Clean Up With a Clear Conscience

Spring is in the air, and that means that spring cleaning is probably on your “to do” list. Before you break out the bucket and dust mop, your first order of business might be cleaning out your broom closet. Were the cleansers force-fed to guinea pigs before they were bottled and sold? Was the bleach poured into rabbits’ eyes? While some household product companies still conduct archaic tests on animals, the good news is that finding detergents, bleach, air fresheners, and other cleaning supplies manufactured by companies that don’t test on animals is easier than ever.

Time-Saving Tips

• Remember: Dust falls downward, so clean rooms from top to bottom.
• Work around the room in one direction to avoid extra steps by crisscrossing.
• Tackle one room at a time to make the task seem less daunting.
• “Pre-clean” by clearing away clutter; recycling old magazines, newspapers, and catalogs; tossing junk mail; filing bills; and gathering up unwanted clothes and other items to donate to charity.
• Spray your oven with cleaner the night before, which makes the grime easier to remove the next day.
• Vacuum animal fur on furniture, floors, heating registers, and even countertops. (It’s easier to vacuum fly-away hair than to sweep it up.)
• Speed up defrosting your freezer with a blow-dryer.

Don’t Forget to …

• change the battery in your smoke detector
• dust lampshades, ceiling fans, pictures, and molding around doors and floors
• flip and rotate your mattress
• clean under the bed and sofa and behind the refrigerator (including coils)
• clean your blinds (it’s easiest to take them outside and spay them with a hose)
• clean or change vacuum, water, air-conditioner, and heat-pump filters

Keep PETA’s Shopping Guide Handy
Our 2006 Shopping Guide for Caring Consumers, which features Girlfriends star Persia White on the cover, lists more than 500 household-product and personal-care companies that have banned animal tests forever. It also tells you which companies use exclusively vegan ingredients and includes a list defining animal ingredients and their alternatives. A handy index allows you to search for companies by product category.

To order, send $8.95, plus $3.95 shipping, to Shopping Guide, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510, or call 1-800-483-4366 (U.S. only).

Air Freshener
Bath & Body Works: Bath & Body Works stores
Citra-Solv: health-food stores and supermarkets
Crabtree & Evelyn Products: Crabtree & Evelyn Products stores
Mia Rose Products: health-food stores and supermarkets
Method Products: Target stores, drugstores, and supermarkets
Safeway Select: Safeway stores

All-Purpose Cleaners
Bon Ami: drugstores and supermarkets
Ecover: health-food stores and supermarkets
The Good Home Company: department stores and health-food stores
Method Products: Target stores, drugstores, and supermarkets
Safeway Select: Safeway stores
Seventh Generation: drugstores and supermarkets

Automatic Dish Detergent
Ecover: health-food stores and supermarkets
Method Products: Target stores, drugstores, and supermarkets
Safeway Select: Safeway stores
Seventh Generation: drugstores and supermarkets
SunSations: drugstores, supermarkets, and discount stores

Bathroom Care
Bon Ami: drugstores and supermarkets
Ecover: health-food stores and supermarkets
The Good Home Company: department stores and health-food stores
Method Products: Target stores, drugstores, and supermarkets
Safeway Select: Safeway stores
Seventh Generation: drugstores and supermarkets

Bleach
Bio-Pac: drugstores and supermarkets
Ecover: health-food stores and supermarkets
Nature Clean/Frank T. Ross: health-food stores and co-ops
Safeway Select: Safeway stores
Seventh Generation: drugstores and supermarkets

Carpet Cleaners
Bi-O-Kleen: health-food stores and supermarkets
Citra-Solv: health-food stores and supermarkets
Nature Clean/Frank T. Ross: health-food stores and co-ops
Safeway Select: Safeway stores
Seventh Generation: drugstores and supermarkets

Dishwashing Liquid
Ecover: health-food stores and supermarkets
The Good Home Company: department stores and health-food stores
Method Products: Target stores, drugstores, and supermarkets
Safeway Select: Safeway stores
Seventh Generation: drugstores and supermarkets
SunSations: drugstores, supermarkets, and discount stores

Laundry Detergent
Ecover: health-food stores and supermarkets
The Good Home Company: department stores and health-food stores
Method Products: Target stores, drugstores, and supermarkets
Safeway Select: Safeway stores
Seventh Generation: drugstores and supermarkets
SunSations: drugstores, supermarkets, and discount stores