When testing and selecting the toilet brushes, we considered hygiene, effectiveness, depth of clean, additional extras, value and colours available. Environmental expert s’ verdict: Two, each washed once a fortnight. 2 How often should you change your sheets? Toilet cleaners usually contain chlorine bleach to kill off bacteria and microbes. Many mainstream toilet cleaner makers portray the toilet bowl as one of the dirtiest places in the house and we need to use these deadly chemicals to keep ourselves safe. Greenscents – bulk sizes, which can be returned to them for reuse, and refill stations. Standard size bottles made from biopolymer, from waste sugar cane

In October 2015, the UK Government banned the testing of ‘finished’ household products on animals and introduced a ‘qualified ban’ on testing the ingredients on animals. But it’ll make little difference to animal welfare. This is because no animals have been used for testing ‘finished’ household products in the UK since 2010. It’s usually the ingredients not the ‘finished’ products that are tested on animals.But the real ethical issue centres around manufacture. Bleach is from the organochlorine family of chemicals, compounds rarely found in nature and which can take centuries to decompose. Greenpeace has called for a complete end to organochlorine production. Environmental experts’ verdict: Weekly if you can access the space. Otherwise, as often as you can manage. 9 How often should you deep-clean the bathroom? Environmental expert s’ verdict: No. But this is a matter of personal preference. 4 How often should you wash your jeans? Some of the brands we reviewed are completely palm oil free across all products. They were: Greenscents and Planet Detox. Bleach does the job, but what is the job and is it necessary? As we live in the Age of Bacteria immunologist, Gerald N Callahan, sums up: 'Neither humans nor micro-organisms benefit from fully destroying the other. This is not a war, as it has often been described, even though we have an impressive array of weapons - bactericidal cribs and mattresses, toilet cleaners... If it were (a war), we would have lost long ago, overpowered by sheer numbers and evolutionary speed. This is... like a waltz that will last for all of human history. We must hold to our partners carefully and dance well.'"

A recent Which? report (May 2021) stated that large bottles of household cleaning products used 47% less plastic and needed less space to be transported. We have rated all the companies for their toxic chemicals policies. The companies which received a best rating had a policy because they had banned the use of parabens, phthalates and triclosan (see our feature on toxic chemicals for why we have chosen these chemicals) were: You can also look for bulk containers made from recycled plastics such as Bio-D’s 5 litre bottles or other innovative solutions such as Greenscents’ biopolymer bottles made from sugar cane waste. SESI, Fill Refill and Miniml have wide networks of refill stations, and Fill Refill and Miniml sell directly to consumers too. Splosh send concentrated refill pouches (which you can return to them for recycling) in the post. All of these companies were awarded a positive Company Ethos mark for their focus on refills. Bulk-buyingWe’ve also seen a boom in consumer interest in refill-focused companies, like Splosh, SESI, Fill Refill and Miniml, who only sell products to refill an existing bottle with. Ecover - most bottles use 75% PlantPlastic, from sugar cane, and 25% recycled plastic. Toilet cleaner is 50% recycled. 5 litre Bulk sizes and refill stations. Environmental experts’ verdict: Rinse after use. Wash every other day. 7 How often should you dust? Several others ( Bio-D, Fill Refill, Miniml, SESI, Sodasan, and Splosh) scored our best rating for stating that all of their palm ingredients, including derivatives, were certified by the RSPO.