A stringent test of dish detergents has washed the idea that you get what you pay for straight down the drain.
Consumer watchdog Choice put 44 dishwashing liquids to the test and found the best performing product was also one of the cheapest, while one more expensive brand performed “no better than water,” Matthew Steen, director of reviews and testing at Choice, said.
Products were tested on how well they cut through grease and stains. In the test, white tiles were covered with egg yolk, bolognese and rice starch, soaked in the dishwashing solutions, then placed in a mechanical scrubbing apparatus.
Before and after scrubbing, each tile’s reflectance was tested through a spectrophotometer – a machine that measures how white something is. A percentage score out of 100 was then assigned based on how effectively the stain was removed.
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The Choice tests ultimately measure how much effort is needed to scrub stains away, Steen said.
A top score of 90% made the Coles ultra advanced power soak lime Choice’s clear winner.
At 42 cents per 100mL, it was also one of the cheapest tested. It comes in at less than a third of the price of the second placed Fairy spray, which costs $1.33 per 100mL.
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“You can pick up a really good performing dishwashing liquid fairly cheaply,” Steen said.
Choice runs detergent tests annually to account for manufacturing and formulation changes. “Sometimes, new formulations just don’t work very well,” Steen said.
The “ultimate flop” this year was Morning Fresh ultimate power clean spray citrus fresh, which at the relatively steep price of $11 per bottle, scored just 45% – equivalent to the score of plain water. Morning Fresh were contacted for comment but did not reply to Guardian Australia by the time of publication.
“The point of washing liquids is you don’t need to put a lot of effort into getting rid of stains from your dishes,” Steen said.
Though pricier, dishwashing sprays have generally performed poorly against traditional liquids in the past, Steen said. Choice tested four spray products this year: the best, in second place overall, was Fairy Kitchen antibacterial dishwashing spray, which scored 75% – a full 15 percentage points below the first place product, but ranking “better than we thought it would”.
Steen said that brand is no indicator of quality when it comes to washing dishes. As well as taking top marks, some Coles and Fairy products also ended up at the bottom of the ladder.
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In Australia, there is no regulation requiring companies to include the ingredients on cleaning products, so there is not much to be learned from reading a product’s label.
Although most dishwashing liquids tested came in recyclable plastic bottles, Steen said he hasn’t seen cardboard packaging on supermarket shelves. Though increasingly available online, dishwashing powder sachets aren’t readily available from bricks and mortar retailers yet, and therefore were not tested.
“At the moment we only ever see plastic,” Steen said.
Choice has tested dishwashing liquids with eco claims in the past, with the Simply Clean Australian lemon myrtle dishwash liquid securing Choice Recommended status. The product claims to have biodegradable packaging and to be grey water and septic tank safe.
Generally, Steen urged consumers treat claims with a degree of scepticism “unless they are backed by a group that are audited for that claim”.
“You see a lot of things like ‘gentle on hands’, biodegradable, grey water safe, cruelty free, plant-based, phosphate free,” he said.
Cruelty free claims are affirmed with a rabbit logo, while biodegradable claims are assessed by Australian Standard and will have an “AS” symbol. However claims like “plant-based ingredients”, “grey water safe” and “septic tank safe” do not have commonly backed symbols.
In navigating the murky world of detergent, Steen also advised consumers to sniff before they commit. “There is no requirement for them to put labelling on what the fragrances are made from, so you don’t exactly know,” he said. “Some people have very different reactions.”
