If you’re a parent who’s recently sent a child back to school with a brand new uniform, or you’ve splashed out on new items for your own wardrobe, you’ll want to get the most from your investment. One way to do that is to ensure you’re caring for your clothes correctly, and your laundry routine is a big part of that. 

We spoke to the experts to find out what you can do to keep your clothes looking good for longer, helping you to save cash in the long run.

Wash less

When it comes to keeping your clothes fresh, you might be surprised to learn that the washing machine should not be your first choice. 

Leah Giblin is a sessional academic and textiles technician at the University of New South Wales, currently completing a Master’s in fashion and sustainability. She says that too much washing is damaging our clothes.

“Most of us get into the habit of throwing things into the wash after one wear, without checking first if they actually need washing,” she says. “Fashion sustainability theorist Kate Fletcher suggests that only 7.5% of the clothes we wash are considered ‘heavily soiled’, so often clothes are being washed unnecessarily.” 

Not only does washing too often consume significant amounts of water, energy, and chemicals, but it also prematurely ages our clothing. 

“The process of washing – especially when using hot water and dryers – fades, stretches and erodes our clothing,” says Leah. “The less we wash, the longer our clothes will last.”��

To extend the time between washes, there are some simple steps you can take:

• Air things out – turn the garment inside out and hang it outside in the sun and fresh air to get rid of musty smells and kill bacteria. 
• Steam it – if you have a steamer or your iron has a steam function, you can use it to freshen clothes between washes. The heat of the steam kills bacteria, and you’ll get rid of wrinkles at the same time. If your garment is synthetic, be careful not to damage it with heat and be sure to hold the iron at least 5cm away. 
• Spot clean stains – if the garment is clean aside from a small patch, use a small amount of appropriate detergent on a clean cloth to remove the stain. 
• Spritz – you can make a bacteria-busting clothing spritz using a clean 500ml spray bottle, 100ml vodka, 300ml water and a few drops of eucalyptus oil (test this on an inconspicuous area of the garment before using it on anything delicate). This freshens clothing and keeps it smelling great between washes.

Look for a gentle machine

Choosing the right washing machine can also help your clothes hold up.  

Our white goods expert Denis Gallagher, works with our expert testers to measure the gentleness of the machines we test.

“Our testers assess how gentle a washing machine is on clothes by including a control swatch of loosely woven fabric in our test load,” he explains. “When the load is finished, we remove the swatch and measure how much it has frayed. The less fraying, the higher the gentleness score.”

See our latest review of front and top loading washing machines.

How to keep school uniforms looking their best

Every parent knows the sinking feeling when your child comes home in week two of term with paint splashed on their brand-new school shirt. Was it too much to expect you’d get at least a month before that $30+ shirt was ruined? 

You can always send your kids to school with some sort of protective item like an apron or smock to help keep uniforms clean, though they may not always use it. Leah says the most important thing you can do to keep school clothes looking good is regular maintenance and gentle care.

“Washing in cold water with a full load reduces wear and tear on garments. Treating stains early and soaking heavily soiled garments overnight to save scrubbing or having to wash in hot water also helps to prevent unnecessary damage,” she says. 

As with other items in your wardrobe, you should wash uniforms sparingly. 

“My kids’ school shirts are always filthy at the end of each day, so they usually get cold-washed after each wear, but school shorts or pants I leave for a few days between washes,” Leah says.

Caring for your sports clothes 

Workout gear that no longer looks, or worse yet, smells its best isn’t pleasant to wear. If you’re using the state of your shirts, shorts or leggings as a reason to skip the gym, these tips are for you.

The problem is that all that strenuous activity can be hard on clothes, and cleaning them thoroughly might add to the wear and tear. The synthetic fibres that most exercise garments are made from can also create an extra challenge. 

“Synthetic fibres have a special ability to retain odour, but these can be easily treated with a paste of bicarb soda and lemon juice left to sit on the smelly bits for a few hours,” says Leah, who warns that testing on an inconspicuous part of the garment first is a good idea. 

As with other synthetic fibres, always wash in cold water, on a gentle cycle and never put them in the dryer.

Handling delicates 

Delicate items are often among the most expensive in your wardrobe. Keeping them looking good so that you get a reasonable return on your investment takes a different approach. 

Handwashing is often recommended for these items, and even if your machine has a delicate cycle, it may not be a suitable substitute for taking the time to wash them by hand. 

“Delicate cycles usually use cold water, a short cycle and a slow spin speed. Whether the cycle is a good substitute for handwashing or not depends on the machine type and the garment,” says Leah.

As our lab testing shows, every machine is different; some are OK with delicates, others are not. Check the gentleness score in our reviews and test the delicate cycle on your machine before committing your precious items by first washing a less valuable garment with similar fibre content.

While our ����Vlog experts don’t suggest that the delicate cycle is necessarily a good substitute for handwashing, it can be an option for clothes that you feel need extra care.

“The rinse and wash cycle is shorter, but it’s the spin speeds that are the main concern, and the delicate cycle would have the lowest revolutions per minute (RPM) to limit any damage,” says Denis.

Can you ignore the care labels?

Pushed for time and impatient to get the boring job of laundry out of the way, who hasn’t been tempted to ignore that “dry clean only” label and run something through the washing machine? 

Unfortunately, it’s a move that can come back to bite you. 

“We ignore clothing care labels at our own peril!” says Leah, though she says there may be exceptions. “If you know the fabric type, and you’ve had some experience or advice for washing it, it may be OK.

“If you choose to take things into your own hands, the safest bet is a cold, gentle hand wash with gentle detergent (wool or silk wash),” says Leah. Once washed, dry the garment flat on a towel in the shade and never use a dryer. Also, test water and detergent on an inconspicuous part of the garment before committing. 

Read more: see our latest laundry detergent reviews.

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On this page:

• Our expert testers
• How we choose what we test
• How we test stain removers
• Test criteria explained

For those times, we lab test stain removers to find out which ones are best at tackling common stains like oil, grass and sweat. 

Here’s what goes on in the lab.

Our expert testers

While we do a lot of product testing in-house, we send stain removers to an external laboratory with specialist equipment to measure soil removal so we can determine which stain removers work best in real-world situations.

How we choose what we test

With this type of consumer good, our aim is to try to cover the whole stain remover market, especially what you’re most likely to see in major supermarkets.

We start off by surveying manufacturers to find out about their range of products. From this information we put together a final list that goes to our buyers. They then head out to shops and buy each product, just as you would. We do this so we can be sure what we’re testing is the same as any consumer would find, and not ‘tweaked’ in any way for better performance.

How we test stain removers

In order to fine-tune our testing and make sure it’s as relevant as possible, we conduct surveys to find out which stains are most common in Australian households. 

These are the stains we’ve chosen to test our products on:

• sweat
• grass/mud
• olive oil (cooking oil)
• blood
• tomato
• mineral oil
• chocolate ice cream
• baby food
• make-up
• ground nut oil (which simulates collar grime).

We use cotton material swatches that have specific formulas of these stains applied to them.  

Pre-treaters 

Pre-treaters are available as spray and liquid products. Before washing, we apply a set amount of each stain remover to the stained swatch and let it sit for five minutes. 

Soakers

Soakers are available as powders or liquids. We follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the dosage of each product, stirring it into a bucket filled with 7L water at 40°C until it dissolves. We then submerge the stained swatches and leave them to sit according to the recommended minimum soak time for each product (which is generally two hours, but for some might be four or six hours) before putting them through a wash cycle.

For both pre-treaters and soakers, we use a front loader washing machine on a cold wash cycle with a laundry detergent from our laundry detergents test.

Following the wash cycle, we measure the degree of stain removal. 

Other comparisons

We also test how laundry detergent alone performs as a stain remover, using both the pre-treat and the soak method.

We do the same with water only, again using both the pre-treat method and soaking method.

And then we also test with a pre-treater home recipe, which is a mix of 200mL hydrogen peroxide and 100mL dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle.

Test criteria explained

The ����Vlog Expert Rating, our overall score which determines the products we recommend, is based on how well the products remove the following stains:

• sweat (25%)
• grass/mud (20%)
• olive oil (cooking oil) (20%)
• blood (5%)
• tomato (5%)
• mineral oil (5%)
• chocolate ice cream (5%)
• baby food (5%)
• make-up (5%)
• ground nut-oil (which simulates collar grime (5%).

Weightings are in brackets. Survey feedback from ����Vlog members tells us that sweat, grass/mud and cooking oil stains are the most common household stains, so we’ve weighted these more highly in the ����Vlog Expert Rating than the rest.

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The good news is, we’ve tested 23 stain soakers and 19 pre-treater stain removing sprays to help you separate the clean and clear winners from the down and dirty duds, and help you in the quest to banish unsightly stains from your laundry.

Bargain hunters can rejoice that Aldi’s cheap-as chips stain remover spray has yet again wiped the floor in our testing. You’ll have to shell out more for our top-scoring stain remover powders though, with the pricier Sard taking the top podium spots.

On this page:

• The stain remover powders that topped our tests
• The stain remover sprays that topped our tests
• The stain remover powders to avoid
• The stain remover sprays to avoid
• The best products for sweat stains
• The best products for grass and mud stains

Unless you exclusively wear army fatigues or you’ve based your wardrobe around mission brown, you’re going to have some stubborn stains gracing your laundry. 

Pre-wash stain remover sprays are an easy way to battle these blights on your laundry, pronto. To misquote RuPaul, just spray and sashay away. 

Some sprays will have you back on the runway in no time, but others will leave your clothes so stained you’ll be serving hobo-chic realness when you wear them.

Powders, on the other hand, are a triple threat: they whiten, they brighten and they boost. These versatile laundry queens can go in the wash to amp up your laundry detergent, or be used as a soaker for those times when you’ve spilled too much tea on your best white frock.

When we test stain removers, we treat different types of stains – everything from olive oil and makeup to sweat and mud – and let it sit for five minutes to do its thing. Then we wash everything using the same detergent.

So, when the results come out in the wash, which ones slay, and which ones are a drag to use?

How to smash stains and still save money

Many of the top-scoring stain removers in our tests come from the big-name brands: Vanish and Sard. But with big names come big prices.

If you’re trying to slash your budget but don’t want to settle for stained slacks, we have some good news: you can spend less and still banish blemishes from your clothes.

Our testing revealed several cheaper stain removers, particularly pre-treater sprays if that’s your bag, that perform as well as the well-known brands – but for less than a sixth of the price!

Aldi Di-San stain removers were among the cheapest products we tested, but they punch well above their weight, scoring the same as – and sometimes even more than – more expensive products. 

More affordable products from Coles and Woolworths also impressed in our tests.

If you opt for these cheap champions, you’ll pay a fraction of the price for the same stain-busting power.

When you add up how many loads of stained washing you’ll do each year, it can be hard to justify higher prices, especially with the current cost of living.��

The stain remover powders that topped our tests

We tested the soaking power of 25 different powder stain removers from brands such as Sard, Vanish, Aldi, Ecostore, Coles, Woolworths and more.

Of the eight products our experts recommend, three come from Sard, and five are Vanish brand.

The top-scoring product is the Sard Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains Antibacterial Soaker with a score of 76%.

Nipping at its heels in the stain remover stakes, however, is another Sard product: Sard Whiter & Brighter Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker with a score of 75%.

In third place is the Vanish NapiSan Oxi Action Gold Pro Advanced Crystal White Stain Remover with a score of 73%.

Grass, mud, tomato, chocolate ice cream and baby food were no match for their stain-removing muscle, though they were somewhat less effective on blood, oil and sweat. 

But at $1.12 and $1.10 per 100g for the Sard products, and $1.70 per 100g for the Vanish product, they’re some of the more expensive powders we tested.

Can you still get dazzling whites and brighter brights without spending as much?

Coming in at 69%, and just shy of being recommended by our experts, Aldi’s Di-San Pro Oxy Ultra White Sensitive Laundry Soaker & In Wash Booster delivers serious bang for your buck, busting stains on a budget. 

The Aldi powder costs around a fifth of the price of the Sard top scorer and performed best on grass and mud, baby food and tomato stains.

Here are the top scorers from our stain remover powder test:

Sard Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains Antibacterial Soaker

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 76% (recommended)
• Price per 100g: $1.22

Sard Whiter & Brighter Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 75% (recommended)
• Price per 100g: $1.10

Vanish NapiSan Oxi Action Gold Advanced Crystal White Stain Remover

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 73% (recommended)
• Price per 100g: $1.90

Sard Power Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 72% (recommended)
• Price per 100g: $1.10

Vanish NapiSan Oxi Action Gold Brilliant Colours Stain Remover

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 72% (recommended)
• Price per 100g: $1.80

Find out all the other stain remover powders/soakers our experts recommend in our latest stain remover review.

The cult Aldi stain remover spray that beats the big brands

Aldi has done it once again, delivering a stain remover spray that kills it in both the price and performance departments. 

In a repeat of its solid performance in ����Vlog stain remover testing over the past few years, Aldi Di-San Pro Ultra Degreaser with Enzymes nabbed equal-first place in our latest testing, alongside another regular strong performer, Sard Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains.

Both scored an impressive 78% when put to the test on everything from sweat and make-up stains to grass and mud and tomato stains.

And at just 28 cents per 100mL, the Aldi spray is less than a sixth of the cost of its rival, also beating out products from other big brands such as Sard, Vanish and White King.

It’s hard to see why you’d spend so much more on the Sard product – the two were neck in neck in terms of their performance on specific stains. The Aldi product slightly outperforms the Sard product on sweat stains, tomato stains and make-up stains, while the Sard product is the better one to reach for when it comes to blood stains (and slightly outperformed the Aldi product on grass and mud stains).

And apparently it doesn’t only clean clothes: many members swear by the Aldi stain remover as a grout cleaner. While we haven’t tested it for that purpose, it’s only $2.09 a bottle so it won’t cost you much to try it for yourself.

Cheaper supermarket sprays come out on top

It’s good news all round in fact if you’re looking to save a few bucks on your laundry routine. Of the six pre-treater stain remover products our experts recommend, four are cheaper supermarket own-brand options from Aldi, Coles and Woolworths.

The Coles Ultra Pre-wash Stain Remover received our third-highest score of 73% and is just as cheap as the Aldi product. It performed particularly well on removing stains such as tomato, make-up and grass and mud.

The stain remover sprays that topped our tests

These are the six top-scoring stain remover sprays that our experts recommend:

Aldi Di-San Pro Ultra Degreaser with Enzymes

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 78% (recommended)
• Price per 100mL: $0.28

Sard Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 78% (recommended)
• Price per 100mL: $1.90

Aldi Di-San Pro Oxy with Enzymes

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 75% (recommended)
• Price per 100mL: $0.28

Coles Ultra Pre-Wash Stain Remover

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 73% (recommended)
• Price per 100mL: $0.28

White King Fabric Stain Lift Colour Safe Pre-Treatment

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 73% (recommended)
• Price per 100mL: $1.00

Woolworths Clean Ultimate Oil and Grime with Enzymes Pre-wash Stain Remover

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 72% (recommended)
• Price per 100mL: $0.28

To see the full list of products, check our stain remover reviews.

The stain remover powders to avoid

It’s not all good news on the budget front. Although some cheaper products in our test outperformed their more expensive counterparts, there are a batch of low-cost powders we tested, including products from IGA and Woolworths, that just didn’t stack up.��

So while you might save a few pennies, your laundry may still be lacklustre.

These are the ones to cross off your shopping list:

• Bloody Awesome Laundry Stain and Odour Remover��(����Vlog Expert Rating: 50%)
• Community Co Loads Cleaner Oxy Action Multi-Action In-Wash Booster & Soaker (54%)
• White King Fabric Stain Remover Oxy Powder (55%)
• Woolworths Clean Laundry Soaker and In-Wash Booster (59%).

The stain remover sprays to avoid

Using a pre-wash stain remover is like bringing in the laundry big guns to show stains who’s boss, right? Well, not in the case of three sprays that were unequivocally owned by stains, with scores less than 60% overall. 

The dirty truth about these sprays will shock you: they were barely any better than not using a stain remover at all. 

When we test stain removers, we spray each stain and let it sit for five minutes to do its thing. Then we wash everything using the same detergent.

To see if the products are actually effective, we also run a test using no stain remover at all, and one using a homemade��recipe of 200mL of hydrogen peroxide and 100mL of dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle.

The most expensive of the three, Magic Solvent-Power Stain Remover, wasn’t much more effective than laundry detergent on a number of stain types, and in some cases was actually less effective than our homemade stain remover.

Makes you wonder what you’re actually paying for when you buy it!

Here are the sub-par sprays in question, along with their ����Vlog Expert Rating:

• Earth Choice Ultra Power Stain Remover (59%)
• Magic Solvent-Power Stain Remover (60%)
• Oz Kleen Prewash Power Amazing Stain Remover (60%)

Another one worth mentioning is the exxy spray that’ll clean out your wallet, but not your laundry. 

Costing a wallet-punishing $4.50 per 100mL, StainGo Stain Remover Spot and Prewash scored just 63% overall. That’s a huge 16 times more expensive than the Aldi product for far worse performance. 

The most common stains

When we asked Australian shoppers what kinds of stains they typically encounter on wash day, the most common culprits were:

• perspiration
• grass and mud
• cooking/food oil.

So, which product is best for which stain? And are there other ways to get rid of these common stains?

The best products for sweat stains

When we tested our sprays on some sweaty stains, there were two products that stood out, each scoring 80% in this particular test.

One was our top scorer – Aldi Di-San Pro Ultra Degreaser With Enzymes – and the other was the Sard Oils and Grime Stain Remover Expert Action spray. 

The Sard Oil and Grime product scored 80% when we used it to remove sweat stains in the wash, but it got an overall ����Vlog Expert Rating of 65%, so there are better overall performers in our list. 

In the powder department, the Sard Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains Antibacterial Soaker is the go-to sweat buster. It’s also the top-scoring powders overall and is recommended by our experts.

The best products for grass and mud stains

If you’ve regularly got family members coming off the sports field or playground with grass and mud stains, the two top-scoring Sard soaking powders are your best bets to wash them away.

Sard Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains Antibacterial Soaker and Sard Whiter & Brighter Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker each score 85% for removing grass and mud stains.

Try a home recipe

Some stains can actually be easily treated with a few staples from your cleaning cupboard.

If you’re dealing with grass and mud stains, firstly remove any solid bits.��(For mud, first wait for it to dry and then scrape or brush off as much as you can.)

Put some liquid laundry detergent on the stain and let it sit for 15 minutes, then wash as usual.��

If that doesn’t work, you can try soaking your clothes in detergent overnight. And if it’s a particularly stubborn stain, try soaking it in a solution of water and oxygen bleach (not chlorine bleach) following the label directions, then wash as usual. 

You could also try making your own stain removal spray by mixing 200mL of hydrogen peroxide and 100mL of dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle and spraying on the stain. In our test, this home recipe scored 63% overall, with good results for grass, mud and tomato stains.

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����Vlog’s laundry experts have been testing laundry products from washing machines and laundry detergent to irons and steam stations for decades, so they know what it takes to get a winning wash.

These insider tips will help you on your way to laundry success.

1. Shop smart

First things first: to get the best results, you need the best products. All the techniques in the world won’t help if you’re working with a washed-up washing machine, a dud detergent, or a sub-standard stain remover.

Buying the best doesn’t have to mean buying the most expensive, though. Our testing frequently turns up products that deliver top performance for low prices. If you shop smart you can get whiter whites and brighter brights without blowing your budget.

Take laundry detergent, for example. The top performing products in our review aren’t cheap – some cost as much as $1.35 per wash. 

But our experts also found some brilliant bargains that perform almost as well as the pricey products but cost far less. These three powders cost less than 30 cents a wash but will give you almost as good a wash as the expensive ones:

• Active Expert Laundry Powder Expert: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 74% (16 cents per wash)
• Aldi Trimat Advanced Laundry Liquid Concentrate: 73% (26 cents per wash)
• Coles Ultra Concentrate Laundry Powder: 71% (24 cents per wash)

Just want the best, regardless of price? Our laundry detergent reviews will tell you which wash is which.

����Vlog tip: You can get the same results from using half the recommended dose of laundry detergent – so you’ll spend half as much for the same clean.

It’s a similar story with stain removers: cheap sprays and powders from Coles, Woolies and Aldi held their own against more expensive brand-name products in our testing. 

Here are the cheap stain removers our experts recommend, plus the best from our tests.

2. Keep your cool

If you’re dealing with particularly persistent stains, you might assume that blasting them with hot water will make them disappear. 

But unfortunately, heat will actually make stains set in more stubbornly – this is especially true for blood stains.

We recommend you soak and wash in cold water, and air dry rather than tumble dry.

The one exception to this is grease stains. If you’re dealing with a garment that’s grubby from oil, squirt some dishwashing liquid on it, leave it to soak and rinse with hot water. Then run it through a hot wash and line dry.

3. Get the right tool for the job

Are you a front loader family, or a top loader tribe? Our testing shows that one is better than the other: front loaders overwhelmingly outperform top loaders in our laundry lab. 

In our washing machine reviews, 28% of front loaders made the cut to be recommended by our experts – but only 13% of top loaders were good enough to impress our seasoned testers.

Front loaders are superior on just about every front: they clean better, cost less to run, use less water, and they’re gentler on your clothes.

It’ll cost you more to buy a front loader, but you’ll save money on your bills and on clothes because they won’t wear out as quickly.

4. Full steam ahead

Want to re-wear your favourite shirt but don’t have time to wash it? Try getting steamy with it instead.

While it’s not quite a replacement for a whirl in the washing machine, giving your clothes a going-over with a garment steamer can freshen them up enough to get another wear out of them.

Clothes that have been in storage for a while can also benefit from a quick steam – when it’s time to pull your summer wardrobe out, steam can help to send any mustiness packing.

Garment steamers are also great for refreshing upholstery, rugs, curtains, pet beds and blankets and reducing lingering smells.

5. Less is more

If your clothes are coming out of the wash looking dirty, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not using enough laundry detergent.

Those white marks that sometimes appear on your clothes after you’ve washed them can be caused by detergent building up in your machine. (It’s called ‘scrud’, in case you were wondering.)

While it might seem to make sense to throw more detergent at the problem, it won’t actually get your clothes cleaner – and it could even make it worse. 

To deal with the issue, give your washing machine a spring clean (read on to find out how) and, to stop it happening again, don’t overdo it on the detergent.

Fabric softener can also make your clothes dirtier, not cleaner. That’s because it coats your laundry with chemicals that make them feel more slippery, so they’re actually coming out of the wash with more gunk on them, not less.

Plus, fabric softener can team up with laundry detergent to create even more scrud – which is bad news for your machine and your laundry.

6. Clean the cleaner

While you rely on your washing machine to get your clothes clean, what do you do to return the favour? 

It’s pretty simple: you won’t get clean clothes with a dirty washing machine, so every so often you should give it a thorough spring clean to make sure it’s as clean as you want your laundry to be.

So, how do you do it? Well, it depends on your specific machine, but running an empty load on a hot cycle should do the trick. If your machine has a dedicated cleaning cycle, use that instead.

You can use a bit of detergent or some vinegar (but check the instruction manual first – some manufacturers say you should avoid vinegar).

Other tips to ensure a clean machine:

• Wipe the rubber door seals each time you use it to help prevent mould
• Leave the door or lid open in between washes so it doesn’t get musty
• Use hot soapy water to clean mould and detergent build-up
• Once a year, use a toothbrush to scrub detergent out of nooks and crannies (including the detergent dispenser)

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If you’re concerned about climate change and the environmental impact of the decisions you make in your daily life, you might be thinking about how to do your laundry more sustainably. 

Research shows that around 45% of Australians consider sustainability when deciding what to buy, so it stands to reason that a good number of us probably want to make sure the decisions we make when we do our laundry are eco-friendly too.

Washing less frequently

Leah Giblin is a sessional academic and textiles technician at the University of New South Wales, currently completing a Master’s in fashion and sustainability. She advises that washing less frequently is the first and most effective step you can take to reduce the environmental impact of your laundry. 

“It’s easy to fall into the habit of throwing things into the wash after one wear, regardless of whether they’re actually dirty<‘ saus Giblin. “But excessive washing wears out clothing faster, releases microplastics and chemicals into our waterways and consumes significant amounts of water and energy.

“Before washing, do a quick sniff test or visual check – if it looks and smells fine, wear it again,” she says.

Giblin suggests that instead of washing after one wear, we try alternatives like airing garments in the sun, which eliminates musty smells and kills bacteria, spot cleaning small stains, or steaming with your iron’s steam function to kill bacteria and smooth wrinkles.

Giblin also suggests spritzing with a natural deodoriser, which can be made by combining 1/3 vodka, 2/3 water, and a few drops of eucalyptus oil in a reusable spray bottle.

“Spray underarms or other odorous areas, then air out thoroughly,” she suggests, adding that you should always patch test on an inconspicuous area first.

The size of your load

As well as washing less frequently, consider how many clothes you wash at one time. 

While the average laundry basket only holds about 3.5kg, most washing machines can take much more. In fact, our laundry experts tell us that if you fill your washing machine to its capacity by weight, you may struggle to close the door.

Even if you don’t want to pack your machine quite that tightly, it’s still good to do fewer loads, since each time you run your machine, you’ll be using water and energy – exactly how much depends on your machine. For example, the most energy-hungry machine in our most recent tests used three times the amount of energy as the machine with the lowest energy use.   

To find a washer that uses less power, look for a machine with a five-star energy rating. Our washing machine reviews help you filter out those machines that don’t meet this rating, so you can choose a model with a lower environmental impact. 

If it has one, you can also choose to run your machine using eco-mode. Most of the energy your washing machine uses – about 90% – goes to heating the water, so an eco mode that uses cooler water will make a big difference. Even without using any special eco settings, washing in cold water is a good idea. Our testing has found the difference in results between washing in cold and hot water is minimal, so switching to a cold wash won’t make your clothes any less clean.

Saving water

Electricity isn’t the only resource being used when you chuck on a load of laundry. Australia is the driest inhabited continent in the world. While some parts of the country may experience abundant rainfall, there are plenty of arid regions that deal with dry conditions every day. 

If saving water is a priority for you, choose a front-loading machine. They’re far more water efficient than top loaders, using half as much water.

As well as filtering for energy rating, our reviews allow you to filter for water star ratings, so you can choose a machine that uses less water.

Your choice of detergent

There is no shortage of laundry products touting eco claims, whether that’s based on ingredients, packaging or because they’re refillable, but it’s hard to know if they’ll actually do a decent job. Unfortunately, not all the products making environmental claims perform well in our lab testing.

While laundry sheets are consistently promoted as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional liquid and powder detergents, ����Vlog head of testing Matthew Steen suggests they may not deliver. In our most recent reviews of laundry detergents, three laundry sheet products were among the lowest scoring in our tests.

“The concept of laundry detergent sheets is great, but the execution isn’t quite there yet,” says Steen. “With some more development, they may live up to their potential, but for now, we don’t think they’re a great buy.”

If you’re looking for a product with environmental credentials you can trust, check out our laundry detergent reviews. They include Shop Ethical ratings for each of the companies making the products we test. These ratings consider the environmental and social impact of the company, using independent sources, and rank them from A (highest) to F (lowest).

Giblin advises that when choosing a laundry detergent, you should look for options that are greywater safe, made with biodegradable ingredients, phosphate-free, made from plant-based surfactants and free from optical whiteners and brighteners. She also advises looking for options that don’t contain artificial fragrances and that are allergy-friendly. 

Regardless of which product you choose, using less laundry detergent is a great way to reduce your impact on the environment. Our testing consistently finds that you only need to use around a third of the recommended dosage to still get a good result. By using less, you’ll not only save money you’ll also reduce your impact on the environment.

“More detergent doesn’t mean cleaner clothes,” says Giblin. “Using too much can leave a residue and reduce effectiveness.”

Giblin also advises against using fabric softeners. “They’re petrochemical-based and leave residue,” she says. Our ����Vlog experts agree, arguing that even fabric softeners that claim to be eco-friendly create a carbon cost for their production, packaging and transportation, all for a product that you don’t really need.

Drying your washing

Begin by ensuring your washing machine is spinning as much of the moisture out of your clothes as possible. Front-loaders are generally better at this than top-loaders, as they tend to have faster spin cycles. This will mean less drying time, no matter what method you choose.

Drying your clothes outside in the fresh air is the best way to reduce your impact on the environment. Apart from choosing to line-dry rather than tumble-dry, you could also rethink your use of the ubiquitous plastic clothes peg. They not only increase plastic pollution but also often don’t last terribly well due to their tendency to deteriorate when exposed to the sun. 

Instead, wooden, bamboo, or stainless steel pegs can be a great alternative. Stainless steel clothes pegs are durable, rust-resistant and can be recycled. Bamboo or wooden pegs are less durable than stainless steel, but will be biodegradable at the end of their life. 

But what if the weather is so wet that you can’t use the sun’s energy to dry your clothes outside? If that’s the case, drying your clothes inside on a clothes horse is the next best option. 

“Avoid using a dryer wherever possible,” says Giblin. “They not only use a lot of energy, but their heat can degrade fabrics.”

If you’re drying clothes inside, choose a space with air that is sufficiently dry to absorb the evaporating moisture. Air circulation, whether natural or created with a fan, air conditioner or dehumidifier, can help. 

Using a tumble dryer

If you decide you need a tumble dryer, consider the options. If you intend to use it frequently, a heat-pump dryer rather than a traditional vented dryer may be the better option. While heat-pump dryers are expensive to buy, they are cheaper to run than vented dryers because they use less energy. 

However, if you’re not a frequent dryer user, bear in mind that there are fewer materials in a vented dryer, and a good deal more of them are readily recyclable at the end of the machine’s life, so don’t rule them out entirely.

The post How green is your laundry routine? appeared first on ����Vlog.

On this page:

• Best type for overall cleaning performance
• Best type for your budget
• Best type for ease of use
• The top rated capsules
• The cheapest top rated laundry powders
• The cheapest top rated laundry liquids
• The top rated laundry sheets

If you choose the wrong laundry detergent, you’ll lose out by having to possibly rewash your laundry or wasting money on a product that just isn’t worth it.

The laundry aisle has become increasingly crowded and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the options. Powder or liquid? Capsules or sheets? Cheap or expensive?

To make it easier to choose, we’ll tell you what you need to know, plus the best products to buy.

How to decide which laundry detergent to buy

The criteria for choosing a laundry detergent will differ from person to person.

For most of us, the deciding factors are price and performance.��

Perhaps you just want the most effective detergent, regardless of the price. Maybe you need something that won’t strain your budget and you’re okay with a slightly lower performing detergent as long as it saves you money.��

Or if you want it all, you might be looking for something that hits the sweet spot between cost and cleanliness.

Depending on what’s important to you, there are some other considerations you might like to take into account, like how easy a product is to use, and the environmental impact.

We’ll tell you which type of detergent is best for getting your clothes clean, lightening the load on your budget, being a cinch to use, and having a lower environmental impact.

Best type for overall cleaning performance

Capsules/pods

In our most recent laundry detergent testing, four of the five top scoring products were laundry capsules (also known as pods).

Capsules perform well because they’re concentrated and contain enzymes.��

They’re also easy to use: you don’t need to measure them out like you do with powders and liquids, so there’s no risk of spills. This makes them easier for people who have arthritis or other conditions that make juggling detergent and a measuring scoop or lid difficult.

The downsides are that they can be more expensive than some powders and liquids (but not always), and you’re locked into the dose that’s in each capsule – so you can’t use less for loads that aren’t too dirty, or if you’re trying to save money by using a smaller quantity of detergent per wash.

Also, they do sometimes contain fabric softener, which you might think would be a good thing – except that��our experts don’t recommend using fabric softeners. But there are plenty of capsules that don’t.

Best type for your budget

Powder and liquid

We’re generally big advocates for following the instructions, especially when it comes to appliances. But laundry detergents? Not so much.

While the pack might say to use a full scoop or more of detergent per load, our experts have found that you can get just as good a wash by using half as much.��

That’ll halve your detergent costs – and also stop detergent building up in your machine and leaving residue on your clothes.

Every detergent is priced differently, so if you want to make the most of the savings, you’ll need to choose a reasonably-priced powder or liquid.��

The most expensive laundry detergent in our review is Omo Powder Ultimate, which costs a huge $1.44 per wash. But that’s for a full scoop – if you halve it, it’ll cost you 72 cents per wash.

But you’d be better off going for Omo Ultimate’s more basic cousin, Omo Powder, which scored 81% in our tests and is recommended by our experts. It costs 83 cents per wash, or just 41.5 cents if you use half a scoop instead.

����Vlog tip: Our reviews also include best buys – products that didn’t quite make the cut to be recommended but perform well and represent great value for money. They cost less than 30 cents per wash, so if you use half the recommended dose you’ll be paying less than 15 cents per wash.

Best type for ease of use

Capsules and sheets

With no measuring required and no risk of spills, capsules and sheets make putting on a load of washing easy – just toss them in the drum and you’re done.

They can make life easier for people with arthritis and other dexterity challenges since you don’t need to juggle a heavy bottle and measuring cap, or a box of powder and a scoop.

And because they’re so simple to use, you can even get the kids started on doing their own laundry without having to worry about laundry liquid or powder getting spilled everywhere. (Note: older kids can safely use capsules and sheets but keep them out of reach of younger children – they can be mistaken for sweets and if ingested, can cause chemical burns, inflammation, vomiting and diarrhea.)

Many laundry capsules performed well in our testing, but unfortunately laundry sheets didn’t – so while they might make life easier in terms of adding detergent to your wash, they can make more work for you because you may have to re-wash items that don’t get clean the first time around.

The top rated capsules

If you have a front loader and you’ve decided to go for capsules in your laundry, these are our top picks, which all come recommended by our experts.

• Omo 3 in 1 Capsules Ultimate: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 77%
• Omo 3 in 1 Capsules Sensitive: 76%
• Biozet Attack Plus Eliminator Power Capsule: 75%
• Omo 3 in 1 Capsules Active: 73%

Have a top loader? Unfortunately capsules aren’t the pick of the bunch.

Not one single laundry capsule product was recommended by our experts for use in a top loader– and in fact some of them were among the lowest scorers of the lot.

It was powder for the win in for top loaders, so unless you need an easy-to-use option, laundry capsules aren’t the way to go for your top-loader.

However, if you’re committed to using pods in your top loader, these are the ones to choose:

• Omo 3 in 1 Capsules Ultimate: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 55%
• Omo 3 in 1 Capsules Sensitive: 54%
• Woolworths Clean Ultimate 3 in 1 Laundry Capsules: 54%
• Coles Ultra Concentrate Laundry Capsules: 53%
• Omo 3 in 1 Capsules Active: 53%
• Woolworths Clean Tropical Bloom Laundry Capsules: 53%

Wondering why we give different scores for front loaders and top loaders? We explain here: how we test laundry detergents.

The cheapest top rated laundry powders

If you think using a powder detergent will suit you best, it’s likely because they can be a lot more affordable than capsules. If budget is a guiding factor in your decision making, these products hit the sweet spot between price and performance. Our experts have named them as the best buys in our tests. And don’t forget that using half a scoop will halve the cost per wash listed below.��

To see the powders that simply scored the highest (regardless of price), head to our test results��and filter by powder. (The Omo Powder��was the top scorer in our test for front loaders, but at 83c per wash, it’s significantly more expensive than these budget buys.)

For front loaders

Active Expert Laundry Powder Expert

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 74%
• Cost per wash: 16 cents

Coles Ultra Concentrate Laundry Powder

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 71%
• Cost per wash: 24 cents

For top loaders

Aldi Almat Laundry Powder

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 61% (Recommended)
• Cost per wash: 18 cents

Active Expert Laundry Powder Expert

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 60% (Recommended)
• Cost per wash: 16 cents

The cheapest top rated laundry liquids

Liquid laundry detergent is another good option for the budget conscious, largely because you can choose how much you use. If you prefer liquid over powder, here are our experts top picks that strike a balance between cost and performance.��

To see the liquids that simply scored the highest (regardless of price), head to our test results��and filter by liquid. (The Omo Ultimate Liquid��was the top scoring laundry liquid for front loaders, but at 95c per wash, it’s significantly more expensive than these budget buys.)

For front loaders

Aldi Trimat Advanced Laundry Liquid Concentrate

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 73%
• Cost per wash: 26 cents

For top loaders

Unfortunately laundry liquids didn’t perform well enough in top loaders to be recommended by our experts – the highest scoring liquid only scored 54%.

If you’re looking for the best liquid for your top loader at a reasonable price, these are the two that hit the mark between being reasonably priced and delivering okay-ish results.

Coles Ultra Concentrate Laundry Liquid

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 54%
• Cost per wash: 32 cents

Aldi Trimat Advanced Laundry Liquid Concentrate

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 51%
• Cost per wash: 26 cents

The top rated laundry sheets

Well, this is awkward: not one single laundry sheet product did well in our testing.

And in fact most of them were the lowest scoring products of all, barely performing better than plain water. Yep, that’s right: you might as well use no detergent at all rather than laundry sheets.

One in particular was particularly poor. Restor Fresh Linen Laundry Sheets scored just 44% when tested in a top loader. Plain water scored 45%.

Laundry sheets do have some positives, though. They create fewer carbon emissions than other detergents because they’re concentrated, lightweight, and aren’t packaged in plastic.

They’re also very easy to use: like laundry pods and capsules, you just pop them in your machine and you’re done.��

And as they are compact and won’t spill or leak, they could be handy if you’re travelling and will need to do laundry along the way; a few laundry sheets in a ziplock bag could be worth slipping into your suitcase, as long as you’re not washing anything too grubby.

Laundry sheets are a great idea in theory, but in practice we’ve found them disappointing. With further development they could be a good alternative to traditional laundry detergents – and as rumour would have it, some manufacturers are working on laundry sheets containing enzymes, which may deliver better results.

For now, though, we suggest you dodge detergent sheets.��

If you want a more environmentally friendly option, here’s what to look for:

• Low-phosphate detergents: check the packaging for a ‘P’ (which means low phosphorus) or better yet, ‘NP’ (which means no phosphorus).
• Detergents that aren’t packaged in plastic, or that use recycled plastic packaging.
• Buy in bulk to reduce packaging waste.
• Check the Shop Ethical rating of laundry detergents in our review.

The post Laundry powder vs liquid vs capsules vs sheets�� appeared first on ����Vlog.

On this page:

• Best detergents for front loaders
• Best buys for front loaders
• Worst detergents for front loaders
• Best detergents for top loaders
• Best buys for top loaders
• Worst detergents for top loaders

And the results have delivered some big surprises, especially when we compare performance against price.��

Want to know if your detergent is a winner or a wash-out? We reveal the best and worst cleaners from our tests below.��

No, you’re not seeing double – our detailed laundry detergent test results have two entries for each product. So why the double-up?

When we test any product in our labs, we leave nothing to chance: our testers are a diligent bunch. Not only do we test each detergent on multiple types of stains, we also test each one in a top loader and a front loader.

“Top loaders and front loaders perform quite differently: front loading machines generally give you a better wash, so the detergents score higher in front loaders,” says ����Vlog head of reviews and testing Matthew Steen.

“We test detergents in both top and front loaders so you can see which detergent will work best in your washing machine.”

Read more on how we test laundry detergents.

Best detergents for front loaders

Omo has really cleaned up in our latest laundry detergent test, with three of its products topping the results and a total of four Omo detergents recommended by our experts for use in front loaders.

Historically, Omo has performed well over the last 10 years, with at least one product recommended by our experts in every test.

Omo Powder was the front runner for front loaders with a ����Vlog Expert Rating of 81%, followed by Omo Ultimate 3 in 1 Capsules and Omo 3 in 1 Sensitive Capsules, which earned ����Vlog Expert Ratings of 77% and 76% respectively.��

But those kinds of results don’t come cheap. Omo’s Ultimate capsules are the second-most expensive recommended product in our test – they cost a whopping $36 for a pack of 28, or $1.29 per wash.��

And in fact, the five most expensive laundry detergents we tested were all Omo products.

Unfortunately for those of us on a budget, none of the top-scoring detergents come cheap: expect to pay 83 cents per wash or more for these laundry legends. (But see below for the products our experts say are the best buys for your budget.)

Our picks for front loaders

These laundry detergents are all recommended by our experts.

• Omo Powder: 81% (83 cents per wash)
• Omo 3 in 1 Capsules Ultimate: 77% ($1.29 per wash)
• Omo 3 in 1 Capsules Sensitive: 76% ($1.07 per wash)
• Biozet Attack Plus Eliminator Power Capsule: 75% (87 cents per wash)
• Omo 3 in 1 Capsules Active: 73% ($1.35 per wash)

Read the full results in our detailed laundry detergent review.

Best buys for front loaders

There’s more than one way to be a winner. These products might not be at the top of the class, but that doesn’t mean they’re not a smart buy.��

While they may not have made the cut to be recommended by our experts, they offer great value for money and are well worth considering. We call them our ‘Best buys’.��

They all cost less than 30 cents per wash and have a ����Vlog Expert Rating of at least 70% in our front loader detergent test.

• Active Expert Laundry Powder Expert: 74% (16 cents per wash)
• Aldi Trimat Advanced Laundry Liquid Concentrate: 73% (26 cents per wash)
• Coles Ultra Concentrate Laundry Powder: 71% (24 cents per wash)

Worst detergents for front loaders

We tested three laundry sheet products in our labs, and they didn’t exactly knock (or wash) our socks off: they were three of the lowest-scoring products in our front-loader detergent test, performing barely any better than not using detergent at all. They didn’t do any better in a top loader, as you’ll see further below.

A relative newcomer to the laundry scene, laundry sheets are sheets of dissolvable paper embedded with detergent. They disintegrate in water, releasing the detergent into your wash.

They’re marketed as an ‘eco-friendly’ option: they’re lightweight and don’t contain any water so they create fewer emissions to package and transport; they come in cardboard rather than single-use plastic; and they often tout ‘chemical-free’ ingredients lists with ‘no nasties’.

“The concept of laundry detergent sheets is great, but the execution isn’t quite there yet,” says Matthew. “With some more development they may live up to their potential, but for now we don’t think they’re a great buy.”

Laundry capsules are another alternative to liquids and powders. These are single-use capsules, or pods, of liquid laundry detergent concentrate in a dissolvable plastic wrapper that can be dropped straight into your washing machine.��

They’re hit and miss in terms of performance: some capsules are among the best performers, but others sit at the bottom of the table, and they can be more expensive per wash than some powder and liquid detergents.

Our misses for front loaders

These laundry detergents scored lowest when we tested them in front loaders:

• Water only: 49%
• Skipper Laundry Detergent Sheets: 51% (47 cents per wash)
• Lucent Globe Laundry Detergent Sheets Ocean Breeze: 51% (37 cents per wash)
• Restor Fresh Linen Laundry Detergent Sheets: 52% (23 cents per wash)
• Radiant Advanced+ Cleans & Softens 5-In-1 Laundry Liquid Detergent: 52% (67 cents per wash)
• Active Expert 3 in 1 Laundry Capsules: 52% (35 cents per wash)

Can’t see your brand? See the full laundry detergent test results.

Best detergents for top loaders

You may notice that ratings for top loader detergents are much lower than for front loader detergents. That’s because our testing has consistently found over the years that top loading machines don’t wash as well.

“With that in mind, choosing a high-performing detergent is even more important for people with top loaders,” says Matthew.

So what are the top detergents for your top loader?

Top of the tops is Aldi’s Trimat Advanced powder, coming in ahead of Omo Ultimate powder which costs more than two and a half times as much per wash.

And in other good news for budget-conscious shoppers, two other bargain detergents impressed our experts: they’ll set you back less than 20 cents per wash but still give you a decent wash for your dollar.

“The performance of the Aldi powder in our tests goes to show that you can get a great wash for a fraction of the cost of the leading brands,” says Matthew.

Our picks for top loaders

Our experts recommend detergents that score 60% and above when used in top loader washing machines.

• Aldi Trimat Advanced Laundry Powder Concentrate: 66% (52 cents per wash)
• Omo Powder Ultimate: 65% ($1.44 per wash)
• Radiant Whites Or Colours Laundry Detergent Washing Powder: 62% (61 cents per wash)
• Aldi Almat Laundry Powder: 61% (18 cents per wash)
• Biozet Attack Powder: 61% (55 cents per wash)
• Active Expert Laundry Powder Expert: 60% (16 cents per wash)
• Omo Powder: 60% (83 cents per wash)
• Radiant Advanced+ Cleans & Softens 5-In-1 Laundry Detergent Powder: 60% (85 cents per wash)

Best buys for top loaders

These discount detergents will give you a great clean in a top-loading machine without taking you to the cleaners. They’re both recommended by our experts.

To achieve ‘Best buys’ status, these products must cost less than 30 cents per wash and have a ����Vlog Expert Rating of at least 60%.

• Aldi Almat Laundry Powder: 61% (18 cents per wash)
• Active Expert Laundry Powder Expert: 60% (16 cents per wash)

Worst detergents for top loaders

Our testing revealed plenty of dud detergents that rated below 50% when we tested them in top loader washers, including some big-name brands.��

And laundry detergent sheets once again make an appearance at the bottom of the ladder in this category, with one in particular performing worse than plain water.

Our misses for top loaders

These are the lowest scoring laundry detergents for top-loading machines from our tests:

• Restor Fresh Linen Laundry Detergent Sheets: 44% (23 cents per wash)
• Water only: 45%
• Lucent Globe Laundry Detergent Sheets Ocean Breeze: 45% (37 cents per wash)
• Aldi Green Action Laundry Liquid Concentrate: 45% (14 cents per wash)
• Skipper Laundry Detergent Sheets: 46% (47 cents per wash)
• Radiant Advanced+ Cleans & Softens 5-In-1 Laundry Liquid: 47% (67 cents per wash)

Can’t see your brand? See the full laundry detergent test results.

The post The best and worst laundry detergents from our lab tests appeared first on ����Vlog.

On this page:

• How much can you trust eco claims?
• Surface cleaners
• Glass and window cleaners
• Floor cleaners
• Dishwashing products
• Laundry detergent

You want products that work, are kind to the planet, but don’t cost too much. It can be almost impossible to balance the three.��

And since we’re all feeling the pinch at the checkout, it can be hard to justify paying extra for an environmentally friendly product if you’re not sure that it’ll do the job.

So how can you make sure you’re getting bang for your buck both financially and environmentally, without condemning yourself to extra scrubbing time to make up for lacklustre performance?

Our experts test hundreds of household cleaning products a year, pitting eco products against regular ones to see how well they stack up.

Here are the ones that are good for your conscience, your budget and your cleaning regime – and the ones to avoid.��

How much can you trust eco claims?

It can be hard to separate the facts from the marketing fluff – there’s a lot of greenwashing out there and not many rules around ‘eco’ labelling.

Unlike free-range and organic labels, which require certification, terms like “natural”, “green” and “no nasty chemicals” aren’t regulated.

Some companies really talk up their products’ enviro credentials, but if you dig a bit deeper you might find that there’s not much substance to them.

Unfortunately ����Vlog can’t test the enviro claims of every product that comes through our labs.

They’re difficult to substantiate, and the cost is prohibitive – spending all our money on chemical tests would mean we couldn’t test other products for our members and other shoppers.

Our advice is to look into the detail behind eco claims and be wary of greenwashing.��

It’s important to note as well that even if a product claims to be made from plant-based ingredients, there’s also the environmental impact of things like its manufacturing, packaging and transport to take into account.��

You can also check the ratings of companies whose products you’re buying. We include these in all our reviews.

Surface cleaners

If you want to green up your cleaning routine, remember that less is more.��

Our tests show that multipurpose cleaners and kitchen sprays do pretty much the same thing, so just pick one and you’ll be fine.��

����Vlog experts advise that it’s a good idea to use something specific for the bathroom to tackle soap scum, though, as it’s a tricky customer, so don’t take that off your shopping list.��

We recommend buying a multipurpose spray and a bathroom cleaner and that’s all you should need for surface cleaning.

Trimming back your cleaning cupboard is good for the environment, too – the fewer cleaning products you’re buying, the less plastic and carbon emissions from manufacturing and transport are created. If you’re going to buy something, make its environmental impact count!��

Here are the ‘eco’ multipurpose and bathroom cleaners that performed well in our expert testing.��

Multipurpose cleaners

Products that say they are greener really shone in our multipurpose cleaners test, with four of our recommended�� products claiming to be more eco-friendly, holding their own against regular products.��

Two Earth Choice products topped our tests, both receiving a ����Vlog Expert Rating of 95%.

Not only did it outperform traditional products, Earth Choice Antibacterial All-Purpose spray costs just 67 cents per 100mL – the cheapest of all the multipurpose cleaners recommended by our experts.

Earth Choice Undo This Mess with Grease Blaster tied for first place with the Antibacterial All-Purpose spray, but it’s a lot more expensive: $1.26 per 100mL. It’s actually the most expensive of all the recommended products by a reasonable margin.

There’s no denying that it’ll do a great job, but considering that you’ll get exactly the same results for far less money with the antibacterial spray, it’s hard to justify the extra cost.

Top scoring multipurpose cleaners with eco claims

• Earth Choice Antibacterial All Purpose: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 95%��
• Earth Choice Undo This Mess with Grease Blaster Multipurpose: 95%��
• Koh Universal Cleaner Ultimate Multi Purpose: 90%
• Bosisto’s Multipurpose: 85%

Even some mainstream products are jumping on the green bandwagon to some degree. Nifti All Purpose Cleaner – another recommended multipurpose cleaner –�� now sports a 100% recycled bottle.

The ‘eco’ multi-purpose cleaning products to avoid

Unfortunately it isn’t all good news. While some eco cleaning products sparkled, others were lacklustre to say the least, scoring only marginally better than plain tap water.��

While water scores 45% in our cleaning tests and costs virtually nothing, the following products making eco claims score just 5% more with a ����Vlog Expert Rating of 50%.

Some are concentrated cleaning tablets or refillable products, which could go a long way to reduce the amount of plastic in your cleaning routine, or are made with only natural or plant-based materials.��

However if they’re only performing marginally better than water, arguably both you and the environment would be better off if you saved your cash and scrubbed with H₂O instead.��

• Plain water: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 45%
• Thankyou Universal Cleaner: 50%
• Resolv All-Purpose Cleaner (dissolvable tablets): 50%
• Re.stor Concentrated Cleaning Tablets Kitchen & All Purpose: 50%
• Eco Turtles Cleaning Multipurpose (dissolvable tablet): 50%
• Ecostore Antibacterial Multi-Purpose Cleaner: 50%
• Ajax Eco Multipurpose Cleaner: 50%
• Coles Green Choice Multi-Purpose Cleaner: 50%
• Aldi Green Action Multi Purpose Cleaner Antibacterial: 50%

Bathroom cleaners

Green is not generally a colour you want to see in your bathroom – but there’s one type of green you’ll appreciate having.

The Ecostore Antibacterial Bathroom and Shower Cleaner Refill Concentrate not only topped our tests with an impressive ����Vlog Expert Rating of 90%, but it’s reportedly made from plant-based ingredients and it’s a concentrated product, which means less plastic packaging.

That’s a double win in our book.

And, if you’re looking to save money on your cleaning products, a great-value plant-based formula was not far behind: Aldi Green Action Plant Based Formula Bath & Shower Cleaner scored 89%.��

It costs just 50 cents per 100mL, so it’s good for your budget as well as your bathroom.

The top scoring bathroom cleaners that have eco claims

• Ecostore Antibacterial Bathroom & Shower Cleaner Refill Concentrate: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 90%
• Aldi Green Action Plant Based Formula Bath & Shower Cleaner: 89%��
• Earth Choice Antibacterial Bath & Shower Cleaner: 89%
• Ecostore Antibacterial Bathroom & Shower Cleaner: 89%
• Simply Clean Simply No Mould: 86%

The ‘eco’ bathroom cleaning products to avoid

While some ‘eco’ products shone in our tests, unfortunately some weren’t up to scratch.��

Five of the six lowest scoring bathroom cleaners all have eco claims, with three of those being dissolvable products (tablets, pods and powders).

• Re.stor Concentrated Cleaning Tablets Bathroom: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 40%
• Bosisto’s Bathroom and Shower Cleaner: 54%
• Saba Organic Bathroom Cleaner: 55%
• Cleanery Bathroom Antibacterial Cleaner (dissolvable powder): 55%
• Resolv Bathroom Cleaner (dissolvable pod): 57%

Glass and window cleaners

If you’re looking for a planet-friendly window cleaner, you might be better off sticking with old-fashioned vinegar and newspaper.��

None of the eco glass cleaners we tested impressed, with the highest score for these coming in at a mediocre 65%.

What’s worse, though, is that four ‘eco’ products scored exactly the same as plain water and two of them were actually worse than plain water.��

A product that does nothing more than plain water but still impacts the environment through its manufacture, packaging and transport? That’s anything but eco-friendly.

These cleaners all have eco claims, but they also won’t do much to clean your glass and windows. The results are transparent: don’t buy them.��

The ‘eco’ glass and window cleaners to avoid:

• Plain water: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 55%��
• Re.stor Concentrated Cleaning Tablets Glass Mirror: 35%
• Koala Eco Natural Glass Cleaner: 45%
• Wash Wild Glass Cleaner: 55%
• Saba Organics Window & Glass Cleaner: 55%
• Resolv Window & Glass Cleaner (dissolvable pod): 55%
• Ecostore Glass Cleaner: 55%

Floor cleaners

The most effective eco-friendly floor cleaner you can use is nothing. Yep, nada. Just plain water.

Our experts have tested plenty of floor cleaners and couldn’t find a single one that was good enough to recommend – eco or not.

Even the highest scoring products were barely better than water: the top scorer (a traditional product) came in at just 49%.

Fed up with how poorly floor cleaners clean (or rather, don’t), we awarded the entire product category of floor cleaners a ����Vlog Shonky award in 2020.

Seriously, just grab a bucket of hot water and get mopping. It’s better for the environment and your bank balance. Plus, it’s basically a free workout!

Dishwashing products

The water in your kitchen sink or dishwasher inevitably goes down the drain, so it makes sense to choose dishwashing products that will have the least impact on our waterways.��

But you don’t have to give up on clean dishes to keep the planet clean, whether you’re washing by hand or having a machine do it for you.

Dishwashing liquids

A good dishwashing liquid will make short work of greasy pots and pans, but a bad one will see you stuck at the kitchen sink for longer.��

Two ‘eco’ dishwashing liquids are recommended by our experts, although plenty more only just missed out on being recommended, so are still worth considering.

Interestingly, one of these products is from a mainstream brand – Palmolive – yet it spruiks eco claims such as biodegradable cleaning ingredients, recycled bottle, and no parabens, phosphates or phthalates. However, compared to other eco products, this one only has minimal claims.

These two eco dishwashing liquids cleaned up in our tests, performing as well as (and often better than) regular products, and earning them a recommendation from our experts.

• Orange Power Dishwashing Liquid High Performance Dishwash Concentrate: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 75%
• Palmolive Ultra Eco Coconut And Lime Dishwashing Liquid: 75%

And we’ve named one eco product as a ����Vlog Best Buy: it offers great value for money but doesn’t quite meet the criteria to be recommended.

• Earth Choice Dishwash Liquid: 70%

Plus, the following products didn’t score a recommendation from our experts, but they’re just five percentage points behind the products above, so they’re worth considering if you’re after an enviro-friendly dishwashing liquid. They all scored 70%.

• Earth Choice Ultra Concentrate Antibacterial Dishwashing Liquid
• Earth Choice Dishwash Liquid
• Ecostore Dish Liquid Lemon
• Koala Eco Natural Dish Soap Australian Lemon Myrtle and Mandarin
• Morning Fresh Clean and Green with Natural Lemon Ultra Concentrate

Eco dishwashing liquids to avoid

These products aren’t terrible, but they’re also not great. They all scored 60% – which is not a great deal better than plain water, which scored 45%.

• Earth Choice Undo This Mess with Ultra Mint & Lime Time
• Earth Choice Ultra Concentrate Lemon Burst Dishwashing Liquid
• Coles Green Choice 2-in-1 Dish + Hand Wash

Dishwasher detergents

Cheaping out on dishwasher detergents is a false economy. If your detergents do a bad job, you’ll have to wash the dishes twice, which is a waste of time, money, water and electricity – not good for the environment or your patience.��

And as much as powder dishwasher detergents seem like a good option if you’re on a budget, we suggest you don’t bother: they perform poorly compared to dishwasher tablets, eco-friendly or not.

• Ecostore Ultra Power Dishwasher Tablets: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 76% (Recommended)
• Earth Choice All-In-1 Dish Tablets: 74%
• Eco Planet Automatic Dishwasher Tablets: 74%
• Earth Choice Undo This Mess Dish Tablets: 73%

Eco dishwasher detergents to avoid

While there were still some poor performers in our latest test of dishwasher detergents, it was pleasing to see that no product was as bad as using plain water.��

The lowest performing detergents come in sheet form: a sheet of paper embedded with detergent, that disintegrates in water to release the detergent.��

When we tested the Lucent Globe Ultra Concentrated Dishwashing Detergent Sheets in 2023 the result was basically the same as using plain water, with a ����Vlog Expert Rating of only 12%. While we still rate this year’s result as ‘poor’, we’re pleased to see the results improving and moving in the right direction.��

Sheet products haven’t performed well in our other tests either, coming in at the bottom of the table for laundry detergents. (See below for more info.)��

We think they’re a good idea, but they need some more development before they work as well as traditional detergents.

These are the lowest scoring dishwasher detergents with eco claims:

• Plain water: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 7%
• Lucent Globe Ultra Concentrated Dishwashing Detergent Sheets: 30%
• Earth Rescue Dishwasher Detergent Sheets: 33%
• Earth Choice Dishwasher Powder: 44%
• Resolv 0% Dishwasher Tablets: 50%

Laundry detergent

Buying an eco-friendly laundry detergent is important, but it’s not the only piece of the puzzle – what you do with your laundry has more of an impact than what you use.

So before you even look at changing your laundry products, look at your laundry routine to see where you can save water, power, and consumables to reduce your environmental footprint.

You’ll also save money while you’re at it – that’s a win-win for you and the planet.

Here are our tips for giving your laundry routine an eco-friendly makeover.

����Vlog tip: What you don’t use can be just as important as what you do use. Consider dropping fabric softeners, laundry beads and dryer balls, and only use your dryer if you absolutely have to. Also, ask yourself if something really needs washing or could be spot cleaned instead.

The best eco laundry detergents from our tests

None of the eco-friendly laundry detergents we tested performed especially well and none are recommended by our experts, but these were the ones that received the highest ����Vlog Expert Rating.

We test each detergent’s performance in both front- and top-loading machines so you can see which will perform best in your washer.

Top loader

It’s a bit hard to say that there are any ‘best’ products here – even the highest scoring detergent didn’t perform particularly well. This is because top loaders don’t perform as well as front loaders in general, so the detergents don’t perform well in top loaders.��

Euca Concentrate Eucalyptus Laundry Powder received the highest ����Vlog Expert Rating at a decidedly average 58%, so it’s an okay option if you have your heart set on an eco detergent for your top loader. It’ll set you back 77 cents per wash.

Bosisto’s Sensitive Laundry Powder came in not far behind at 56% and costs 86 cents per wash.

The laundry detergents with eco claims to avoid

Unfortunately, there were plenty of eco products making an appearance at the bottom of the leaderboard, which goes to show how important it is to do your research rather than just picking the product with the most impressive claims.

If you see these products on the shelf, leave them there. Some of them aren’t much better than just using plain water.

Front loader

• Plain water: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 50%
• Re.stor Pre-measured Laundry Detergent Sheets Tropical Breeze: 52%
• Earth Choice 3 in 1 Triple Action Laundry Capsules Fresh Burst with Eucalyptus Oil: 54%
• Lucent Globe Ultra Concentrated Laundry Detergent Sheets Ocean Breeze: 56%
• Earth Choice Laundry Liquid Pure Clean: 57%
• Aldi Green Action Laundry Liquid: 58%
• Earth Rescue Laundry Detergent Sheets Fresh Linen: 60%

Top loader

• Plain water: ����Vlog Expert Rating: 45%
• Aldi Green Action Laundry Liquid: 46%
• Re.stor Pre-measured Laundry Detergent Sheets Tropical Breeze: 47%
• Lucent Globe Ultra Concentrated Laundry Detergent Sheets Ocean Breeze: 47%
• Ecostore 3x Concentrate Laundry Liquid: 47%
• Ecostore Ultra Sensitive Laundry Liquid: 48%
• Ecostore Laundry Liquid Eucalyptus: 48%
• Earth Rescue Laundry Detergent Sheets Fresh Linen: 48%
• Earth Choice 6in1 Multi-Action Stain Removal Laundry Liquid Tasmanian Lavender & Boronia: 48%
• Earth Choice Laundry Liquid Pure Clean: 49%

The post The eco-friendly household products that actually work – and the ones that don’t appeared first on ����Vlog.

We’re always warning people against being swindled by expensive products that aren’t all there – however, we also love highlighting products that work brilliantly but don’t cost a king’s ransom.

Case in point: two humble supermarket spray stain removers that royally trounced brand-name sprays costing many times more in our lab tests.

If the Emperor were actually wearing any clothes, these would be two of the top picks to keep his majesty’s robes spotless and the royal coffers full.

So how do they compare?

While they didn’t quite top our stain remover tests, Aldi’s Di-San Pro Oxy with Enzymes and Woolworths’ Clean Ultimate Oil & Grime with Enzymes were strong contenders for the crown.

They both scored a ����Vlog Expert Rating of 71%, just three points below the reigning champions. They’re two of six sprays recommended by our experts.

Despite rubbing shoulders with the crème de la crème of stain removers, they’re cheap enough that even commoners can afford them: at just 28 cents per 100mL, they’re the cheapest of all the sprays in our test.

They also lord it over stains better than some expensive sprays that are a right royal pain in the wallet.

The priciest product we tested, StainGo Stain Remover Spot and Prewash, scored just 60% but costs�� $4.50 per 100mL – that’s 16 times more than these supermarket diamonds in the rough.

And they even kept up with pedigree brands such as Sard and Vanish, scoring higher than all but one Sard product, which costs more than six times as much.

Copycat or coincidence?

Aldi is famous for its knockoffs of branded products, but in this instance it’s hard to tell which supermarket is imitating which.

Both supermarkets have chosen a regal purple-and-gold colour scheme, the same pack size, the same shelf price and the same unit price for these two stain removers.

And the prices are in lockstep, too. We paid $2.15 for both products in 2023, but in 2024 they had both dropped by almost the same amount: Woolworths was charging $2.10; Aldi, $2.09.

The similarities continue: they’re both made in Australia, both claim to be septic safe, both claim to be colour safe, both contain enzymes.

And with the two sprays receiving exactly the same ����Vlog Expert Rating you might wonder if they’re the same product, just with different labelling.

“Supermarkets usually have their home-brand products produced by third-party manufacturers,” explains ����Vlog expert Chris Barnes.

“Sometimes home-brand products for different supermarkets could even be made in the same factory.

“Of course this doesn’t necessarily mean that the Woolworths and Aldi products are the same,��but it does go to show that instead of buying a product based on its brand, you should buy based on performance: the packaging won’t tell you which product works best, but our reviews will.”

(An imperial colour scheme doesn’t always mean a royal bargain though: Coles’ Ion Enzyme Action Gold is also royal purple and gold and scores 70% in our tests, but is much more expensive at $1.78 per 100mL.)

Is one product better at removing certain stains?

We test stain removers on a range of different stains, including sweat, grass, mud, olive oil, blood, chocolate ice cream and makeup. To simulate collar grime, we use ground nut oil.

As you’d expect, different products work better on some stains than others, so it’s a good idea to choose a spray based on the types of stains that you deal with most often.

For many stains, the two lookalike sprays were neck and neck, with just a few percentage points between their scores.

The main differences between their respective performances were for olive oil and blood, with Aldi coming ahead by 5–6% on those tests; however, Woolies had the edge on sweat and makeup, but only by three percentage points.

“But this is really just splitting hairs – both sprays performed well overall, and their results on each stain type are comparable with other top performers,” says Chris.

“For the most common stains (sweat, grass and mud, and cooking oil), either one is a good choice, which is great news for shoppers: you can get good results on a budget, regardless of where you shop.”

The post The lookalike stain removers from Woolies and Aldi battling for your cash appeared first on ����Vlog.

On this page:

• Fabric softeners
• Laundry beads and in-wash scent boosters
• Laundry detergent sheets
• Too much detergent
• Laundry detergent capsules
• Washed-up washing machines
• Dodgy dryers

Even worse, the costs of keeping your clothes fresh and clean can really add up – laundry detergent, fabric softener, energy and water can take quite a chunk out of your budget.

With many of us trying to cut back on household expenses, ����Vlog experts reveal some of the things you can reduce, change or cut out completely from your laundry routine to save money.��

Fabric softeners

����Vlog experts recommend giving expensive fabric softeners the flick.

“Fabric softeners are not only pricey, they also have a few other downsides. If you’re trying to cut costs, you should consider removing them from your shopping list,” says ����Vlog head of reviews and testing, Matthew Steen.

“Fabric softeners essentially coat your clothes and towels in nice-smelling chemicals which can not only irritate sensitive skin but will also leave a layer of residue on your clothes and reduce the absorbency of your towels.

“Ironically, you’re stripping stains from your clothes and then recoating them with chemicals. It’s a marketer’s dream.”

They also reduce the flame retardancy of clothing, which means you absolutely shouldn’t use them on children’s sleepwear, and they can cause build-up in your washing machine, which will reduce its efficiency and possibly cause damage in the long run too.

So ditching the softener will not only save you money on your grocery bill, it could also save you from having to spend extra money repairing and replacing your washing machine.

With some fabric softeners costing up to $10 or more per litre, this cut could benefit both your laundry and your wallet.

Laundry beads and in-wash scent boosters

These are another type of fabric softener product but, instead of a liquid, laundry beads (otherwise known as in-wash scent boosters) are small soluble beads added to the barrel of your washing machine.

Not only do these products put an unnecessary strain on your budget, they can also put a strain on your washing machine and your clothes by coating them with sweet-smelling chemicals.

They’re also a strain on people with fragrance sensitivities, allergies or sensitive skin.��

But from a purely financial perspective, they just don’t add up. We calculated that using these products could add – money that’s far better off in your pocket.

Laundry detergent sheets

If you’ve been looking for an ‘eco-friendly’ laundry detergent option, you may have stumbled across laundry detergent sheets.

Embedded with detergent, these dissolvable paper sheets disintegrate in water, releasing the detergent into your wash.��

Packaged without plastic, they’re lightweight and compact so they create fewer emissions through packaging and transport.

Sounds great, right?

Well, yes. But we’ve found they’re great in theory, but not so much in practice.

They were among the lowest scoring detergents in our tests, with ����Vlog Expert Ratings between 52 and 60% when we tested them in front loaders.

For now, they’re not a great way to spend your money, but with some more development they could be a good buy.

We test powders, liquids, capsules and sheets each year. Keep an eye our our laundry detergent reviews to see how laundry detergent sheets perform.

Or for a quick rundown of what’s good and what’s not, check out The best and worst laundry detergents from our tests.

Too much detergent

You might be overspending on laundry detergent, but are you also using too much?��

The recommended dose per wash is usually more than you need, our experts say. You can still get great results (and cut your laundry costs!) by using much less.��

“Using just a third of the recommended amount of laundry detergent can still give you great results – and your detergent will last three times longer, meaning you’re paying for detergent less often,” says Matthew.��

Using less detergent is also better for the environment (think less packaging in landfill, fewer carbon emissions from manufacture and transport, and less detergent in our waterways).

It can also be less irritating for sensitive skin, and it’s better for your washing machine, too.��

“Putting too much detergent into your washing machine can lead to a build-up of ‘scrud’, which could drag down its washing performance and even damage it over the long term,” says Matthew.��

Laundry detergent capsules

Also known as pods, packs, flings, discs or laundry balls, these are single-use capsules of liquid laundry detergent concentrate in a dissolvable plastic wrapper.��

They’re certainly convenient (no messy pouring or measuring required) but they can be hit and miss in terms of performance: some of the highest scoring products in our latest laundry detergents review were capsules, but some capsules were among the lowest scorers too.

And some of these products don’t come cheap: the top scoring capsule we tested costs $1.35 per wash, but a powder detergent and a liquid detergent from the same brand cost just 80 cents per wash and received similar ����Vlog Expert Ratings.��

Of all the laundry detergents recommended by our experts, these two are actually the cheapest per wash, costing even less than all the other powders and liquids that topped our tests.

However, even if you buy laundry capsules that hit that sweet spot of affordability and performance, they still have limitations.

You can use as little as a third of the recommended dose of powder or liquid detergent and still get just as good a wash, our experts have found.

But you can’t do the same with laundry capsules: you’re restricted to the dose that’s in each capsule.��

If you’re doing multiple loads of washing per week, being able to reduce how much detergent you use can really make a difference to your bank balance.

So if you were to use a third of a scoop of the Omo Laundry Powder above, it’d cost just under 27 cents per wash.��

A third of a scoop of Aldi Laundrite Laundry Powder, which our experts named as a Best Buy, is less than 4 cents per wash.��

You can’t make those kinds of savings with laundry capsules!

“Laundry detergent can amount to at least half the running cost of your washing machine over its lifetime,” says Matthew.��

“So it makes sense to swap out expensive detergents for better-performing, cheaper products – especially since you’ll also get a better wash for less money.”

Washed-up washing machines

An inefficient washing machine, or one that’s too big for your household needs, could be costing you hundreds of extra dollars per year.

Front loading machines may cost more to buy upfront, but they generally use less power, water and detergent than top loaders and have far lower running costs, which can save you a substantial amount of cash over the life of the washer.

Below, you can see that the Haier top loader we tested is much cheaper to buy, but costs much more to run than the Asko front loader.

While you might spend more up front on the Asko, you’ll be spending far less on electricity and water each year.

And even though the Asko is still more expensive over a 10-year period, it’s arguable that a cheaper, lower-quality appliance (made with low-cost parts that are likely less repairable) won’t continue to operate efficiently for 10 years, if it survives that long at all.��

So if you opt for the cheaper model, you may end up having to pay to replace it sooner than you would a better-quality machine.

Top-loader washing machines are also rougher on your clothes, so you’ll not only spend more on running costs over the long term, but also on replacing your clothes sooner.

Suddenly that cheap washing machine doesn’t look so cheap after all!

Dodgy dryers

You won’t be wasting any money if you dry your clothes in the sunshine, but the reality is many of us often turn to the dryer when the weather isn’t on our side or if we’re in a rush.

The bad news is that clothes dryers can account for up to 3.7% of your average household energy use, so an inefficient dryer can add significantly to your energy bills, particularly if you use it a lot.

Different types of dryers vary both in cost and energy efficiency (and therefore how much they’ll cost you over the long term).

A good heat pump dryer will use as little as a third of the energy of a vented or condenser dryer, but you need to weigh that up against significantly higher purchase prices.

However, if you don’t use your dryer very often, you might be better off going for the cheaper dryer. Even though the heat pump dryer costs less to run, the bigger upfront cost means you probably won’t come out ahead.

To help you keep a lid on your dryer costs, we’ve compiled��6 money-saving tips for using your clothes dryer.

The post The laundry products that are a waste of your money appeared first on ����Vlog.