DOING the washing up often seems like a never-ending chore – no sooner has one lot dried, then another pile of dirty dishes is stacked up on the side.
But it can be made quicker and easier with a good washing up liquid.
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The best formulas will leave your pots, pans, plates, cutlery and glassware gleaming, now matter how greasy your leftovers.
Fairy has long been the most popular in many households. But as the cost of living crisis continues, is there a cheaper alternative that will do as good a job?
LYNSEY HOPE investigates:
Fairy Original (320ml)
£1, £3.12 a litre
Read more on tested products
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Lynsey says: “The bottle claims it washes up to two times more dirty dishes than other brands, even in cold water. It’s a small bottle so time to check whether it is good value.
“It smelt zingy and fresh when I opened the bottle and even a tiny amount, produced masses of bubbles which lasted a long time and got the dishes sparkly clean in no time.
“Cutlery came out clean, glasses were streak free and it did a good job of cutting through tough food left overs and burnt on grease.
“You didn’t have to use as much as other brands but I was sceptical about the claim it would clean twice as much. The bottle seemed to run out faster than others, so I knocked a mark off when it came to value for money.”
Performance: 5/5
Value: 4/5
Overall score: 9/10
Tesco Anti Bac Washing Up Liquid Eucalyptus (500ml)
85p, £1.70 per litre
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Lynsey says: “I was surprised by how thick this liquid is. It worked well, cutting through grease with ease.
“To boot, it had a lovely smell and produced lots of sudsy bubbles, which didn’t clog up the sink when I drained the bowl. It cleaned very effectively.
“Not the cheapest own brand but still a huge saving on Fairy – around £1.42 per litre of liquid, so a saving not to be sniffed at. I was impressed.”
Performance: 5/5
Value: 4/5
Overall score: 9/10
Aldi Magnum Washing Up Liquid (500ml)
69p, £1.38 per litre
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Lynsey says: “Very bubbly but I didn’t find this as effective as some of the other liquids. I had to use a lot more elbow grease to get dirty dishes sparkly and clean.
“There were lots of bubbles but they dissipated quickly and there was still residue left on some of the grubbier pots and pans.
“It is amazing value so if you want a cheap alternative to Fairy, this is ok, but be prepared to use a bit more elbow grease and take a bit more time over the job in hand.”
Performance: 3/5
Value: 3/5
Overall score: 6/10
Morrisons Original Washing Up Liquid (450ml)
62p, £1.38 per litre
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Lynsey says: “I found the Morrisons liquid to have quite a strong smell and it produced lots of foam.
“The biggest issue here was the cap on the bottle, which seemed to leak, so I lost some of the liquid before I even started washing up.
“It also had quite a strong smell and whilst it produced lots of foam, the bubbles disappeared quickly and the plates weren’t left as sparkling as when I used other brands. Some cutlery and glasses were left a bit streaky, too.”
Performance: 2/5
Value: 2/5
Overall score: 4/10
Sainsbury’s Original Washing Up Liquid (500ml)
69p, £1.38 per litre
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Lynsey says: “Sainsbury’s Original did a great job at tackling tough grease and I managed to clean more dirty dishes than other own brands before having to change and use fresh water and an extra squirt of liquid.
“It didn’t produce tons of bubbles but it still did a good job of cutting through grease and tough, burnt-on leftovers.
“It’s a brilliant price, matching Aldi and Lidl in terms of value. The bottle is recyclable for added eco points.”
Performance: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Total score: 8/10
Essential Waitrose Washing Up Liquid Citrus (500ml)
75p, £1.50 per litre
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Lynsey says: “Loved the fresh smell of this Waitrose washing up liquid. It didn’t dry out my hands but was powerful, cutting through grease easily with only a small squirt every time.
“The bottle seemed to last for ages so whilst it’s not the cheapest own brand, it’s half the price of Fairy per litre and I thought it was excellent value.
“It didn’t produce tons of bubbles, but it performed well on dirty plates and everything was sparkly and clean afterwards. Something about it seemed high quality.”
Performance: 5/5
Value: 4/5
Total score: 9/10
Lidl W5 Washing Up Liquid Pomegranate (500ml)
69p, £1.38 per litre
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Lynsey says: “This pomegranate liquid smells like a bag of sweets when you open it. But the liquid was thick and it cleaned dirty dishes in just a couple of easy wipes.
“It created a good amount of bubbles in the bowl and the lasted well. After an hour, only this Lidl cleaner and Fairy still had a significant amount of bubbles left.
“It didn’t dry out the skin on my hands the bottle is recyclable. Buy a bottle of this instead of Fairy every week for a year and you’d save yourself over £16 in a year. Small savings add up.”
Performance: 5/5
Value: 5/5
Total score: 10/10
Asda Original Washing Up Liquid (1 litre)
£1.30 per litre
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Lynsey says: “A brilliant wallet-friendly option that promises it ‘cuts through grease instantly’. And it did actually, doing a good job of removing severe grease and dried on food.
“A small squirt was enough to clean a sink full of dirty dishes with minimal scrubbing required. The solution didn’t disperse too well in the water and whilst the bubbles were plentiful, they did clog up the sink a little.
“Glasses looked restaurant worthy after drying. Just be wary if you have sensitive skin, as it left my hands feeling quite dry.”
Performance: 4/5
Value: 3/5
Total score: 7/10
Its not the first time a cheaper product has beaten big brand names.
This was also the case when Lynsey test Magnum supermarket dupes.
It follows her jam doughnut test which revealed a much cheaper competitor to Krispy Kreme.
How to compare prices to get the best deal
JUST because something is on offer, or is part of a sale, it doesn’t mean it’s always a good deal.
There are plenty of comparison websites out there that’ll check prices for you – so don’t be left paying more than you have to.
Most of them work by comparing the prices across hundreds of retailers.
Here are some that we recommend:
- Google Shopping is a tool that lets users search for and compare prices for products across the web. Simply type in keywords, or a product number, to bring up search results.
- Price Spy logs the history of how much something costs from over 3,000 different retailers, including Argos, Amazon, eBay and the supermarkets. Once you select an individual product you can quickly compare which stores have the best price and which have it in stock.
- Idealo is another website that lets you compare prices between retailers. All shoppers need to do is search for the item they need and the website will rank them from the cheapest to the most expensive one.
- CamelCamelCamel only works on goods being sold on Amazon. To use it, type in the URL of the product you want to check the price of.