Strongest All Purpose Cleaners
Ranked by degreasing power—a composite score based on alkaline strength, surfactant systems, alkaline builders for sustained cleaning, and degreasing solvents that directly dissolve oils.
Updated · 41 products analyzed
23 ranked · 18 excluded due to insufficient transparency or missing data
How we rank: Based on alkaline strength for saponifying grease, surfactant diversity for cleaning across soil types, chelating agents for hard water performance, alkaline builders for sustained pH, and degreasing solvents that dissolve oils directly.
Degreasing Power vs. Value
Top-right is the sweet spot — high degreasing power and more affordable.
Strongest All Purpose Cleaners Summary
Adam's Polishes Adams All Purpose Cleaner ($0.27/oz) and Ethos Car Care Super APC ($0.93/oz) are the strongest all-purpose cleaners according to ChemCX, sharing the top degreasing score of 10.0 across 23 APCs with verified ingredient data. Both achieve their cleaning power through high-alkaline chemistry at pH 13 and 13. Next is Griot's Garage Citrus All Purpose Cleaner Concentrate at 9.6 (pH 13.6), $0.94/oz. Degreasing power is scored by alkaline strength for saponifying grease, surfactant diversity, chelating agents for hard water performance, alkaline builders for sustained pH, and degreasing solvents that dissolve oils directly. The category spans pH 7.0 to 13.6 across 41 products.
Rankings based on Safety Data Sheet analysis. Only products with verified ingredient disclosure qualify.
