (because, turns out, they don't always have to be yellow).
It was about time someone made cleaning tools chic. Now, if someone could just make a pretty microwave...
Turn up the style sink-side with these reusable cleaning products
Alison is head of content for the Good Housekeeping Institute, responsible for product reviews across homes, beauty, wellness, family and food & drink. She lives by the William Morris quote that you should “have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
Alison has over 15 years' experience as a lifestyle editor and has written features on everything from misophonia to how to dress like Claudia on The Traitors. She has also interviewed everyone from Dame Joanna Lumley to the Kardashians.
In her spare time, you'll find her hanging out with Monty the cocker spaniel and refreshing the Sezane website every five seconds.
