Come on, admit it: You see the green cleaners on the store shelf, but you pass them by because you're not sure that they will clean as well or better than your usual products, right?

We decided to put a few eco-friendly products to the test and were pleasantly surprised.

Palmolive Eco+ It looks like the old Palmolive and works like the old Palmolive, but the difference here is the new phosphate-free dishwashing formula, which some say is better for aquatic life.

Helen Suh MacIntosh, a professor of environmental health at Harvard University, says on Treehugger.com, "Although phosphates are an important plant nutrient, higher-than-normal phosphate levels can destroy the health of the lake, stream or other freshwater body." Laundry-detergent companies eliminated phosphates in 1994.

Palmolive Eco+ gel dishwasher detergent, $3.09 to $3.39 for 45-ounce bottle; $4.19 to $4.49 for 75-ounce bottle; and $5.69 to $5.99 for 120-ounce bottle at grocery stores.

Perfect Planet Squeeze & Clean Floor Cleaner. Weiman's new Perfect Planet line includes its Squeeze & Clean Floor Cleaner for hardwoods, laminates and ceramics. The company promises it will clean and coat in one simple step sans petrochemicals, ammonia, VOCs or phosphates and without any mixing, diluting or rinsing.

This we had to see for ourselves. Our tester was impressed: "It did well at removing dirt and a sticky tea spill, and it didn't leave a residue. I thought I might have to go back over the floor with clean water, but it wasn't necessary. And it didn't have a strong smell at all; after using ammonia and pine-scented products, this was a nice bonus." Even better, Squeeze & Clean is never tested on animals.

Weiman Perfect Planet Squeeze & Clean Floor Cleaner ($4.63 each, minimum of two per purchase) is available by phone at 1-888-281-6400 or online at www.mybrands.com (search for Perfect Planet). Weiman hopes to be on the shelves in North Texas stores at the end of this year.

J.R. Watkins Natural Home Care All-Purpose Wipes. The new home care products from J.R. Watkins, a company that has used natural ingredients for more than 140 years in its apothecary line, hopes to use its "conscience-clearing power" to clean up your home and the environment. These wipes contain none of the common asthma triggers – such as ammonia, chlorine, dye, phosphoric acid and formaldehyde – found in some other cleaners, and they are not tested on animals.

We found them to be durable and effective cleaning up both new spills and old, caked-on grime. You don't need to rinse with water after you use them, and bonus: The wipes are biodegradable, so throwing them away won't wreck your newly earned good karma.

J.R. Watkins All-Purpose Cleaning Wipes ($3.99) are available in-store only at Target, 301 Carroll St., Fort Worth.

TerraCycle Natural Window Cleaner and All-Purpose Cleaner. You wouldn't think a company that prides itself on selling worm poop would be able to clean up its act so well, but it does.

TerraCycle, the company founded by two Princeton University students who decided to sell liquid worm poop as plant food in old soda bottles, has taken on the genre of green cleaning products. Once again, the company takes 1-liter plastic bottles and repackages them with a formula filled with purified water, natural mineral degreasers and essential oils. As for cleaning ability, the product packaged in waste laid waste to our grimy windows, kitchen countertops and glass coffee table. Plus, the cleaners are never tested on animals and are pet-safe. Mission accomplished – and that's the straight poop.

TerraCycle cleaning products (both $3.99) are available at Office Max.