As real people with real families and real cleaning challenges (as anyone with kids or pets will tell you), we started arbOUR because we wanted high-quality, natural products that were safe for people, pets, and our planet, but actually killed germs. Too much to ask? We didn’t think so. Since we couldn’t find what we were looking for on grocery or superstore shelves, we decided to make it ourselves.
Our Story
Our Story
We started with the germ of an idea:
To make cleaning more cheerful and less choreful.
Cleaning is a fact of life, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a chore. When your cleaning products are naturally safe and strong, you can spend less time scrubbing and more time doing what you love (even if you’re like us, and what you love is cleaning).
Cleaning house shouldn’t require a hazmat suit.
Once we set to work, it was time for the gloves to come off. We believe natural products can — and should — be strong enough to dissolve dirt without irritating skin or harming the environment.
Our family’s safety is top of mind when formulating every product, so they’re always safe to use around kids, pets, and even plants (because we all know how sensitive succulents can be).
Clean living is kind of our thing.
We’re obsessed with making products you’ll be proud to use and share.
Our fragrances are 100% natural and our active ingredients are sustainable. For anyone who’s ever worried if eating off a just-cleaned surface was okay or if a plant-based stain remover could actually work: arbOUR is for you.
You shouldn’t have to choose between strong and safe.
Hospitals, schools, hotels, and restaurants use professional-grade cleaners for a reason: they work. So why can’t we?
arbOUR’s unique formulas are the best of both worlds: stronger than standard eco-friendly cleaners and naturally safe for everyone and everything we hold dear — children, grandparents, pets, plants, and the environment. We’ve adapted the latest professional innovations for household use, for cleaning products that are eco-effective (not just eco-friendly) because cleaners that don’t work just make more work and more waste for everyone.
Our Team
Carol Mehas is a mom of three (four if you count her dog). A former senior product development and marketing executive at L’Oreal, Sephora, and Estée Lauder. She's a lifelong seeker of “a better way” and a true believer that connecting good ideas and good people creates amazing innovations. An accidental introduction to an Ohio based, family-owned company sparked an idea to bring commercial-grade cleaning products to every American household.
Teaming up with fellow lifelong entrepreneur, Lisa LaBanc, who was working to provide sanitizing solutions for school systems across the U.S. and had begun making commercial-grade products safe for home use, all formulated, filled, and finished in the state of Ohio.
Together with creative force Jen DeLeonardi, this founding team is bringing the vision of arbOUR Products to life. (The rest is cleaning history.)
Our Ingredients
What makes arbOUR different than standard cleaners? Just about everything. Instead of harsh chemicals, we use commercial-grade natural ingredients that are completely non-toxic and sourced sustainably. Our fragrances are plant-derived — and we always offer an unscented alternative (perfect for homes with babies or looking to be allergen-free).
Barking up the right (Soapbark) tree
While investigating safe but powerful cleaning solutions, we discovered that for centuries, Andeans have used the inner bark of the Quillaja Saponaria (or Soapbark) tree as a substitute for soap. Andreans scraped off the bark and boiled it down or reduced it to a powder to create a lather. This foaming action naturally pulls apart dirt, grease, and grime, and leaves surfaces clean. Even better, they discovered that the tree would regenerate its bark, so it could be harvested without having to kill the tree.
In 14 years of independent testing, our naturally gentle, yet strong Soapbark technology has been proven to neutralize a broad spectrum of bacteria like Staphylococcus, E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, and more - leaving surfaces clean and bacteria-free.
Barking up the right (Soapbark) tree
While investigating safe but powerful cleaning solutions, we discovered that for centuries, Andeans have used the inner bark of the Quillaja Saponaria (or Soapbark) tree as a substitute for soap. Andreans scraped off the bark and boiled it down or reduced it to a powder to create a lather. This foaming action naturally pulls apart dirt, grease, and grime, and leaves surfaces clean. Even better, they discovered that the tree would regenerate its bark, so it could be harvested without having to kill the tree.
In 14 years of independent testing, our naturally gentle, yet strong Soapbark technology has been proven to neutralize a broad spectrum of bacteria like Staphylococcus, E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, and more - leaving surfaces clean and bacteria-free.
Our Creed
When it comes to creating new products, we don’t mess around. Everything we do at arbOUR is guided by a few important values we always live by:
Do no harm, except to germs
We value safety first for people, pets, and the planet. Our products are so safe, even kids can use them. (We can’t make your teens do the laundry, but now you can.)
Raise the bar, not just for soap
We’re working to create a higher standard of efficacy and sustainability for household and professional cleaning products at an affordable price.
More cheer, less chore
Clean house, full hearts, can’t lose. (Disinfecting is our favorite excuse for a dance party.)
Disinfecting is democratic
Everyone deserves the freedom to choose safe, effective products for their families (and we believe our solutions are part of the solution).
Ingenuity starts at home
That’s why everything we make is greener in the U.S.A.