Cruelty free household cleaning products

It's been quite some time since I last updated this site and I'm pleased to report that the number of options for products that don't test on animals has grown significantly since my last post. It has hopefully become clear that "cruelty-free" is something that matters to consumers. And they don't want their money to support companies that test on animals. So it's been quite heartening to see this progress. 

One of the categories that has historically been fairly difficult to find quality cruelty-free products is in the household cleaning category. I'm talking about things like multi-surface cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, etc. This is a category that is dominated by Proctor & Gamble, Clorox, and other companies who continue to engage in animal testing.

The difficulty that I've frequently encountered with cleaning products that don't test on animals is that they, historically, have not been very good or effective. I'd find myself using these cruelty-free products and I wouldn't have any luck getting soap scum off the shower walls or a stain off of the kitchen counter. 

Now, I certainly haven't tried every cruelty free brand on the market, so I can't speak for all of them. I checked PETA's terrific database of cruelty free products and manufacturers, and filtered for all purpose cleaners. Honestly, I haven't heard of the majority of these. I'm more familiar with the ones I'm used to seeing in the supermarkets, like Seventh Generation, Dr. Bronners, JR Watkins, Method, etc. On the one hand, it's sad that more of these products can't easily be found on grocery store shelves. But on the other hand, I'm encouraged that there's one or more cruelty free products that we regularly see in stores. 

Of the ones that I've used, my go-to has become Method. 

Method has products for just about everything household related - hand soap, dish soap, all purpose cleaners, toilet cleaners, you name it. Their products all have pleasant scents, they're effective, competitively priced and, best of all, they don't test on animals. I've been consistently using Method products for years and I love them. 

For household cleaners, I used to just grab the one that has a scent that I enjoy. But more often, I lean toward the ANTIBAC cleaners for the added peace of mind.

I find the cleaners to do a great job around the house. I use them to clean all surfaces in the kitchen, bathroom, etc. It leaves counters, bathroom walls and most surfaces feeling clean and smelling good. 

I will say that it's not going to cut through grease on the stove or soap scum in the bathtub but I don't think it's necessarily designed to do that either. 

Fortunately, they do have products for both of those purposes, so you'll want to buy the appropriate product for your needs. 

But I feel confident in saying that whatever the need, Method's got it covered. And I hope that Method serves as a model to all the other companies out there, that you don't need to test on animals to make high quality, effective cleaning products.