diff --git a/helper/adminFields.js b/helper/adminFields.js
index de1dd009..275e03c1 100644
--- a/helper/adminFields.js
+++ b/helper/adminFields.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
-var peliasSchema = require('pelias-schema');
-var peliasLogger = require( 'pelias-logger' ).get( 'api' );
+
+var _ = require('lodash'),
+    peliasSchema = require('pelias-schema'),
+    peliasLogger = require( 'pelias-logger' ).get( 'api' );
 
 var ADMIN_FIELDS = [
   'admin0',
@@ -29,7 +31,7 @@ function getAvailableAdminFields(schema, expectedFields, logger) {
 
   // check if expected fields are actually in current schema
   var available = expectedFields.filter(function (field) {
-    return (actualFields.indexOf(field) !== -1);
+    return _.contains( actualFields, field );
   });
 
   if (available.length === 0) {
diff --git a/helper/geojsonify.js b/helper/geojsonify.js
index cf1f8744..ae054dbc 100644
--- a/helper/geojsonify.js
+++ b/helper/geojsonify.js
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 
-var GeoJSON = require('geojson');
-var extent = require('geojson-extent');
-var outputGenerator = require('./outputGenerator');
-var logger = require('pelias-logger').get('api');
-
+var GeoJSON = require('geojson'),
+    extent = require('geojson-extent'),
+    outputGenerator = require('./outputGenerator'),
+    logger = require('pelias-logger').get('api');
 
 // Properties to be copied when details=true
 var DETAILS_PROPS = [
diff --git a/sanitiser/_details.js b/sanitiser/_details.js
index e17c656c..f0e2bade 100644
--- a/sanitiser/_details.js
+++ b/sanitiser/_details.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 
-var check = require('check-types');
+var _ = require('lodash'),
+    check = require('check-types');
+
 var DEFAULT_DETAILS_BOOL = true;
 
 // validate inputs, convert types and apply defaults
@@ -20,7 +22,7 @@ function sanitize( raw, clean ){
 // be lenient with 'truthy' values
 function isTruthy(val) {
   if( check.string( val ) ){
-    return ['true', '1', 'yes', 'y'].indexOf(val) !== -1;
+    return _.contains( ['true', '1'], val );
   }
 
   return val === 1 || val === true;
diff --git a/sanitiser/_id.js b/sanitiser/_id.js
index 77d21fa8..ff6834ca 100644
--- a/sanitiser/_id.js
+++ b/sanitiser/_id.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 
-var check = require('check-types'),
+var _ = require('lodash'),
+    check = require('check-types'),
     types = require('../query/types');
 
 var ID_DELIM = ':';
@@ -18,12 +19,7 @@ function sanitize( raw, clean ){
   var messages = { errors: [], warnings: [] };
 
   // 'raw.id' can be an array!?
-  var rawIds = check.array( raw.id ) ? raw.id : [ raw.id ];
-
-  // de-dupe ids
-  rawIds = rawIds.filter(function(item, pos) {
-    return rawIds.indexOf( item ) === pos;
-  });
+  var rawIds = check.array( raw.id ) ? _.unique( raw.id ) : [ raw.id ];
 
   // ensure all elements are valid non-empty strings
   rawIds = rawIds.filter( function( uc ){
@@ -60,7 +56,7 @@ function sanitize( raw, clean ){
       messages.errors.push( errorMessage( rawId ) );
     }
     // type text must be one of the types
-    if( types.indexOf( type ) === -1 ){
+    if( !_.contains( types, type ) ){
       messages.errors.push(
         errorMessage('type', type + ' is invalid. It must be one of these values - [' + types.join(', ') + ']')
       );
diff --git a/sanitiser/_source.js b/sanitiser/_source.js
index 88d620fc..fae33d1d 100644
--- a/sanitiser/_source.js
+++ b/sanitiser/_source.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 
-var check = require('check-types'),
+var _ = require('lodash'),
+    check = require('check-types'),
     sources_map = require( '../query/sources' );
 
 var ALL_SOURCES = Object.keys(sources_map),
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ function sanitize( raw, clean ) {
     var sources = raw.source.split(',');
 
     var invalid_sources = sources.filter(function(source) {
-      return ALL_SOURCES.indexOf(source) === -1;
+      return !_.contains( ALL_SOURCES, source );
     });
 
     if( invalid_sources.length > 0 ){
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js b/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js
index 5c2a3a9f..f0d2e3af 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_details = function(test, common) {
     });
   });
 
-  var valid_values = [true, 'true', 1, '1', 'yes', 'y'];
+  var valid_values = [true, 'true', 1, '1'];
   valid_values.forEach(function(details) {
     test('valid details param ' + details, function(t) {
       sanitize({ 'point.lat': 0, 'point.lon': 0, details: details }, function( err, clean ){
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_details = function(test, common) {
     });
   });
 
-  var valid_false_values = ['false', false, 0, '0', 'no', 'n'];
+  var valid_false_values = ['false', false, 0, '0'];
   valid_false_values.forEach(function(details) {
     test('test setting false explicitly ' + details, function(t) {
       sanitize({ 'point.lat': 0, 'point.lon': 0, details: details }, function( err, clean ){
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitiser/search.js b/test/unit/sanitiser/search.js
index e6c39284..c0f901b8 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitiser/search.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitiser/search.js
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_details = function(test, common) {
     });
   });
 
-  var valid_values = ['true', true, 1, '1', 'yes', 'y'];
+  var valid_values = ['true', true, 1, '1'];
   valid_values.forEach(function(details) {
     test('valid details param ' + details, function(t) {
       sanitize({ text: 'test', details: details }, function( err, clean ){
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_details = function(test, common) {
     });
   });
 
-  var valid_false_values = ['false', false, 0, '0', 'no', 'n'];
+  var valid_false_values = ['false', false, 0, '0'];
   valid_false_values.forEach(function(details) {
     test('test setting false explicitly ' + details, function(t) {
       sanitize({ text: 'test', details: details }, function( err, clean ){