94 out of 100 Exceptional
The clay that performs like nothing should at this price of conscience, and proof that mineral litter still has a podium claim in 2026. Ever Clean Extra Strength takes the No. 3 position with ninety four, the highest placed clay on the entire list, and it gets there by being very nearly perfect on the four axes that govern daily life.
The secret is carbon. Rather than spray scent over a used box, Ever Clean bonds activated carbon through every granule, and the odour control that results is among the most complete we have ever measured, a flawless five that holds clean for the better part of a fortnight. Clumping is a perfect five, the clump setting hard and lifting whole, and tracking scores five as well, the heavy grain staying put. Dust comes in a half point short of perfect, low but, as owners note, faintly sticky, the one place the formula shows its age.
Then comes the reckoning the list applies to every clay. Sodium bentonite is strip mined, neither renewable nor biodegradable, and so sustainability is capped at four. That single axis is the only thing standing between Ever Clean and the very summit, and it is worth pausing on: score the box alone and this is a top three litter anywhere on earth.
There is a reason Ever Clean is the litter a vast share of cats actually use, the genuine sales leader in market after market, including Korea, where it duels for first place every year. It is expensive, and it asks you to make peace with the mine. But for a spotless, near odourless, beautifully clumping box, almost nothing touches it. A magnificent clay, and the standard the mineral category is measured against.