AM Cleaning: Calgary-Made, Plant-Based Cleaning Products We Love
Before Mariya Podeyko ever made a cleaning product, she was just the person cleaning. She started :AM Cleaning YYC back in 2018, a cleaning company here in Calgary that she still runs today, and she spent years in other people's kitchens and bathrooms figuring out which products actually did what they promised and which ones just smelled like they did.
Plant-based cleaning products, made by hand in Calgary
At some point she got tired of choosing between "works" and "isn't full of stuff you wouldn't want your kids breathing in," so she started making her own. Plant-based, coconut and corn-derived soaps, real essential oils, none of the chlorine or ammonia or synthetic fragrance that's probably sitting under your sink right now. Every batch is mixed, poured and labelled by hand, by women, right here in Calgary. Her All Purpose Cleaner ended up a runner-up in the Unique category at the 2022 Made in Alberta Awards, which is a nice way of the rest of the province agreeing with what her clients already knew.
Refillable cleaning products: the math
We've carried the line at Greenbriar for a while now, and it's really the refill math that's won me over.
The All Purpose Concentrate is a small 4 oz bottle. You just add water (our favourite thing): about 1 oz, or 2 tablespoons, into a 16 oz spray bottle, give it a shake, and you've got a full bottle of All Purpose Cleaner. One concentrate refills your existing spray bottle four times over.
The Home Scrub works the same way. Start with the 250 g glass jar, and the 500 g refill pouch tops that same jar back up twice before you need anything new.
Buy once, refill for months, ship a lot less water and plastic around in the meantime.
All Purpose Cleaner |
All Purpose Concentrate |
Home Scrub |
Our favourite everyday cleaner
All Purpose is the cleaner of choice in our own household. I love coming home to a freshly cleaned house with that beautiful clean smell of citrus and eucalyptus. The house just feels cleaner.
Oven Scrub magic
Oven Scrub Magic
Debi used the Oven Scrub paired with the All Purpose Cleaner on one of our own move-out cleans, one of those jobs where you're staring down your own baked-on everything and just hoping for the best. We still talk about it to this day. Debi does not throw the word magical around lightly.
If you've ever used those nasty aerosol oven cleaners in the yellow or blue can (you know the one), you know how awful they are on your lungs. Not Oven Scrub. It's gentle on you while being tough on grime. Here's Mat for a little science-y science as to why.
Mat's Corner
The Oven Scrub's grit comes from fine pumice, a volcanic rock, which if you've ever had a pedicure is the same stuff they use on your feet, just without the spa music (I guess you could Spotify some spa music while you clean?!). Pumice forms when lava cools so fast that all the gas trying to escape gets trapped inside it, so what you end up with is a rock that's basically frozen foam, full of tiny air pockets and jagged glassy edges at a microscopic scale.
Those edges are what actually do the cleaning. Ground down fine, each little shard works like a tiny scraper, grabbing onto baked-on carbon and grease and lifting it off the surface underneath. And because pumice is so full of air, it's lightweight for how sharp it is, so the scrub works on the grime without being a heavy-handed abrasive. AM Cleaning lists it as safe on oven glass. Nature figured out the good abrasives a few million years before anyone put them in a jar.
Mat
Crystal Glass: an ammonia-free glass cleaner
One more worth talking about on its own: Crystal Glass. Most glass cleaners skip streaks by using ammonia, which is exactly the stuff Mariya built this whole line to avoid. Hers gets there with grain alcohol instead, sourced from a local Calgary distillery, so you end up with a cleaner that's ammonia-free, cuts streaks just as well, and genuinely smells like a minty cocktail while you're using it. It's not just for windows and mirrors either, it works on glass tables, stovetops, shower doors, and Mariya even suggests it as an after-shower spray to keep soap scum from building up in the first place.
AM Cleaning Crystal Glass
Where to buy AM Cleaning in Calgary
The whole AM Cleaning lineup is in stock at our booth at Crossroads Market in Calgary and online, refills and all.
Frequently asked questions
Where are AM Cleaning products made?
Right here in Calgary. AM Cleaning describes its products as small batches that are mixed, poured and labelled by hand by women in Calgary, and they're made by the same people behind :AM Cleaning YYC, the Calgary cleaning company Mariya Podeyko founded in 2018.
How does the AM Cleaning All Purpose Concentrate work?
Fill a 16 oz spray bottle with water, add about 1 oz (2 tablespoons) of concentrate, and shake. One 4 oz bottle makes four full bottles of All Purpose Cleaner, so you can keep reusing the spray bottle you already have.
How many times can I refill the Home Scrub jar?
The Home Scrub comes in a 250 g glass jar, and the 500 g refill pouch is exactly twice that, so one pouch refills the jar twice.
Is the AM Cleaning Oven Scrub safe on oven glass?
AM Cleaning lists the Oven Scrub as safe on oven glass, and its directions are to spray the oven with the All Purpose Cleaner, scrub with the powder, and rinse once or twice. AM Cleaning says one jar lasts between one and six oven cleans, depending on how dirty your oven is. It doesn't say whether it's suitable for self-cleaning ovens, so check with your oven's manufacturer first.
Is Crystal Glass really ammonia-free?
Yes. Ammonia isn't in the ingredient list. Crystal Glass uses grain alcohol from a local Calgary distillery to cut through streaks instead, and it's meant for windows, mirrors, glass tables, stovetops and shower doors. It isn't for wood, natural stone, precious metals, electronics or other porous surfaces.
Are AM Cleaning products safe around kids and pets?
AM Cleaning describes the All Purpose Cleaner as safe around kids and pets. As with any cleaning product, keep everything out of reach of children and pets, and wear gloves when you're using the scrubs, which is AM Cleaning's own advice for the Oven Scrub and Home Scrub.
Shawn + Mat
Sources
- :AM Cleaning Helps Keep Homes Sparkling with its Plant-Based Cleaning Products, Avenue Calgary
- AM Cleaning Products, AM Cleaning
- Oven Scrub, AM Cleaning
- All Purpose Concentrate, Home Scrub and Crystal Glass, Greenbriar Market + Refillery
Product details are accurate as of publishing and can change, so check each product page for current sizes and directions.
