When it comes to cleaning, we look for products that can give us premium results without breaking the bank.

Given this fact, manufacturers market their products as effective and hide all of the negatives from their customers. (I mean, that's what marketing is for, right?)

However, the reality is no product is perfect, and companies must be honest with their customers about the good and the bad aspects of their products.

So, to give you a good idea of how effective cleaning products are, CHOICE reviewed them and compared them with water.

CHOICE revealed the cleaning products that performed worse than water. Credit: CHOICE.​

Yes, folks, you read that right! The consumer advocacy group went as far as to compare the cleaning products with water to prove that there are some cleaning products that we should try to avoid as they are not worth our money.

Are you ready to find out which cleaning products proved to be worse than water?

1. Floor cleaners

CHOICE tested 14 popular brands of floor cleaners and as it turned out, only 3 brands outperformed plain water. (Shocking, right?)

Alice Richards, CHOICE content creator and marketer, wrote: "Our testing has shown that if you want your floor clean, you'll do just as good a job with plain water as you will with a commercial floor cleaner."

It was said that water scored 41% from the test, with the top 3 performing brands scoring between 44% and 49% — scores that are actually not considered good, with CHOICE labelling the scores "borderline" or "poor".

So, for those who are curious which product scored the lowest, CHOICE revealed that Coles' Ultra Floor Cleaner Sweet Orchard garnered the lowest score with only 40% - worse than water!

It was said that Coles’ Ultra Floor Cleaner Sweet Orchard performed the worst. Credit: CHOICE.​

Meanwhile, the other 10 cleaners also scored almost the same as plain water, which means that you can just about get by cleaning your floors without them.

CHOICE home cleaning expert Ashley Iredale said: "If you want your floors clean, just use a plain old bucket of hot water. Save your money."

2. Multipurpose cleaners

Multipurpose cleaning products sound like good bang for your buck considering that you can use it to clean for almost anything.

However, after testing 26 different products, CHOICE revealed that 13 or 50% of the multipurpose cleaners tested only scored 41%, which again, is similar to the score of tap water.

CHOICE also said that the cleaning product with the lowest score was $2 Strike's Multi Purpose Cleaner, which failed to outperform water.

The good news, however, is that the other 13 products that the group tested performed well.

For a full list of recommended products, visit this link.

The $2 product was said to be a poor performer.​

3. Glass and window cleaners

There's no denying that cleaning glass windows can be incredibly tedious, especially when the stains and dirt build-up just don't come off even if you tirelessly scrub it many times.

This is why many of us turn to cleaning products to help us get rid of the stains easier and faster.

However, it was revealed that (yep, you guessed it!) a number of glass and window cleaners actually performed just as well as water.

Take, for example, Earth Choice Window & Glass Crystal Clean.

According to CHOICE, the product scored the same score as plain water — 37% — which is considered "poor" by most cleaning experts.

Additionally, CHOICE revealed that Ajax Spray n' Wipe Glass only scored 34%, which means it performed less than water. Yikes!

Water outperforms the Ajax glass cleaning product. Credit: CHOICE.​

4. Laundry detergents

CHOICE revealed the two products that you should avoid if you're looking for laundry detergents that actually perform better than water.

The first product is Tru Earth's Eco-Strips.

CHOICE suggested avoiding Tru Earth's Eco-Strips. Credit: CHOICE.​

It was said that the laundry detergent "performed worse than water on almost every single test we ran in a top-loading washing machine".

However, the product managed to do better than water in a front loader by just a few parameters. CHOICE still labels it "terrible" though.

Another product is Coles' Lemon Fresh Laundry Liquid, which scored only one per cent higher than plain water.

5. Laundry balls

CHOICE claimed that laundry balls don’t work. Credit: CHOICE.​

This laundry paraphernalia is marketed as a "more eco-friendly alternative to laundry detergent".

While the marketing of this product seems to make it one of the must-haves, CHOICE said that in reality, they don't actually work.

Ms Richard wrote: "When we tested and reviewed laundry balls, we found that not one single product performed better than plain water. So do yourself a favour and give these a miss."

So, there you have it, folks! Be sure to keep an eye out for these products and keep tuning in to our posts about some of the best chemical-free cleaning hacks!

 

[Ricci]

Phew! Thankfully none of these products are in my cupboards so no money wasted!!

 

[JayKay]

The supermarket shelves are full of these products.
Shows how easily we believe the blurb on the containers or the ads on TV.
Thanks for the warnings.

 

[Liz]

Phew Ajax spray & wipe comes us okay.

 

[KatKop]

Thank heavens we have a *Choice* in Australia!

Now, surely next steps should follow after these results? Not all consumers read reviews (or are Choice and SDC members) so are retailers withdrawing these products from their shelves?

Of course, manufacturers are constantly doing brand and product research and changing formulae, so one expects/hopes that the next generation of these products will improve.

 

[Beeno & Deb]

How do people not know this already?? Water on its own will clean a myriad of things, my windows have only seen plain cold water and a squeegee for years! I believe the benefits of natural products will always out way any chemicals.

 

[WADuck]

So that's why they sell us bottled water for cleaning not drinking. lol

 

[Giggler]

None in my cupboard. I use KOH for cleaning my oven when I have stubborn marks. For my floors water with a few drops of eucalyptus oil and for glass water with a little wash up detergent, squeegeed and polished off with micro fiber cloth.

 

[Me K]

Blue care house clean for us & provided a list of products to buy for them to use & one was Ultra floor cleaner. The floor always looks clean when theyu finish.

 

[Thecheesequeen]

I have to say that Choice’s reviews don’t always match my lived experience! I sometimes get good results from products that Choice has scored badly. I would advise that you use what works for you.

 

[DrivingGirl]

I have to say that Choice’s reviews don’t always match my lived experience! I sometimes get good results from products that Choice has scored badly. I would advise that you use what works for you.

Absolutely - I always check for the chemical content (words I can’t spell or pronounce) this is more important for me. Vinegar/ any product with eucalyptus oil (not just the fragrance) pure alcohol for disinfecting and hot water does it for me - not expensive either!

 

[Juan's]

CHOICE reveals the cleaning products that “perform worse than water” — here’s everything you need to know!​

When it comes to cleaning, we look for products that can give us premium results without breaking the bank.

Given this fact, manufacturers market their products as effective and hide all of the negatives from their customers. (I mean, that's what marketing is for, right?)

However, the reality is no product is perfect, and companies must be honest with their customers about the good and the bad aspects of their products.

So, to give you a good idea of how effective cleaning products are, CHOICE reviewed them and compared them with water.

CHOICE revealed the cleaning products that performed worse than water. Credit: CHOICE.​

Yes, folks, you read that right! The consumer advocacy group went as far as to compare the cleaning products with water to prove that there are some cleaning products that we should try to avoid as they are not worth our money.

Are you ready to find out which cleaning products proved to be worse than water?

1. Floor cleaners

CHOICE tested 14 popular brands of floor cleaners and as it turned out, only 3 brands outperformed plain water. (Shocking, right?)

Alice Richards, CHOICE content creator and marketer, wrote: "Our testing has shown that if you want your floor clean, you'll do just as good a job with plain water as you will with a commercial floor cleaner."

It was said that water scored 41% from the test, with the top 3 performing brands scoring between 44% and 49% — scores that are actually not considered good, with CHOICE labelling the scores "borderline" or "poor".

So, for those who are curious which product scored the lowest, CHOICE revealed that Coles' Ultra Floor Cleaner Sweet Orchard garnered the lowest score with only 40% - worse than water!

It was said that Coles’ Ultra Floor Cleaner Sweet Orchard performed the worst. Credit: CHOICE.​

Meanwhile, the other 10 cleaners also scored almost the same as plain water, which means that you can just about get by cleaning your floors without them.

CHOICE home cleaning expert Ashley Iredale said: "If you want your floors clean, just use a plain old bucket of hot water. Save your money."

​

2. Multipurpose cleaners

Multipurpose cleaning products sound like good bang for your buck considering that you can use it to clean for almost anything.

However, after testing 26 different products, CHOICE revealed that 13 or 50% of the multipurpose cleaners tested only scored 41%, which again, is similar to the score of tap water.

CHOICE also said that the cleaning product with the lowest score was $2 Strike's Multi Purpose Cleaner, which failed to outperform water.

The good news, however, is that the other 13 products that the group tested performed well.

For a full list of recommended products, visit this link.

The $2 product was said to be a poor performer.​

3. Glass and window cleaners

There's no denying that cleaning glass windows can be incredibly tedious, especially when the stains and dirt build-up just don't come off even if you tirelessly scrub it many times.

This is why many of us turn to cleaning products to help us get rid of the stains easier and faster.

However, it was revealed that (yep, you guessed it!) a number of glass and window cleaners actually performed just as well as water.

Take, for example, Earth Choice Window & Glass Crystal Clean.

According to CHOICE, the product scored the same score as plain water — 37% — which is considered "poor" by most cleaning experts.

Additionally, CHOICE revealed that Ajax Spray n' Wipe Glass only scored 34%, which means it performed less than water. Yikes!

Water outperforms the Ajax glass cleaning product. Credit: CHOICE.​

4. Laundry detergents

CHOICE revealed the two products that you should avoid if you're looking for laundry detergents that actually perform better than water.

The first product is Tru Earth's Eco-Strips.

CHOICE suggested avoiding Tru Earth's Eco-Strips. Credit: CHOICE.​

It was said that the laundry detergent "performed worse than water on almost every single test we ran in a top-loading washing machine".

However, the product managed to do better than water in a front loader by just a few parameters. CHOICE still labels it "terrible" though.

Another product is Coles' Lemon Fresh Laundry Liquid, which scored only one per cent higher than plain water.

5. Laundry balls

CHOICE claimed that laundry balls don’t work. Credit: CHOICE.​

This laundry paraphernalia is marketed as a "more eco-friendly alternative to laundry detergent".

While the marketing of this product seems to make it one of the must-haves, CHOICE said that in reality, they don't actually work.

Ms Richard wrote: "When we tested and reviewed laundry balls, we found that not one single product performed better than plain water. So do yourself a favour and give these a miss."

So, there you have it, folks! Be sure to keep an eye out for these products and keep tuning in to our posts about some of the best chemical-free cleaning hacks!

Then why dont you list a good product for us for all our cleaning needs