Canstar Blue’s bathroom cleaners review has seen brands including Pine O Clean, Domestos, Jif, Dettol, ALDI Power Force, Windex, Easy-Off BAM and Coles Ultra compared on effectiveness, smell, ease of use, packaging design, environmental friendliness, value for money and overall satisfaction.
Pine O Cleen scrubbed up best in Canstar Blue’s latest bathroom cleaner review, scoring five stars for effectiveness, ease of use, packaging design, smell and value for money.
With plenty of surfaces to wipe down, as well as scrubbing the sink, shower and tub on the to-do list, cleaning the bathroom is easily one of the toughest chores. But for many of us, there’s also nothing better than getting some peace and quiet in the loo. Plus, according to the internet, the bathroom sets the scene for some hilarious work video conference blunders.
To see which brand scrubs up best, we surveyed more than 1,500 consumers across Australia for their feedback on the bathroom cleaners they purchased and used in the last 12 months. Respondents rated brands on effectiveness, environmental friendliness, ease of use, smell, packaging design, value for money and overall satisfaction. Brands that received the minimum required survey sample of 30 responses are featured in our results.
This is one of our most competitive ratings categories, with a whopping 14 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.
Pine O Cleen wiped the competition after it rated best in the majority of the categories ─ including overall satisfaction.
Here are the best bathroom cleaners in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s 2021 review:
Pine O Cleen polished off its win with the only five-star review for overall satisfaction, while most other brands landed on four stars. Strike, Easy-Off BAM and Coles Ultra rounded up the results on three stars for overall satisfaction.
ALDI Power Force mopped up its rivals in terms of value for money, scoring full marks, and got an additional set of five stars for packaging design. Jif saw the same result for effectiveness, as did Earth Choice in the environmental friendliness category.
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:
Our latest research shows half of Aussies (51%) have tried multiple bathroom cleaners, while 38% prefer to stick to the same brand. Although there’s still plenty of shoppers who don’t consider themselves that fussy, as a quarter (27%) pick whichever bathroom cleaner is cheapest or on sale. A similar portion of consumers alternatively use the same products to clean different parts of their home.
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.
Domestos seems to be a cleaning brand with corporate social responsibility, as it has partnerships with UNICEF and other organisations to promote sanitation and hygiene in developing countries around the globe.
Offering several sprays and wipes to take care of spills and stains in the bathroom, Jif has been a regular in the cleaning aisle for years. The brand also helps you take care of other rooms in the house, producing a variety of cream cleansers, sprays and cleaning cloths to suit kitchen surfaces.
A well-known brand within the cleaning aisle, Dettol 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 ‘Healthy Clean’ anti-bacterial bathroom spray is one option to choose from, claimed to cut through grease and grime as well as leave a fresh fragrance. The product is also said to be suitable for cleaning kitchen surfaces and sinks.
From the Colgate-Palmolive group, Ajax’s stocks a variety of household cleaners to choose from. This includes sprays such as the ‘Bathroom Power Cleaner’ and the ‘Spray n’ Wipe Divine Blends range. The brand additionally offers multipurpose wipes, plus bottled options designed to be used on mirrors, dishes, floors and everything in between.
Shower Power is claimed to ‘instantly’ dissolve soap scum, calcium build-up and other stains in bathrooms. Shower Power products are also supposedly environmentally friendly, free from harmful chemicals, so can supposedly be used on most surfaces.
Eco-conscious Earth Choice is said to be free from harsh chemicals like ammonia and is also septic and grey water safe. 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.
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 has a thick cleaning formula to get rid of mould and soap scum.
Discount supermarket chain ALDI offers a range of cleaning products, with its Power Force and Power Force Pro ranges offering several budget-friendly cleaning products to pick from. One option currently available is the ‘Bath & Shower Cleaner’, which is claimed to cut through grease, grime and soap scum, and kill up to 99.9% of germs.
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.
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’. This is claimed to prevent soap scum and supposedly doesn’t require any scrubbing, wiping or rinsing.
Strike hits the nail on the head with its wide range of household cleaners. Exclusive to Woolworths, the brand includes a large and affordable selection of disinfectants in liquid, spray and wipe varieties. Strike also offers tools such as scrubbing brushes, mops, mop refills and drain cleaning crystals.
Easy-Off BAM offers different types of cleaning products, including its easy-use ‘Power Grime and Soap Scum’ spray bottle cleaner and the ‘Foam Soap Scum & Shower’ cleaner. For large surfaces, the Easy-Off BAM ‘Active Foam Soap Scum & Shine’ bathroom cleaner is said to help make cleaning simple. It’s designed for different types of surfaces, such as shower doors, tiles, ceramic surfaces, chrome fixtures and stainless steel surfaces.
Coles Ultra has something to offer in the bathroom cleaning department, including a ‘Bathroom Foam Cleaner’ and ‘Bath & Shower Cleaner’. The supermarket chain also stocks up on multi-purpose sprays, bathroom wipes and disinfectant bleach. Depending on what you get, Coles Ultra’s cleaning products come in sizes including 500ml, 750ml and 1.25L.
The bathroom cleaner brands aren’t the only options that shine. Here are several more popular labels to choose from.
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 is claimed to have 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.
The brand may be best-known for its oven cleaner, but Mr Muscle 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. Its Bathroom Cleaner is claimed to remove 99.9% of germs and doesn’t leave any harsh smells.
This report was written by Canstar Blue’s home & lifestyle journalist, Tahnee-Jae Lopez-Vito. She’s an expert on household appliances, grooming products and all things grocery and shopping. In addition to translating our expert research into consumer-friendly ratings reports, Tahnee spends her time helping consumers make better-informed purchase decisions on all manner of consumer goods and services, while highlighting the best deals and anything you need to be aware of.
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Picture credits: FotoDuets /shutterstock.com, Maryna Pleshkun / Shutterstock.com
Canstar Blue surveyed more than 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 12 months and have used it to clean their bathroom – in this case, 1,555 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.
Here are the previous winners of Canstar Blue’s bathroom cleaner review:
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