Is our bench spray safe to use where I prepare my family's food?

It's a fair thing to pause on before you spray anything near where your kids eat. The short answer is yes: this bench spray is made specifically for food-prep surfaces. It's built on pure castile soap and 100% pure Australian eucalyptus oil that lift grease and grime, then evaporate and wipe away — leaving nothing behind on the bench.

What's actually in it — and why that matters near food

There are four things in the bottle: pure castile soap made from olive and coconut oil, natural ethanol, 100% pure Australian eucalyptus oil, and water (plus your choice of real essential-oil scent). That's it. Castile soap is real soap — the same surfactant chemistry that has cleaned kitchens for centuries, where the soap molecule grabs grease at one end and water at the other and lifts it off the surface. It isn't a synthetic detergent, and there's no SLS, no synthetic fragrance and no synthetic dye. The reason this matters near food is simple: you can read every ingredient, so nothing unnamed ends up on the surface where you roll pastry or rest a sandwich. Australian cleaning brands aren't legally required to disclose what's in their products. We've listed every ingredient on every label since 1895 — five generations before any law asked us to.

Does it leave any residue on the bench?

No — and that's the part parents care about most. The eucalyptus oil in the spray is volatile, which is the scientific way of saying it evaporates. Its main component, 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol), is a documented natural solvent that cuts through grease and then lifts off the surface as it dries. What's left after a wipe with a damp cloth is a clean, dry bench — not a film you can feel or taste. This is the opposite of many supermarket sprays, which can leave a residue precisely because they're built to. Parents of young kids tell us the same thing again and again: they finally stopped holding their breath every time they wiped down the highchair tray. It's rated 4.97 out of 5 across 185 reviews, and the food-safety reassurance comes up more than almost anything else.

It cleans — but does it disinfect?

Here's where honesty matters more than marketing: this is a cleaner, not a disinfectant, and it doesn't claim to kill germs. What it does is physically remove grease, food residue and grime by lifting them off the surface — which, for everyday kitchen wiping, is exactly what surface cleaning is meant to do. Cleaning and disinfecting are two different jobs. If you have a specific reason to disinfect a surface — say you've just cut up raw chicken — a product registered as a disinfectant is designed for that task, and that's the right tool to reach for. For the daily reality of crumbs, spills and sticky fingers, a good clean that leaves no chemical residue is what most kitchens actually need. We'd rather tell you that plainly than dress a cleaner up as something it isn't. We unpack the clean-versus-disinfect question in full here.

Which surfaces is it safe on — and which to avoid?

It's safe on the vast majority of kitchen and bathroom surfaces: benchtops, splashbacks, stovetops, basins, taps, tiles, glass, stainless steel, ceramic, laminate and sealed timber. It's also safe on sealed stone — marble, granite, Caesarstone and engineered quartz — which many cleaners warn against. The short list to avoid: unsealed timber, unsealed or honed stone (spot-test first), and leather. The method is genuinely just spray and wipe; for stubborn soap scum, leave it 30 seconds first. There's no diluting and no gloves-and-open-a-window routine, because there are no fumes to clear. If you have stone benchtops, here's the detail on why sealed stone is fine and honed stone needs care.

Is it strong enough to actually cut kitchen grease?

Yes — grease is exactly what soap and eucalyptus are good at. Grease is oil, and both castile soap and eucalyptol are natural degreasers: the soap emulsifies the fat so water can carry it away, and the eucalyptus oil dissolves the greasy film so it releases from the surface. On a stovetop or a splashback behind the pan, that means the baked-on film wipes off rather than smearing. Being gentle on skin and free of harsh solvents doesn't make a cleaner weak — it's a different mechanism, not a lesser one. We put the grease-cutting question to the test here.

Natural bench spray vs a typical supermarket spray

The honest summary: if what you want is a spray you can use on the bench, wipe, and not think about, this is built for that. It won't disinfect, and it isn't pretending to. What it will do is clean well and leave nothing behind — which, for the surfaces where your family eats, is the reassurance most people are actually after. It comes in five real essential-oil scents, from 500ml ($15) up to a 5L refill ($99), and there are 100ml sample sizes if you'd like to try a scent first. See the All Natural Bench Spray here.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to spray bench cleaner where I prepare food?

Yes. This bench spray is made from castile soap and pure eucalyptus oil, designed for food-prep surfaces. The eucalyptus oil evaporates completely, so nothing is left on the bench to transfer to food. As with any cleaner, wipe the surface after spraying.

Does natural bench spray leave a residue on the benchtop?

No. The eucalyptus oil is volatile and evaporates, and a quick wipe removes the lifted grease and soap. That is the whole point of the formula — it cleans, then leaves nothing behind on the surfaces where you handle food.

Do I need to rinse the bench after using it?

For everyday cleaning you can simply wipe with a damp cloth; no separate rinse is needed. If you have used it on a surface that will hold food directly, a final wipe with a clean damp cloth is good practice.

Does it disinfect the bench?

No — it is a cleaner, not a disinfectant, and it does not claim to kill germs. It physically lifts grease, food residue and grime off the surface. If you specifically need to disinfect (for example after raw meat), a registered disinfectant is the right tool for that separate job.

What are the ingredients?

Pure castile soap (made from olive and coconut oil), 100% pure Australian eucalyptus oil, and water — with your choice of real essential oil scent. Every ingredient is listed on the bottle, as AEOC has done since 1895.