The CHOICE food and household product experts really have been busy this year.
Scrubbing, tasting, washing, stacking, measuring and scoring: they put in the hard work so you know which products are worth spending your cash on in the supermarket.
Here's their pick of the best tasting, best performing and best value products that really stood out from the rest.
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A note about pricing: The prices listed here are what we paid at the time of testing. Grocery prices fluctuate frequently, so double-check prices before you buy to make sure you're getting the best deal.
Cleaning
Dishwashing detergent
Aldi's Logix capsules outperformed products costing nearly six times as much.
If you want sparkling clean dishes without breaking the budget, Aldi Logix Platinum Dishwasher Capsules are the way to go.
They tied for first place with two other detergents, but they're the cheapest per wash of all the products recommended by our experts.
They cost just 26 cents per wash but outperform big-name products costing almost six times as much – that's good news for your dishes and your budget!
Read our full dishwasher detergent review to see how the brands compared.
Washing up liquid
Aldi also takes out the top spot for dishwashing liquid.
For handwashing, Aldi's Tandil Ultra Power Soak and Tandil Ultra Quick Dry are the grime-busting go-tos.
They topped our test, coming ahead of the competition by a full five percentage points.
And once again, they're the cheapest of all the recommended detergents, and cost around a quarter of the price of other top scoring detergents from well-known brands such as Morning Fresh and Fairy.
Multipurpose cleaner
Earth Choice was one of two 'eco' products that topped our multipurpose cleaner tests.
- Earth Choice Antibacterial All Purpose
- Earth Choice Undo This Mess with Grease Blaster Multipurpose
- Nifti All Purpose Cleaner
In the multipurpose cleaners category, we're spoilt for choice: there's not just one but three top scoring products.
These handy jacks-of-all-trades all scored a shiny 95% overall.
You really only need one cleaning spray – they all do pretty much the same thing, except for bathroom cleaners – so make it count by choosing one of these three.
Showing once again that price is no indicator of performance, the Earth Choice Antibacterial All Purpose spray is the cheapest per 100mL of all the products recommended by our experts – good news for your cleaning chores, your budget, and the planet!
Window cleaner
Windex scored a perfect 100% on our streak test for glass cleaners.
Whether you opt for Windex Original or Windex Ammonia Free, you'll be picking a clear winner: they both ranked ahead of all other glass cleaners in our tests, with a perfect CHOICE Expert Rating of 100%.
In fact, all four of the Windex glass cleaners we tested scored 90% and above, earning them the seal of approval from our experts.
Bathroom cleaner
Ecostore's bathroom cleaner is one of several 'eco' products we recommend.
In the past, 'eco' products didn't always perform so well, but we're increasingly seeing cleaning products that carry eco claims among the top scorers in our tests.
In the bathroom, Ecostore Antibacterial Bathroom & Shower Cleaner Refill Concentrate came out on top of 44 other cleaners with a score of 90%.
But it wasn't the only enviro-friendly spray at the top: a number of other products that claim to be planet-friendly also impressed our experts and are recommended.
Here are the eco-friendly cleaning products that work, and the ones that don't.
Laundry
Stain remover
Sard won by a whisker, but it's six times the price of Aldi's spray.
With a squeaky-clean score of 76%, Sard Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains topped our test, delivering great performance on hard-to-remove stains like cooking oil, chocolate ice cream, grass, mud and sweat.
But it was neck and neck with a far cheaper product: Aldi Di-San Pro Ultra Degreaser with Enzymes, which scored just one percentage point lower but costs less than a sixth of the price.
The Aldi spray even outperformed the Sard on some stains, such as tomato, collar grime and baby food.
If you're looking for a stain remover that's tough on stains but gentle on your wallet, this is the top pick. But if you're not an Aldi shopper, the Sard spray is an excellent buy.
Sard also tops the powder stain remover category.
If you're after a powder product, Sard is the top pick again, with its Whiter & Brighter Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker ranking highest overall.
If you want to get your whites whiter but stay in the black, Aldi Di-San Pro Oxy Laundry Soaker & In Wash Booster is the cheapest stain remover powder that's recommended by our experts.
It's just 37 cents per 100g; the Sard product is significantly more expensive at $1.10 per 100g.
Washing powder
Omo topped our tests, winning the top three spots.
Omo Ultimate Powder certainly lived up to its name, proving to be the ultimate product in our laundry detergent testing.
With a CHOICE Expert Rating of 86%, it's recommended by our experts as the best laundry detergent for front loaders.
In fact, Omo dominated this whole product category, with the brand taking out the three top spots in our tests, and a huge 10 Omo products being recommended by our experts.
Once again, however, top performance will cost you top dollar: the leading Omo product will set you back $1.23 per wash, with Omo capsules costing $1.35 per wash.
If you want to keep your laundry clean but your pockets heavy, the next best bet is – you guessed it – an Aldi product.
Its Laundrite Laundry Powder scored 79% (when used in a front loader), not quite high enough for our experts to recommend, but still a great result. And it's only 11 cents per wash – more than 10 times cheaper.
To see how all the brands fared, check our detailed laundry detergent review.
Food and drinks
Tea bags
Aldi's organic tea bags will give you the best brew for your buck.
Yep, Aldi strikes again – this time with another household staple that many of us start the day with.
Aldi Just Organic Black Tea was the best of the brews by a long way, achieving a CHOICE Expert Rating of 81%. (The next highest score was 73%.)
Usually you'd pay a premium for organic products, but these come in at a very reasonable 6 cents per tea bag: not the cheapest of the lot, but still considerably cheaper than products from the likes of Twinings, PG Tips and Madura.
If you're trying to save, Coles is once again the place to go. Coles Tea Cup Bags are recommended by our experts but cost just 2 cents per bag – great news for tea lovers!
Chicken nuggets and chips
The nicest nuggs: Coles I'm Free From chicken nuggets.
It's not often that gluten-free products taste better than regular versions, but surprisingly, Coles I'm Free From Gluten & Wheat chicken nuggets were rated as the tastiest nuggs overall in a blind taste test.
They even beat regular products from big brands such as Ingham's and Steggles.
And if hot chips are an essential in your household, Birds Eye Golden Crunch Thin and Crispy Chips are the hot pick, scoring 88% overall.
Birds Eye: the hottest hot chips in our test.
If you're more of a crinkle-cut fan, Bird's Eye has you covered in that department too: Birds Eye Golden Crunch Crinkle Cut Chips won second place with an 85% CHOICE Expert Rating.
These two Birds Eye frozen chips are the only two that scored highly enough for taste and nutrition to be recommended by our experts.
Everyday products
Toilet paper
You can have Confidence in Aldi's 4-ply toilet paper.
Aldi scored a royal flush in our toilet paper reviews, taking out the top three spots in our test.
Confidence Hypoallergenic Quilted Softness 4 ply toilet paper lived up to its name with a 90% rating for softness and the highest CHOICE Expert Rating overall.
Its Confidence 3 Ply Extra Soft Toilet Tissue came in second place, with both the regular and double-length rolls scoring 76% overall. They're also the two cheapest products per 100 sheets that are recommended by our experts.
A number of other products received the same overall scores, but aren't recommended by our experts because of their low scores in our disintegration, separation and puncture tests.
Want to find the best for your bum? Check our toilet paper review.
Nappies
Rascal + Friends wins for both price and performance.
Rascal + Friends Premium Nappies Unisex Infant Size 2 tick the box for both price and performance: costing just 31 cents a nappy, they scored 95% overall and a perfect 100% for leakage and wet feeling.
Considering how many nappies you'll go through with an infant, that's peace of mind for both your budget and your baby's bottom.
Babies are expensive, so if you're trying to keep costs down, head to Coles: Coles CUB newborn nappies are just 18 cents per nappy with an overall score of 89%, and Coles CUB Crawler Size 3 cost 21 cents per nappy and scored 87%.
If your little one is on the move, Rascal + Friends Premium Nappies Unisex Crawler Size 3 are a good bet, scoring 92% overall and costing 34 cents per nappy. The Rascal + Friends range is sold at Coles, so clearly it's the place to go for quality and price.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
