ADVANAGE 20X vs. Totally Awesome & Simple Green: Which Cleaner Wins?

If you've stood in a cleaning aisle, or a browser tab, comparing ADVANAGE 20X vs. Simple Green, Totally Awesome, or Fabuloso, you've probably noticed none of them make the comparison easy. Each one calls itself a concentrate. Each one claims to cut grease, lift stains, and handle "almost anything." The dilution ratios printed on the back of each bottle don't agree with each other, and the price tags don't obviously map to how much usable cleaner you actually get once it's mixed.

So we pulled the real numbers instead of repeating marketing lines: the dilution ratio each brand publishes, what a gallon of concentrate actually costs once diluted, and what's disclosed about ingredients like phosphates. ADVANAGE 20X sits in the quarts and gallons lineup at a fixed 1:20 ratio, no chart, no guessing which mix to use for which job. That single detail is where this comparison keeps coming back to.

Here's the short version. All four products are legitimate concentrates in the sense that you dilute them before use, but they're not built for the same job. Simple Green and Totally Awesome both ship with dilution charts that change ratio by task. Fabuloso's "2X concentrate" is really a floor-cleaning dilution, closer to mop water than a degreaser. ADVANAGE 20X runs one ratio across the board, and it's the one product here you can't buy in a retail store. Below, we compare the actual dilution math, the real cost per ready-to-use gallon, what's independently tested, and where each one is sold.

Quick Reference

• ADVANAGE 20X dilutes at a single fixed 1:20 ratio; Simple Green and Totally Awesome both use ratios that shift by task, anywhere from roughly 1:1 to 1:30

• At its one ratio, ADVANAGE 20X runs about $5.00 per ready-to-use gallon; Simple Green can run as low as $0.32 per gallon at its lightest dilution, and Fabuloso's 2X formula claims roughly $0.27 to $0.39 per gallon at mop-water strength

• Simple Green carries EPA Safer Choice certification; ADVANAGE 20X and Totally Awesome are both phosphate-free but aren't Safer Choice-certified

• ADVANAGE 20X is independently lab-tested at 96% overall cleaning effectiveness, versus 86% for the leading retail brand

• Fabuloso's concentrate is built around mopping and light surface cleaning, not full-strength degreasing the way the other three are typically used

• ADVANAGE 20X is sold direct only; Simple Green, Totally Awesome, and Fabuloso are all available at major retail and grocery stores

The Concentrate Ratio Nobody Else Fixes In Place

Simple Green and Totally Awesome both publish dilution charts because the same bottle is meant to handle everything from a light dusting wipe-down to a stripped-down degreasing job, and those two tasks need very different concentrations. That's not a flaw; it's flexibility. But it also means you have to know which ratio to reach for before you mix anything.

ADVANAGE 20X skips that decision. One quart makes 20 quarts, one gallon makes 20 gallons, and a 55-gallon drum makes roughly 1,100 gallons, the same math regardless of what you're cleaning. If you want the fuller breakdown of why that fixed-ratio math changes the value equation, we cover it in more depth here.

What Does Each One Actually Cost Per Gallon?

We'll say it plainly: at their lightest dilutions, Simple Green and Fabuloso can land cheaper per gallon than ADVANAGE 20X. That's the honest number. What that number leaves out is what each dilution is actually good for. 

Simple Green's $0.32-per-gallon number is its 1:30 ratio, meant for light everyday wiping, not the 1:1 mix the label recommends for heavy degreasing. Fabuloso's cheapest-per-gallon math comes from a mop-water strength recipe built for floors. ADVANAGE 20X's $5.00 per gallon is one strength, used the same way whether you're degreasing a stovetop or mopping a floor, with no lighter "everyday" version to switch to.

Does ADVANAGE 20X Actually Clean Better?

This is where ADVANAGE 20X's numbers are harder to argue with. In independent lab testing the company publishes, ADVANAGE 20X scored 96% in overall cleaning effectiveness against 86% for the leading retail brand, a real, specific comparison figure rather than a vague marketing claim. You can read more of that testing detail on Advanage's FAQ page.

Neither Simple Green nor Totally Awesome nor Fabuloso publishes a comparable independent effectiveness percentage in what's publicly available from each brand. That doesn't mean they don't clean well; all three have loyal followings and plenty of their own customer praise, but it does mean ADVANAGE 20X is the one making a specific, checkable performance claim rather than a general one. 

If you want the deeper dive into how lab-tested cleaning claims hold up against marketing language industry-wide, we broke that down separately.

Phosphate-Free: Who Actually Backs That Claim?

Phosphate-free sounds like a distinguishing feature, but it's worth knowing that it's also close to a baseline requirement at this point. Several states, including New Hampshire, restrict phosphorus content in household cleaning products directly by law, which is part of why phosphate-free is common across this entire category rather than unique to any one brand.

With that context: ADVANAGE 20X and Totally Awesome both state directly that their formulas are phosphate-free. Simple Green goes a step further and carries EPA Safer Choice certification, meaning its full ingredient list has been independently reviewed against the EPA's safer-ingredient criteria, something ADVANAGE 20X doesn't currently hold. 

Fabuloso's disclosed ingredients don't show phosphates either, but the brand doesn't lead with a phosphate-free claim the way the other three do. For the fuller picture of what these labels actually promise versus what they don't, we've written about that here.

Where You Can Actually Buy Each One

This is the most straightforward difference of the four. Simple Green, Totally Awesome, and Fabuloso are all sold on shelves at major retailers, grocery stores, and dollar stores, wherever household cleaning products are stocked. ADVANAGE 20X is sold direct only, through its own website or a door-to-door representative, never in a retail store.

That model isn't an accident. Advanage puts what a retail brand would spend on shelf space and advertising into its sales organization instead, largely made up of people recruited and trained from underserved communities. For commercial and bulk buyers, that same direct model is also how drum and tote pricing gets handled, since those aren't shelf items at any of the competitors either.

Common Questions

What is better than Simple Green? 

It depends on what "better" means to you. If you want a single fixed ratio instead of a dilution chart, or a specific lab-tested effectiveness number to point to, ADVANAGE 20X is the stronger claim. If a third-party ingredient certification matters more than raw performance numbers, Simple Green's EPA Safer Choice status is hard to match, and it's easier to find on a store shelf.

How does ADVANAGE 20X compare to Totally Awesome's citrus cleaner? 

Both come in a citrus-scented degreasing formula and are phosphate-free, but they're diluted differently: Totally Awesome's citrus varies by task, roughly 1:5 for tough jobs up to 1:30 for light ones, while ADVANAGE 20X Citrus stays at a fixed 1:20 regardless of the job. Totally Awesome is also available at dollar stores and Home Depot; ADVANAGE 20X Citrus is sold only direct.

What's the best all-purpose cleaner in a head-to-head comparison? 

There isn't one answer for every household. ADVANAGE 20X wins on a fixed, no-guesswork ratio and a published 96% versus 86% lab result. Simple Green wins on third-party certification and shelf availability. Fabuloso wins on price if you mainly need a light mopping solution rather than a degreaser. The right pick depends on whether you value simplicity, certification, or the lowest cost at the lightest dilution.

The Company Behind ADVANAGE 20X

ADVANAGE has manufactured this concentrate since 1980, sold exclusively through its own door-to-door and online sales model rather than retail distribution. That structure is also what funds the company's Advanage Foundation, which trains and employs young people from underserved communities. If you have questions this comparison didn't answer, you can contact Advanage directly.

Ready to see the fixed-ratio difference for yourself? Shop ADVANAGE 20X →