Which is better omo or cold power?
We have to be grateful to the testing experts at CHOICE. They’ve got their hands dirty and their clothes soiled in the quest to find the very best laundry detergents as well as giving us the heads up which ones not to buy.
Ultimately your washing machine can be a $2,000 beast but if you’re using inferior detergent, your clothes will suffer.
“Since detergent accounts for at least half the running cost of your washing machine, it’s worth spending your money on a product that’ll give you the best results,” CHOICE said.
The testers scrutinised and compared 92 of the most popular laundry detergents. They looked at liquid and powder, regular and sensitive laundry detergents for babies and allergy sufferers – and considered top loaders and front loaders.
They came up with a solid list of favourites … and a few duds too.
First, 2nd And Third Spots all went to Dynamo products in the front loader washing tests.
“We normally find that powders outperform liquid detergents, but we’re pleased to see that Dynamo has brought their A-game to the table this year and raised the bar for what we can expect from liquid detergents,” says CHOICE laundry expert Ashley Iredale.
Costing just 16 cents a wash, Aldi’s Trimat Advanced Concentrate Laundry Liquid came in fourth, outshining products that cost more than three times the price. This liquid detergent aces stains such as grass, mud, makeup, chocolate ice cream and baby food, and has a CHOICE Expert Rating of 80% – just two percentage points behind Dynamo’s top scorer, but costing 40 cents less per wash.
Next up came two Omo products which scored 79%, followed by Aldi’s Trimat Advanced Concentrate Laundry Powder, which scored 78%. However, the Aldi powder costs a bit more per wash than the liquid at 27 cents, so our money is on the liquid if you’re after bang for your buck.
1) Dynamo Professional 7 Actions in 1 Wash (82%) 2) Dynamo Professional Oxi Plus (82%) 3) Dynamo Professional Deep Clean Odour Eliminating (81%) 4) Aldi Trimat Advanced Concentrate Laundry Liquid (80%) 5) Omo With a Touch of Comfort Inspired Freshness (79%) 6) Omo Ultimate Whitens and Brightens (79%) 7) Aldi Trimat Advanced Concentrate Laundry Powder (78%)
Where there are winners, there are always going to be losers. Unfortunately, Woolworths dive-bombs when it comes to quality laundry detergent. Two Woolies products – Essentials Laundry Powder and Essentials Laundry Liquid Clean Wash Apple Fragrance received CHOICE Expert Ratings of just 55% in the front loader test – the same result as washing with plain water! Yikes!
And the award for the worst-performing front-loader laundry detergent goes to…
1) Woolworths Essentials Laundry Powder (55%) 2) Woolworths Essentials Laundry Liquid Clean Wash Apple Fragrance (55%) 3) Plain water only (55%) 4) Omo Sensitive (59%) 5) Aldi Laundrite Laundry Powder (59%) 6) Surf Tropical Tiger Lily powder (60%) 7) Surf Tropical Tiger Lily liquid (61%)
Interestingly, the CHOICE team found that top loader washing machines don’t perform as well as front loaders. As a result the CHOICE Expert Ratings for top loader detergents are much lower than those for front loaders.
“Given that top loaders tend not to wash anywhere near as well as front loaders, choosing a top-performing detergent is even more important for top loader devotees,” said Ashley.
The surprise winner in this category is budget brand Aldi. Not only did it wash the best, but at 27 cents a wash, it’s also great value for money.
“You may think that paying a premium for detergent means your clothes will be cleaner, but time and time again we find that price isn’t necessarily an indication of performance,” said Ashley.
“Aldi Trimat’s performance in our tests goes to show that you can get a great wash for a fraction of the cost of the leading brands.”
But not all Aldi products performed well so make sure you get the specific brand right.
1) Aldi Trimat Advanced Concentrate Laundry Powder (66%) 2) Omo Ultimate Whitens and Brightens (63%) 3) Omo with a Touch of Comfort Inspired Freshness (61%) 4) Aldi Almat Laundry Powder Concentrate Arctic Breeze (59%) 5) Cussons Radiant Brilliant Whites Sharper Colours (58%) 6) Biozet attack 3dcleanaction liquid top
Sadly, there were heaps of contenders for the most badly performing detergent for top loaders. None were worse than plain water, but there were plenty that weren’t much better.
“Considering that all these products scored less than 50%, buying them is just about on par with throwing your money straight down the drain,” CHOICE warned.
And the awards for the worst detergent for top loaders go to:
1) Fab Intense Fresh liquid (47%) 2) Biozet Attack 3DCleanAction liquid (47%) 3) Woolworths Essentials Laundry Liquid Clean Wash Apple Fragrance (48%) 4) Surf Tropical Tiger Lily liquid (48%) 5) Fab Perfume Indulgence Sublime Velvet liquid (48%) 6) Fab Essential Oils Malaysian Orchid & Sandalwood liquid (48%) 7) ecostore Eucalyptus Laundry Liquid (48%) 8) Cold Power Pure Clean Sensitive liquid (48%)
Check out CHOICE for a full list of all the detergents tested.
What are your best laundry detergent and which one do you think is the worst? Tell us in the comments below.
To help make our selections at the supermarket, consumer advocate CHOICE has reviewed 150 laundry detergents on the market for stain removal, value for money and effectiveness.
Both front loader and top loader specific detergents were tested as well as powder, capsule and liquid options.
READ MORE: How often you need to wash clothes, towels and sheets, according to a microbiologist
Omo laundry detergent powder front loader and Omo ultimate powder front loader tied first in the review with a score of 84 per cent each.
They aren't the cheapest laundry detergents on the market though, with the Omo laundry detergent powder costing $24 for a 2kg box and Omo ultimate powder priced at about $33 for a 5kg box – that's 60 cents and 45 cents a wash, respectively.
The best overall budget option was Aldi's Almat laundry powder concentrate sunshine fresh front loader.
It scored 82 per cent and costs $5.49 for a 2kg box, which works out to be an incredible 12 cents a wash.
The highest scoring laundry detergents seemed to be those designed for front loader machines, while powders seemed to score higher overall than liquids.
READ MORE: The 'smart home' gadgets worth spending your hard-earned money on
It's not just about the overall wash though, we also need detergents that remove stains. To test each products effectiveness at stain removal, CHOICE used the detergents on specific types of stains.
The best for removing olive oil stains was Omo Ultimate powder front loader, while perspiration stains were best removed by Omo Ultimate Powder Front loader
But the top performers for removing blood stains were Aldi Almat laundry powder concentrate sunshine fresh front loader and Cold Power advanced clean powder front loader.
Given there are so many different needs and types of detergent to choose from, it's best to check out the full CHOICE laundry detergent review list where you can filter results by your type of machine and other needs.
Getting good results from your washing machine doesn't just come down to your choice of laundry detergent, there are plenty of other things you can do to help the detergent and your machine do their jobs.
READ MORE: 11 mistakes you're making when washing and drying your towels
Using less detergent than you think you need, or is suggested by the detergent packaging, can actually give you a better wash.
You really only need about a tablespoon per standard load, which will make your detergent last longer because you're not using as much.
It also means the suds from the detergent can be effectively rinsed out during the rinse cycle, leading to cleaner clothes and less residue build-up in your machine.
Another top tip is to never overfill your washing machine. Three quarters full is a good amount so that your clothes and linens have room to move in the drum.
You can also increase the chances of stains being removed by pre-treating them before a wash, and/or adding a laundry booster like oxygen bleach.
- PureCult Liquid Laundry Detergent.
- Godrej Ezee Liquid Detergent.
- Genteel Liquid Detergent Bottle for Both Bucket and Machine Wash.
- Diolty Liquid Detergent.
- BubbleNut Wash Laundry Liquid Detergent.
- IFB Essentials Fluff Fabric Liquid Detergent.
- Koparo Natural Laundry Liquid Detergent.
- Surf Excel Matic Detergent.
The CHOICE laundry lab has conducted its latest round of testing, analysing more than 50 popular products for cleaning prowess (or lack of it). The results reveal some big surprises, especially when we compare performance against price.
On this page:
"We test all laundry detergents in both top and front loader machines, as the two machines perform quite differently," explains CHOICE expert Ashley Iredale.
"Front loading machines generally wash clothes better, which is why we see higher scores for the detergents in the front loaders."
Want to know if your detergent is a winner or a wash-out? We reveal the best and worst cleaners from our test below.
It was a double win for Omo, with two of its products in a tie for first place: Omo Ultimate Powder and Omo Laundry Detergent Powder, both earning a CHOICE Expert Rating of 84%.
In a win for hip pockets everywhere, four of the top 10 performers were supermarket brands. With the second highest score overall, Aldi Almat Laundry Powder Concentrate Sunshine Fresh may not have taken out the gold medal, but it offers some serious value for money, costing just 12 cents a wash. And Woolworths Clean Sunny Glow Laundry Powder also made the top five, costing 14 cents a wash.
Another well-known brand, Cold Power Advanced Clean Powder took out fourth place and is also recommended by our experts.
"Our testing revealed that Omo Ultimate Powder and Omo Laundry Detergent Powder are the most effective laundry detergent for front loaders, with a CHOICE Expert Rating of 84%," says Ashley.
Here are the top performers for front loaders:
Aldi and Woolworths may have hit the big time with their high-scoring products, but they also took out the wooden spoons: Aldi Laundrite Laundry Liquid performed worse than plain water, and Woolworths Essentials Laundry Liquid Clean Wash and Bosisto's Laundry Liquid Sensitive performed no better than plain water.
Both supermarket products cost just six cents a wash, but with results that poor, you'll probably have to wash your clothes twice. The Bosisto's costs a pricey 50 cents a wash.
And, unfortunately, supermarket own brands are well-represented in the bottom 10 products in our test, with Coles, Woolworths and Aldi all getting a look in.
If you're using one of the products below, you might want to rethink your next purchase. Here are the detergents to avoid:
Can't see your brand? See the full laundry detergent test results.
You may notice that ratings for top-loader detergents are much lower than for front loaders. That's because our testing has found top-loading machines don't wash as well.
"With that in mind, choosing a top-performing detergent is even more important for top-loader devotees," says Ashley.
Once again, supermarket products performed well, with Aldi Almat Laundry Powder Concentrate Sunshine Fresh and Coles Lemon Fresh Laundry Powder showing that you don't need to stick to brand-name products to get a great wash.
"Aldi and Coles' performance in our tests goes to show that you can get a great wash for a fraction of the cost of the leading brands," says Ashley.
The next highest scorers were Cold Power Clean and Fresh Powder (61%), Omo Laundry Detergent Powder (59%) and Omo Ultimate Powder (58%).
Mind you, they're not exactly equal – you'll be paying more for the branded products, with Cold Power costing 81c a wash and Omo 45–60c a wash. Aldi's Almat Laundry Powder is a bargain at just 12c a wash, and Coles' Lemon Fresh Laundry Powder will set you back just 17c a wash.
These are the top performers in our top-loader detergents:
Our testing revealed plenty of dud detergents rating below 50%, including some big-name brands. Here are the bottom scorers in our top loader test:
Can't see your brand? See the full laundry detergent test results.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
