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Are you a little overwhelmed by all the different choices of laundry detergent at the store? You stand in that aisle, looking at all those colorful boxes and bottles, all promising you whiter whites, stain-fighting powers, total defeat of your dirt enemies. But which ones are the best? I guess that's why we have Consumer Reports -- they've just come out with their list of best laundry detergents. I checked out the list to see if any of the detergents I use are the top performers.
Consumer reports divided their survey into two lists, conventional detergents and high-efficiency brands:
Top Conventional Brands, for standard top-loading washers:
1. Wisk Deep Clean, liquid
2. Tide Plus Bleach Alternative Vivid White + Bright, liquid
3. Tide for Cold Water, liquid
4. Cheer Stay Colorful for Darks, liquid
5. Tide Ultra Free & Gentle, powder
6. Tide TotalCare, liquid
7. Gain Icy Fresh Fizz Oxi Boost 2-in-1 FreshLock, liquid
Top High-Efficiency Brands, for front-loading or high-efficiency top-loading washers
1. Tide Ultra Plus Bleach Vivid White + Bright, powder
2. Wisk Deep Clean Free & Pure, liquid
3. Kirkland Signature Ultra Clean Pacs (Costco), pods/packs
4. Tide Ultra HE, powder
5. Tide HE Plus Bleach Alternative Vivid White + Bright, liquid
6. Kirkland Signature Ultra (Costco), powder
7. Tide Pods, pods/packs
So a lot of familiar faces here, but it's interesting that a Costco brand made the list. I was happy to see a "greenish" (or at least dye and fragrance-free) detergents here since that's a priority for me.
Will a list like this change which detergent you buy? A lot of factors go into our choices, don't they? You may be clipping coupons or looking for what's on sale. I shop at this hippie food coop that doesn't carry any of these brands -- and I don't have time to make a special trip to a different store just for laundry detergent. Or you may go by word of mouth, what your friends recommend.
Still, I think this is useful information to have. We all want to know what really works -- and what doesn't.
Do you use any of the detergents on these lists?
Image via Maegin Tintari/Flickr
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