How It Works
No instruction manual needed. These short videos show exactly how to use each Scrunchy Living product, starting with what comes in the Starter Kit and how to mix it. No quats, no synthetic fragrance, no bleach.
Setting Up Your Starter Kit
What's in Your Starter Kit and How to Use Each Piece
Jenn, one of our co-founders, opens the kit: the Multi-Surface Concentrate, the two bottles you fill yourself, and the Brightening Powder. Water first, then concentrate to the line.
Want the long version? The complete Starter Kit guide has the full transcript, every dilution ratio, and a surface-by-surface reference table.
Stainless Steel: Sink, Appliances and Fixtures
Short, real-time clips. Each one is a single surface, start to finish. Same All-Purpose Spray for both; the powder only comes out for stuck-on buildup in the sink.
Stainless Steel Sink in Under a Minute
Everyday clean with the All-Purpose Spray: spray, wait about 30 seconds, wipe with the grain, rinse. For stuck-on buildup, sprinkle Brightening Powder, let it sit a few minutes, scrub, rinse.
Fingerprints, Smudges and Water Spots
A light mist of All-Purpose Spray, one wipe with the grain, and the lid dries streak-free. The same mix that handles counters, glass and mirrors.
How to clean fingerprints and smudges off stainless steel
Stainless steel shows everything: fingerprints, water spots, the film a scented spray leaves behind. You do not need a dedicated stainless steel cleaner or a polish for any of it. The All-Purpose Spray is streak-free on stainless at the standard dilution, so the whole job is a light spray and one wipe in the right direction.
What you need
- Scrunchy All-Purpose Spray — the EWG Verified® Multi-Surface Concentrate mixed 1:11
- A paper towel or a microfiber cloth; a second dry cloth if you want a mirror finish
Steps
- Mix the All-Purpose Spray if you haven’t already. Fill the 24 oz bottle to the WATER line with cold or room-temperature water, then add Multi-Surface Concentrate up to the SOAP line. That is a 1:11 ratio. Both lines are printed on the bottle.
- Spray. A light mist over the fingerprints, smudges or water spots. There is no need to soak it.
- Wipe with the grain. Find the fine brushed lines in the steel and follow them. Wiping in circles or across the grain is what leaves streaks.
- Done. On a polished piece like the water filter in the video, one more pass with a dry cloth brings up the mirror finish.
If the stainless surface holds food or drink, such as a water filter, a cooler or a coffee urn, clean the outside only, keep the spray out of the chamber, and rinse any surface before food or direct skin contact.
Why it doesn’t streak
There is no added fragrance, no essential oils, no alcohols and no dyes in the All-Purpose Spray. Those are the ingredients that leave a film on polished metal, and they are the reason most stainless steel sprays need a second pass. Streak-free on the first pass, not the third.
Common questions
Does this work on the fridge and dishwasher too?
Yes. Same mix, same move: spray lightly, wipe with the grain. Fridge doors, dishwasher fronts, range hoods, faucets, sinks and trash cans, on brushed or polished finishes.
Is it okay to use on a water filter or near drinking water?
Here is what is in it, so you can decide: water, Musa Sapientum (Banana) Leaf/Trunk Extract, sodium gluconate, sodium citrate, glycerin, Coco-Glucoside, Decyl Glucoside and citric acid, all eight listed on our ingredients page. In the video it is the outside of the filter only. Keep the spray out of the chamber, and rinse any surface before it touches food or drinking water.
Do I still need a stainless steel polish?
Not for fingerprints, smudges or water spots. If you like the oiled look some polishes give, that is a finish choice, not a cleaning one.
Is this stainless steel cleaner EWG Verified?
The Scrunchy Multi-Surface Concentrate is EWG Verified®, which means it avoids EWG’s ingredients of concern and meets EWG’s standards for ingredient transparency. The All-Purpose Spray is that concentrate diluted 1:11. See the concentrate’s listing in EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning.
Rinse surfaces thoroughly before any food or direct skin contact.
Cleaning Tile Grout
Spray, sprinkle, spray again, wait, scrub. No chlorine bleach.
Blackened Grout, No Bleach
Wet the grout line with All-Purpose Spray, sprinkle Brightening Powder, spray again so it fizzes, wait 15–20 minutes, scrub along the line, wipe, vacuum, damp-wipe and let dry.
How to clean grout without bleach or harsh chemicals
Grout is porous, so the dirt sits inside it rather than on top. The job is to get an oxygen cleaner into the pores, give it time, and then brush the loosened staining out. Two products do it: the All-Purpose Spray to wet and activate, and Brightening Powder to lift. No chlorine bleach, no fumes to ventilate, and the three ingredients in the powder are printed on the bag.
What you need
- Scrunchy All-Purpose Spray — the EWG Verified® Multi-Surface Concentrate mixed 1:11
- Scrunchy Brightening Powder — 3 ingredients, all EWG A-rated
- A stiff grout brush, paper towels, a vacuum and a damp microfiber cloth
Steps
- Mix the All-Purpose Spray if you haven’t already. Fill the 24 oz bottle to the WATER line with cold or room-temperature water, then add Multi-Surface Concentrate up to the SOAP line. That is a 1:11 ratio. Both lines are printed on the bottle.
- Spray. Wet the grout lines with All-Purpose Spray.
- Sprinkle. Shake a thin line of Brightening Powder along the grout. The water does the activating, so a little is enough.
- Spray again so the powder is wet all the way through. It starts to fizz within a few seconds.
- Wait 15 to 20 minutes. The powder does most of its work in the first 20 minutes after it gets wet. Up to 30 minutes is fine.
- Light scrub. Work the paste into the grout line with a stiff brush.
- Scrub with purpose. Short strokes along the grout line, not across the tile.
- Wipe the paste up with a paper towel.
- Vacuum the dry residue so you are not pushing grit around with the cloth.
- Damp-wipe and let dry. If a white haze shows once it is dry, wipe again with plain water.
Why it works
The active ingredient in Brightening Powder is sodium percarbonate, which releases hydrogen peroxide and oxygen when it meets water. That lifts stains out of the grout’s pores; the dwell time and the brush do the rest. The other two ingredients are sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium carbonate (washing soda). It is an oxygen-based cleaner, not chlorine bleach.
Common questions
Will this lighten colored grout?
It can. An oxygen cleaner does not know the difference between a stain and a dye. On plain gray or white cement grout, go ahead. On colored grout, test a hidden spot first and keep the dwell short.
Can I use this in the shower, or on a backsplash?
Yes, on ceramic or porcelain tile with cement grout, floors or walls. The method is the same; on a wall, the paste stays put better if you spray a little less the second time. The All-Purpose Spray is not recommended as a daily cleaner for unsealed natural stone such as marble or travertine.
Does it kill mold or mildew in the grout?
It removes the staining. Scrunchy cleaners are not disinfectants and we don’t claim to be. If the discoloration keeps coming back, the grout is holding water, and sealing it, or replacing it, is the fix.
What about the floor where my dog’s bowls sit?
Here is what is in it, so you can decide: the powder is sodium percarbonate, sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate; the spray is the Multi-Surface Concentrate at 1:11, with every ingredient listed on our ingredients page. Keep kids and pets off the floor while the paste is working, and rinse and dry the area before the bowls go back. Rinse surfaces before any food or direct skin contact.
Do you add water or concentrate first?
Water first. Fill to the WATER line, then add concentrate up to the SOAP line. Both lines are printed on the bottle, so there is nothing to measure.
Is the grout cleaner EWG Verified?
The Scrunchy Multi-Surface Concentrate is EWG Verified®, which means it avoids EWG’s ingredients of concern and meets EWG’s standards for ingredient transparency. The All-Purpose Spray is that concentrate diluted 1:11. The Brightening Powder is not EWG Verified; its three ingredients are each EWG A-rated. See the concentrate’s listing in EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning.
Rinse surfaces thoroughly before any food or direct skin contact.
New surface-by-surface clips land on YouTube first. Subscribe to the Scrunchy Living channel so you catch them.
Subscribe on YouTubeFour months of buildup, reset in an hour.
A Recteq pellet grill used two to three times a week, last deep cleaned four months ago. Real mess, real photos, nothing staged.
1 / 10
The steps
- Scrape the gratesWhile the grill is cool, scrape the grates and accessories to knock off thick, dried-on food and carbon. Do not worry about perfect. Just get the big chunks off.
- Start the soakPut the grates and accessories in your sink or tub. Spray generously with All-Purpose, sprinkle 2 scoops of Brightening Powder over everything, then fill with warm water until covered and add 1 tablespoon of Concentrate. Soak 30 minutes.
- Clean the exterior while you waitReplace the aluminum foil in the drip pan. Spray the inside of the lid, the walls and the exterior with All-Purpose, then wipe with a cloth, doing extra passes on stubborn spots.
- Loosen the gunkLightly scrape or scrub each grate in the water to loosen residue. Drain the dirtiest water, refill with warm water plus 1 tablespoon of Concentrate and 1 scoop of Brightening Powder, and soak another 15 minutes.
- Scrub, rinse, rebuildScrub the grates and accessories until they feel smooth, rinse clean and dry fully, then put everything back in the grill.
Straight talk: your grill will not come back brand new. It will come back mostly restored, with ingredients you can actually pronounce. You need All-Purpose, Brightening Powder, Concentrate, a scraper or grill brush, a sink or tub, foil and a few cloths.
Well-water stains gone in about 30 minutes.
Years of well-water staining and mineral deposits, on a tub where scrubbing and mainstream cleaners had barely made a dent. No bleach anywhere in this one.
1 / 4
The steps
- Spray the All-Purpose solutionCover the stained areas with Scrunchy All-Purpose.
- Sprinkle Brightening PowderStraight over the stains, while the surface is still wet.
- Wait 15 minutesNo scrubbing yet. The wait is what does the work.
- Scrub with an abrasive spongeNow put some effort in.
- Rinse cleanOne round gets you roughly 90 percent of the way. A second round takes it the rest.
Cooked-on pans, without the scrubbing.
Stainless steel with baked-on residue that normally means twenty minutes at the sink. This is the soak that does it instead.
1 / 5
The steps
- Spray, apply powder, spray againAll-Purpose over the cooked-on areas, Brightening Powder on top, then another pass of All-Purpose.
- Fill with hot waterStraight into the pan, covering the residue.
- Leave it 15 minutesGo do something else. The soak is doing the work.
- Scrub, then rinse clean and dryWipe the loosened residue away, then rinse the pan and dry it before you cook in it again.
Rinse cookware and any surface before it touches food or bare skin. Scrunchy cleaners remove dirt and grime. They are not disinfectants and we do not claim to be.