Is Purex Cruelty-Free and Vegan?

Purex was launched in 1922 as a bleach in California. Presently, the brand has grown from just a bleaching agent to a full-fledged manufacturer of laundry cleaning agents.

Purex catalog includes washing detergent, bleach, fabric stain removers, odor release, and laundry detergents.

Purex was acquired in 1985 by Dial Corporation who was then acquired by Henkel in 2004.

Is Purex Cruelty-Free?

Well, a lot of uncertainties have trailed Purex’s cruelty-free status.

This is partly due to the fact that they’ve failed to publish a testing policy and secondly, because of their affiliation with the parent company, Henkel, which happens to test on animals.

Not having a testing policy on your site and being owned by a brand that does test on animals isn’t enough reason for us to conclude that they’re not cruelty-free. Hence, we had to make a quick comparison from our end.

Our research showed that Purex tests on animals and are classified on PETA’s database as a brand that tests on animals. This is a strong reason for us to exempt them from our list of cruelty-free brands.

Are Purex Products tested on Animals?

Purex doesn’t have a testing policy on their site and doesn’t look like publishing one anytime soon.

They have so far withheld information about their cruelty status from buyers and are also not clear when it comes to the choice of ingredients during their formulation.

All these uncertainties make for a case of not being cruelty-free.

Also, since they are owned by a parent company that does whatever necessary to sell in a particular market, it’s likely their policy also rubs off on them.

Do they test Animals when required by the Law?

Most of the time, only brands who sell in China are required to test on animals by law. Those who have steered clear of the Chinese market don’t have to follow this procedure.

Henkel is a company that tests animals when required by law, and there’s a probability that their policy rubs off on Purex as well.

Are Purex products sold in China?

Well, we’re not 100% certain that they sell in China due to a lack of information from Purex. But we can confirm that their parent company sells in the area.

The deal with brands who sell in China is that they might be able to walk their way around pre-market testing, but they have no other choice than to submit their product for post-market testing.

All foreign brands who import their products into the area must abide by this principle.

Does Purex have Cruelty Free Certifications?

Brands looking to convince the public about their cruelty-free status need to back up their claim with a certification from these three authorities: PETA, Leaping Bunny, and Choose Cruelty-Free.

Unfortunately, Purex hasn’t made such efforts.

They’re absent from Leaping Bunny’s database but classified on PETA as a brand that carries out animal testing. This all but confirms that, indeed, they’re nowhere near being cruelty-free.

Is Purex Owned by another Company?

Purex is not independent; it has a parent company. The brand is owned by Henkel, a company that’s also not a friend of PETA. Henkel is known for testing on animals as well and has a lot of subsidiaries that do the same.

Is Purex Products Vegan?

Purex does withhold vital information about their production process, thereby putting a lot of people in the dark.

They’ve failed to take a stance concerning animal cruelty, and they also failed to put up a policy concerning the type of ingredients they use.

For all we know, most laundry products are rarely vegan. This is because a vast majority of them contain substances derived from dead animals.

Take, for instance, lipase, an organic substrate found in most laundry detergents is said to be derived from the pancreas of pigs. This substance is said to improve the cleansing effect of the detergent.

Products like Clorox, which happens to be one of the best sellers from the Purex catalog, have been branded as not cruelty-free and vegan.

Another reason we can’t give our vote of confidence when it comes to their vegan claim is that they also failed to publish a comprehensive ingredient list of all their products. This is always a red flag for us.

Summary

We’re extremely cautious of brands who withhold information the way Purex does. Without any sort of clarification, it’s difficult to know if the ingredients are plant or animal-based.

Secondly, they are not approved by any cruelty-free authority and have failed to address their cruelty status on their website.