Compare bathroom cleaners from White King, Coles, Orange Power, Pine O Cleen, Dettol, Jif, Earth Choice, Ajax, ALDI, Domestos, Shower Power, Windex, Harpic, Easy Off Bam, Mr Muscle, Woolworths and Exit Mould.
White King has powered through the competition in Canstar Blue’s bathroom cleaner ratings, scoring five-star reviews on effectiveness, packaging design and overall customer satisfaction.
If you’re a bit of a clean freak, then the bathroom is probably the centre of your universe. With plenty of surfaces to wipe down, as well as scrubbing the sink, shower and tub on the to-do list, it’s easily one of the toughest cleaning jobs in the home. But for many of us, a clean bathroom is the pride of our home, meaning which bathroom cleaner you pick up at the supermarket can be an important decision. Which brands are up to the challenge? Once again, we’ve surveyed more than 1,600 Australian adults to find out which bathroom cleaner is scrubbing up best.
This is one of our most competitive ratings categories, with no fewer than 18 different brands featuring in the results this year, including supermarket private labels, Aussie-owned companies and global brands that take up the majority of shelf space in supermarket aisles. In 2019, it’s a case of the big-name brands cleaning up in the bathroom stakes, with White King recording five stars for its effectiveness, packaging design and overall customer satisfaction, plus four stars on value for money and ease of use, as well as three stars on smell and environmental friendliness.
A total of 18 brands were included in our 2019 review of bathroom cleaners, with the top 10 rated in the following order for overall customer satisfaction:
Top ratings were in fairly short supply this year, with only a handful of five-star scores recorded. This year’s winner, White King, was the only brand to get five stars for effectiveness and packaging design, while Coles Ultra and ALDI Powerforce were the only two brands to earn five stars on value for money. Orange Power was the only one to receive five stars on ease of use and smell, with Earth Choice the sole recipient of a five-star rating for environmental friendliness.
When it comes to bathroom cleaners, it’s obvious that effectiveness is going to be the most important consideration for consumers. But it’s also worth giving thought to how easy cleaning products actually are to use. There’s no point having an amazingly-effective cleaning product if you struggle to make the most out of it – literally. Environmental friendliness may also be a key consideration for you.
As well as identifying which bathroom cleaners are highest-rated, our research is also able to determine the major drivers of overall satisfaction for consumers after they buy it. This is what we found:
Value for money was the second most important factor in our review, with our survey finding that 47% of consumers always buy the cheapest brand, while 49% always buy the same brand. Considering that over two-thirds (67%) of respondents clean their bathroom either on a weekly basis or more regularly, you’ll want to be handing over your dollars for something that’s proven to do a good job! Here are the other key findings from our 2019 research:
Here is an overview of the 18 brands in this year’s bathroom cleaner review.
White King is an established household name for cleaning bathrooms, offering a large range of cleaners for the shower and toilet, as well as numerous ‘do-anything’ bleach products for all white porcelain. The range includes the hospital-grade disinfectant ‘Bathroom Power Gel Lemon’ that claims a thick cleaning formula to get rid of mould and soap scum. White King scored a decent bag of results this year, earning five stars for effectiveness, packaging design and overall customer satisfaction. It was four stars on value for money and ease of use, plus three stars on smell and environmental friendliness.
Coles Ultra has plenty to offer bathroom-cleaning enthusiasts, including a ‘Bathroom Foam Cleaner’ and ‘Bath & Shower Cleaner’ in a modest 100mL trigger spray. It has stepped up from three to four stars for overall customer satisfaction since last year. It also got four stars on effectiveness, ease of use, smell and packaging design, plus three stars on environmental friendliness. However, it earned a notable five stars on value for money.
Aussie-owned Orange Power relies on all-natural ingredients in its home cleaning products. It was born out of the realisation that orange peel has effective cleaning properties. The Shower, Bath & Tile Cleaner claims a powerful, fast-acting formula that can dissolve soap scum, water and rust stains in just minutes, without harsh fumes. It comes in a 750mL recyclable bottle with trigger action and is said to be suitable for shower screens and bases, baths, spas, basins, tiles, toilets bowls, taps and chrome faucets. It seems a popular choice with Aussie consumers, who have rated it four stars for overall customer satisfaction as well as effectiveness, value for money, environmental friendliness and packaging, along with a five-star result for both ease of use and smell.
Pine O Cleen has a large range of household cleaning products for the toilet, floors, shower and all kinds of surfaces. Its products are available in a variety of scents, and most come in seemingly easy-to-use spray bottles, including the ‘Apple Crisp’ disinfectant trigger spray. Pine O Cleen was rated four stars overall and four stars in all other rated categories, making it a solid performer in this year’s bathroom cleaner review.
A well-known brand within the cleaning aisle, Dettol was rated four stars for overall satisfaction, along with most other categories in this year’s ratings, but dropped to three stars on value for money. The big global brand has a range of products for all surfaces in the bathroom, and not only gets rid of grime but also disinfects, according to the company. Dettol’s ‘Rapid Foam’ bathroom cleaner seems to be its main product for bathrooms, with a number of spray bottle products also available.
Offering a number of sprays and wipes to take care of spills and stains in the bathroom, Jif has been a regular within the cleaning aisle. Additionally offering a number of cleaning products to help you take care of other rooms in the house, Jif’s bathroom range has plenty to arm you with to tackle those tough stains and grime. Jif was rated four stars overall, plus four stars in other categories such as effectiveness, value for money and smell. It got three stars on ease of use, environmental friendliness and packaging design.
Eco-conscious Earth Choice was perhaps unsurprisingly the only brand to get five stars on environmental friendliness this year. Earth Choice is free from harsh chemicals like ammonia, and is also septic and grey water safe. That doesn’t mean it’s a slouch in the cleaning department though, scoring four stars across all other research categories. It has two products that can be used for bathroom cleaning – a spray for glass surfaces and windows, as well as a standard bathroom and shower cleaner that is claimed to be specially formulated to remove soap scum and build up.
From the Colgate-Palmolive group, Ajax’s ‘Professional Bathroom Cleaner’ comes in a seemingly easy to use trigger bottle, and is said to be useful for grime, soap scum and rust stains. This makes it perfect for easy, general bathroom cleaning and for older sinks and taps that perhaps suffer from rust. The brand’s cleaning range also includes a bathroom cleaner that’s designed specifically for mould. Scoring four stars in most categories, including effectiveness, ease of use, smell, packaging design, and overall satisfaction, Ajax received three stars for value for money and environmental friendliness.
Discount supermarket chain ALDI offers a range of cleaning products, with a fairly strong presence in the bathroom cleaner segment. Its ‘Bath & Shower Cleaner’ is claimed to cut through grease and grime, and kill 99.9% of germs. Aussie consumers are generally big fans of ALDI and seem reasonably impressed with its bathroom cleaner, rating it four stars overall and the same result across most other research categories. It was also, notably, one of only two brands to earn top marks on value for money.
Domestos seems to be a cleaning brand with a conscience, as it has partnerships with Unicef and other organisations to promote sanitation and hygiene in developing countries around the globe. Its bathroom cleaning products performed solidly in our latest review, with four stars for overall customer satisfaction and four stars for its effectiveness, ease of use, plus packaging design. However, it was rated three stars in other areas, including smell, environmental friendliness and value for money.
Shower Power from OzKleen is claimed by the Gold Coast-based company to “actually work”. It may not have achieved top marks for effective bathroom cleaning, but Shower Power was a solid performer and achieved creditable four stars across a number of research categories. Its spray bottle is available with a range of fragrances and is apparently best designed for removing soap scum and grime around taps and sinks. It was rated three stars for value for money, smell and environmental friendliness.
More famous for being a go-to for window cleaning, Windex also offers a range of bathroom cleaners. Its range includes disinfectant sprays, including its ‘Shower Cleaner Trigger Pack’ that is claimed to prevent soap scum and doesn’t even require any scrubbing. In our latest bathroom cleaner ratings, Windex scored just three stars for overall customer satisfaction, value for money, ease of use and environmental friendliness, while scoring four stars for effectiveness, smell and packaging design.
Harpic has a large range of products for every bathroom application imaginable. From easy-clean toilet wipes to powerful disinfectants and cistern and pipe cleaners, Harpic has you covered. It specialises in bleach gels, but Aussie consumers believe there is still room for improvement, rating Harpic just three stars for overall satisfaction this year. Its only four-star reviews came with regards to effectiveness and smell – which is nothing to sniff at!
Easy Off Bam was another brand to record a fairly mixed bag of results, earning three stars for overall satisfaction, value for money and smell, but only two stars for environmental friendliness. However, it did achieve four stars when it comes to cleaning effectiveness, ease of use and design. The brand offers a number of products, including its easy-use ‘Power Grime and Soap Scum’ spray bottle cleaner and the ‘Foam Soap Scum & Shower’ cleaner. The brand also boasts its ‘Power with Bleach’ cleaner for bath tubs and sinks that claims “unbeatable power that works in seconds”.
Supermarket giant Coles provides a fairly basic range of bathroom-cleaning products, as well as cistern cleaners. Its prices are typically dirt-cheap, but evidently that wasn’t quite enough for Aussie consumers who rated the cheapest of Coles’ private label cleaning brands at just three stars for overall satisfaction. While it was rated four stars for both value for money and smell, Coles was rated three stars in all other research areas.
Scoring a similar result to last year’s ratings, Mr Muscle doesn’t seem to ‘muscle’ its way into our shopping trolleys, scoring three stars for overall satisfaction and the majority of other categories. However, a four-star rating for effectiveness proves that the brand may still be worth investigating, particularly if you’re looking for a big-name brand. The brand may be best-known for its oven cleaner, but it still claims to pack a punch in the bathroom, offering glass and multi-surface cleaners, sink and drain de-cloggers, as well as a mould and mildew specific spray bottle to help with those tricky areas.
Woolworths has a variety of cleaners suited for the bath, shower and toilet, although it may not be as extensive as other brands. The fresh food people have performed well with regards to value for money this year, as well as smell and environmental friendliness – securing four stars in these categories – but was rated only three stars for overall satisfaction, effectiveness, ease of use and packaging design.
If mould is a major problem in your bathroom, Exit Mould may be the brand for you, offering anti-fungal products, including an easy-use spray trigger bottle designed to reach nooks and crannies. It’s claimed to “attack mould at the source”, however, this specialisation was evidently not enough to convince Aussie shoppers in our latest review as they rated the brand three stars for overall satisfaction, as well as value for money, smell and packaging design. While it scored four stars for effectiveness and ease of use, Exit Mould was rated two stars for environmental friendliness.
Online Grocery Shopping Reviews
Picture credits: FotoDuets/shutterstock.com
Canstar Blue surveyed 3,000 Australian adults across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics. The outcomes reported are the results from customers within the survey group who have purchased a bathroom cleaning product in the last 6 months and have used it to clean their bathroom – in this case, 1,650 people.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then by mean overall satisfaction. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criteria.
Appliances - March 14th
Cordless handstick vacuums are the future of vacuuming and make the dreaded household chore an easier task, with LG one of the brands leading the revolution. Along with Dyson, LG is putting an end to corded vacuum cleaners …
– Read more
Appliances - March 9th
Most people will agree that transporting your appliances from one house to another is the most stressful part of moving. They are typically the largest, most bulky, and awkward items in your home. Plus, they …
– Read more
Appliances - March 9th
Just like corded phones, corded vacuums are now a thing of the past. Dyson is a pioneer in vacuum cleaners – first creating the bagless vacuum and now putting an end to corded vacuums forever. …
– Read more
Bathroom Cleaners - March 5th
Aussie Farmers Direct has lost its battle with Coles and Woolworths, announcing it has gone into voluntary administration and will close immediately.
– Read more
Appliances - November 28th
The cheapest vacuum cleaner can be found for under $30, but will they really do the job? Compare cheap vacuum cleaners at Canstar Blue.
– Read more