The best detergents from Consumer Reports’ tests do a stellar job of removing common stains like body oil and dirt, but they can also tackle tougher ones, like grass and blood. The worst detergents? They’re barely better than water when it comes to removing most stains.
Shopping for detergents can be a confusing experience, though. Our best advice is to ignore the marketing hype and focus on performance. To test detergents’ performance, we launder swatches saturated with blood, body oil, chocolate, coffee, dirt, grass, and salad dressing and then use a colorimeter to see how much of the stain remains. Our ratings separate the most effective detergents from those with Marvel superpowerlike hype.
Below are our recommendations for the best liquid detergents and pods for a variety of laundry needs, from washing baby clothes to lifting tough stains. We’ve also included the three worst-performing detergents in our tests. For more details, including information on other types of detergents, check out our laundry detergent buying guide.
Best Laundry Detergents
These laundry detergents perform well in our tests, and rise to the top across various categories—from the best value, to the best for baby’s clothes, to the best for tough stains.
CR’s take: Though detergents from Persil and Tide score higher in our tests, Kirkland Signature Ultra Clean cleans up nicely for about half the price. It impresses with its ability to remove stains from body oil, one of the chemicals in sweat (think sweaty workout clothes). It also scores the highest possible marks against salad dressing. But Kirkland doesn’t pack the same punch when it comes to coffee, blood, and grass stains, so consider the types of stains you typically have to contend with. This is one of the handful of detergents in our tests that cleans well in hard water.
CR’s take: The American Academy of Pediatrics says that regular detergent is fine for washing baby clothes unless your baby’s skin becomes irritated. Some baby detergents contain allergens such as fragrance, however, so consider a detergent meant for sensitive skin. Most major manufacturers say their hypoallergenic formulas don’t contain dyes or perfumes, and carries that claim. It does a solid job of removing salad dressing, dirt, body oil, and chocolate, and is one of the least expensive of the hypoallergenic detergents we’ve tested—something to consider, given how much laundry you’ll be doing with a little one at home. (For an even better clean, consider the higher-rated Persil ProClean Sensitive Skin below, but you’ll pay a premium.)
CR’s take: Persil ProClean for Sensitive Skin cleans very well in our tests, but it’s also among the priciest. Of the detergents geared toward sensitive skin, it’s the best at tackling stains like body oil, chocolate, and salad dressing, acing our tests for all three. Persil’s sensitive-skin formula also does a good job with dirt but is only average at removing blood, coffee, and grass. Heads up: Detergents that are supposed to be free of dyes and perfumes may still have some scent from the chemicals used to make the formula.
CR’s take: Stains from dirt and body oil? No sweat. Chocolate stains? Piece of cake. Persil ProClean Stain Fighter aces our pretreat test, which means you can pretreat stains with a dab of this detergent, and the results will be better than most spray-on stain removers we’ve tested. Of the dozens of liquid detergents in our ratings, only two easily tackle stains from body oil, dirt, and chocolate, and capably remove tough stains such as blood and grass: Persil ProClean Stain Fighter and Tide Plus Ultra Stain Release.
CR’s take: If your home’s water quality is less than ideal, it’s a good idea to stock your laundry shelf with this concentrated liquid detergent. Tide Plus Ultra Stain Release is more than a superior stain remover—it also works solidly in hard water. In fact, in our ratings, six Tide detergents (liquids and pods/packs) offer near-top-level efficiency in hard water.
Hard water contains high levels of calcium and magnesium that can leave residue on your clothes and mineral deposits inside your washing machine. So you’ll want to go with a high-performing detergent that minimizes hard water minerals and efficiently dissolves residue. Because most homes have some degree of hard water, Tide is a brand worth trying if you’re having trouble getting your clothes clean.
CR’s take: Tide’s Hygienic Clean Heavy Duty 10X Power Pods laundry detergent lives up to its superhero moniker as the top-rated of all pods/packs we’ve tested. It aces cleaning tests for body oil, salad dressing, and dirt stains. It also does well against blood, grass, and chocolate, and scores near the top in hard water. That said, it’s really expensive. You’re paying for detergent performance and convenience (single-load toss-and-wash pods are easy to use).
Buyer beware: There’s another potential cost—safety. Concentrated liquid detergent packets should be avoided in homes where children under 6 years old or adults who are cognitively impaired may be present. Contact with or ingestion of the packet’s liquid contents may pose a risk of serious injury or death.
CR’s take: The Ultra Oxi Power Pods by Tide use a similar formula to the Hygienic Clean Heavy Duty variety listed above, and they have extra odor-eliminating detergent to combat laundry with strong inset smells. It’s not “heavy-duty,” however. You lose a bit of effectiveness in removing body oils in exchange for its ability to fight especially odorous clothing, but it’s still above average at dispelling those. Testers found it also still works wonders against dirt and salad dressing, and it’s effective against all other stains except coffee.
Worst Laundry Detergents
These laundry detergents are cheaper than many of those we recommend, but that doesn’t mean you should spring for one. They perform terribly in our tests, and they’re barely better than water for getting rid of stains.
CR’s take: Sun Triple Clean costs less than most detergents in our ratings, but it also performs the worst overall of the dozens of detergents in our tests. Henkel makes this budget brand, but it can’t match the cleaning power of Persil, Henkel’s premier brand. Sun Triple Clean ranks below average for removing dirt and performs even worse when it comes to tougher stains like chocolate and coffee.
CR’s take: are one of the least expensive packs in our ratings. But you’ll be flushing time and money down the drain. This detergent struggles to eliminate even basic stains like grass and dirt (gardeners, beware). It also bombs in our tests for chocolate and coffee-stain removal. Plus, the powder inside doesn’t work well in hard water and doesn’t allow you to pretreat stains before washing.
CR’s take:Era 3X Oxibooster, from Procter & Gamble, is near the bottom of our ratings, in part because it performs dismally at removing stains from dirt and chocolate. Grass and blood also prove tough to take on, but Era is better at removing body-oil stains (though no match for most of the other detergents in our tests). So go ahead and sweat, but don’t get dirty.
How Consumer Reports Tests Laundry Detergent
We use stains that are exceedingly hard to remove so that we can detect real performance differences among detergents. But even the best detergents can’t remove every stain completely.
We use cool water because today’s washers are designed to operate using cooler water than traditional top-loaders of the past—and hard water—which has a high mineral content that can reduce the effectiveness of some detergents.
We wash swatches in two identical washing machines with each detergent, then allow the swatches to air-dry. (We don’t use a dryer because the heat can alter the stains.)
Testers use a colorimeter, a device that measures color intensity, to see how much of the stain remains on each dry swatch, then compare it with stained swatches that have been laundered using only water.
Types of Laundry Detergent
Cleaning power also varies depending on the type of detergent. Our tests reveal there’s a chasm between the best liquids, pods/packs, and laundry detergent strips, the latter of which tested so poorly in our labs that we don’t recommend them.
Strips are better for the environment by reducing plastic but seem to lack the ingredients or concentration levels to do the job. As for powders, you’re likely to find that your choices have narrowed in recent years. “Most detergents sold today are liquid, and their popularity—plus the increase in sales of pods—means that few powders remain on store shelves,” says Kelly Moomey, a CR market analyst.
Keith Flamer
Keith Flamer has been a multimedia content creator at Consumer Reports since 2021, covering laundry, cleaning, small appliances, and home trends. Fascinated by interior design, architecture, technology, and all things mechanical, he translates CR’s testing engineers’ work into content that helps readers live better, smarter lives. Prior to CR, Keith covered luxury accessories and real estate, most recently at Forbes, with a focus on residential homes, interior design, home security, and pop culture trends.
