Top bargain cleaners

After working on ShopSmart's April cleaning story, I'm ready to break out of my go-to products rut. Don't know about you, but I've been buying the same stuff year in and year out and it's not cheap.

Yeah, it works OK, but as our article, "Money-Saving Cleaners," points out, so do a lot of top-performing cheaper options. Our labs put hundreds of household cleaners through very tough tests that simulate the kinds of dirty jobs you tackle at home—from swabbing icky countertops and floors to getting stains out of laundry, and came up with 12 products that work as well or even better than the expensive stuff.

For the full list, pick up our April issue, but I'm going to give you a sneak peek at a few that I've put on my shopping list.

Pine-sol Original: $2.48
Why cheap out? This oldie-but-goodie all-purpose household cleaner beat out 18 pricier cleaners and left no streaks.

CVS On The Go stain stick: $1.99
Why cheap out? This dirt cheap store-brand stick performed as well as Tide to Go in our tests. Like Tide, the only stain it couldn't lick was lipstick.

Comet With Bleach: $1.25
Why cheap out? OK, I confess: I've always been a Comet fan, but now I've  stopped buying a separate toilet bowl cleaner and I just use this. It did great when pitted against specialized toilet bowl cleaners in our tests. Of course, it keeps porcelain sinks and tubs sparkling, too.

Ajax Lemon Dishwashing Liquid: $2.10
Why cheap out? You can't beat 2.9 cents per wash! It makes a great general household cleaner too. Mix 1 teaspoon with a cup of warm water, and you can clean all sorts of stuff—for pennies!

A couple of other products I've scratched off my shopping list:

• Instead of a pricey designated mildew buster, try cheap-o chlorine bleach.
• Instead of brass and copper cleaner, try lemon juice; sprinkle a little salt on half a lemon and shine away. Bottled lemon juice can work, too.
• If you've got a favorite DIY household cleaner or cleaning tip, please share it with us!

—Susan Perry, Deputy Editor, ShopSmart