Best Deals Under $25

Uniquely basil-scented, Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Dish Soap was a welcome departure from the usual dish soap scents. It produced rich suds and saturated our sponge with soap for longer than many of the others we tested. The bottle was light and easy to dispense soap from. You can reuse the 16-ounce bottle and refill it from the 48-ounce bottle when it’s time to restock your kitchen sink. According to the brand, it’s made from “plant-derived” ingredients.

These luxurious (yes! luxurious!) compostable quart bags aced our leak test. They’re easy to open and close, and they’re printed with a calendar for easy labeling. 

Persil Ultra Pacs Advanced Clean Oxi+Odor Power’s cleaning performance was not as stellar as other single-dose laundry detergent pacs we’ve tested in our lab, but our testers did see very good results in its removal of chocolate, body oil, and dirt. Even in very hard water, they maintained their cleaning performance. If you’ve got sports players at home, this may not be the right choice for you, though, since they struggled to remove grass stains from our test fabrics.

If you want a microwave popcorn maker, this BPA-free model was our favorite from our evaluations. It’s glass- and dishwasher-safe. But note that it works only with microwaves with a turntable.

This is a basic, no-frills portable coffee press. It didn’t wow our testers, but it did the job without letting coffee grounds seep through the filter. Plus, the plastic is insulated, helping keep the coffee warm for longer. It has no discernible flaws, so if you’re looking for a low-cost, small coffee press, this could be the answer.

This bottle brush is great for cleaning wide-neck bottles. Its round head is made up of rectangular sponge pieces, and the head is replaceable, so you won’t have to toss the whole brush when the sponges reach the end of their useful life.

This budget-friendly butter crock has a retro look, akin to something you’d find in an antique shop. It’s dishwasher-safe and comes in a plethora of colors, including robin’s egg blue, classic red, sapphire blue, and white.

This handy nonslip silicone mat comes with measured markings that can take the guesswork out of baking. The food stylist and cookbook author Jesse Szewczyk loves to use this silicone mat for rolling out dough to specific shapes and doing so much more. “Need a 10-inch circle for a pie? Or an 11-inch square for shortbread?” he says. “Just check the mat! Not only does it help make measuring easy, but it’s nonstick and makes cleanup a breeze.” The best part? You can roll it up and take it to the sink—no need to clean the countertop—and just as easily stash it in a drawer when you’re done.

Our grill expert recommends these sheet pans as the perfect accessory for transporting food to and from the grill and the kitchen. He uses one for raw food and the other to bring everything back once it’s cooked. And while hand-washing is recommended to avoid discoloration, he cleans them in the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle after he’s used them to hold raw meat. He even says the resulting discoloration has not affected their performance, and he’s owned them for over a decade.

The Anker Nano is particularly pint-sized, at just 3.6 ounces. It receives solid marks for charging speed, both when it’s charging a device and when it’s being recharged at the wall. And it has two USB-C ports, including a foldable male USB-C port you can plug directly into your phone—no connecting cable needed. The Anker Nano only has enough capacity to fully charge an average smartphone from zero battery about once, or to top it off a few times—so this wouldn’t be the charger to take on a days-long trip. But it does have handy LED lights that show you its battery status, so you know when it’s time to plug it back into an outlet.

This budget stylus is compatible with nearly every iPad made after 2018, and it is the most impressive non-Apple stylus we evaluated. Our tester, a professional illustrator, said it felt like drawing with a real pen on paper, and drawing felt like "a dream." It offers palm rejection and tilt support. It’s easy to turn on—just double-tap the top—and it doesn’t require pairing with your iPad. Plus, it attaches to the iPad magnetically, reducing the chances you’ll lose it.

Want to spend even less on a new stylus? This model from Digiroot might be a good option. It’s worth noting that our testers suggest this one is better for simple tasks like note-taking and doodling but not so much for detailed drawing because it lacks pressure sensitivity.

Much like trackers made by Samsung and Tile, Apple AirTags work best if it’s within Bluetooth range (roughly 30 feet) of your own phone. But, that said, there are millions of iPhones and other Apple devices roaming around out there that can pick up a signal and discreetly convey it to you when you find yourself searching, say, a park or a school campus for the keys you dropped. Is the tracking pinpoint accurate? No. But it’s close enough to give you a huge head start in your search.

Blackout curtains can be a total game-changer. The Amazon Basics Room Darkening Blackout Curtains are among the best we evaluated for a number of reasons. Tested in both black and white, they scored a perfect 5 out of 5 for their ability to block light. As for how well the curtains provide insulation against heat loss and gain, we scored it 4 out of 5. Made from polyester/polyurethane, each panel uses loops to attach to a rod. They’re also washable—making them both functional and convenient.

The Elegear Revolutionary Cooling Blanket was CR’s top pick because it kept us the coolest in our tests and was comfortable, soft, and well-made. It features smooth Arc-Chill 3.0 Cool Fabric on one side and Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified cotton on the other side.

If you’re looking to store your winter clothes, vacuum storage bags can be a great way to get them out of the way without taking up a ton of space. And this set of three from MagicBag could be a good option, especially for under $10. While these bags did require a big, more physical effort to seal, our evaluator noted that they didn’t have caps on the valves, which made it easier to use them overall. And with the zipper, one side is blue and the other is yellow—it turns green when it’s closed properly.

Lauren Kiesel, a senior user experience researcher at CR, tried this Tangle Teaser pet brush on her cockapoo (a cocker spaniel and poodle mix) puppy. She found the brush to be gentle, and the shape gave her different grip options as she maneuvered around her pet. It handled basic brushing with ease, but she had to use a sturdier wire brush to tackle more intense matting.

Looking for an interactive toy to entertain and distract your cat that doesn’t require your full attention? This could be just the thing you’ve been searching for. Here’s how it works: Insert the small rolling, tweeting, light-up ball into the mat, then sit back and watch as your cat attempts to hunt down the ball.

This is a great, budget-friendly option if you’re not sure your pets will adapt from a bowl to a fountain. You can try it out without investing too much (and you can always invest more in an upgrade later on if you want). The Veken water fountain, consisting of five parts, was intuitive for our tester to assemble, and the carbon and foam filter replacements are low-cost as well, at $10 for a four-pack or $24 for 16. It was the noisiest option, but that didn’t deter the tester’s pets. And the flower can be removed for a low-profile bubbler effect rather than a raised fountain.

“I have two of these, and they’re great because they encourage the cats to drink more water,” says Amanda Arnold, senior manager of business analytics at CR. “Cats notoriously don’t usually drink enough water, so having these helps keep their water cleaner and the kitties healthier!” The fountain comes with a filter inside and is dishwasher-safe.

The Chuckit Classic is ideal for dog owners who are searching for a low-tech ball launcher. It requires no setup and still allows you to get involved in a game of fetch, but takes your natural throwing arm to the next level. The plastic handheld launcher comes with one fuzzy 2.5-inch tennis ball that is stored in its “claw,” which keeps a solid grip on it so that it doesn’t fall out. When you’re ready to play with your pup, you treat the launcher like it’s an extension of your own arm—pulling it back and then launching it forward to release the ball from the claw. 

One of the nicest things about this launcher is that you can retrieve balls (including saliva-coated slobbery ones) with the claw itself so that you never have to touch the ball with your hands.

The Mzoo typically costs $23, and its sale price tends to hover around $20, making this an exceptionally good time to buy. It’s also well-designed and effective at blocking light for most face shapes and head sizes. CR’s team of evaluators had a wide range of preferences and needs, and yet most agreed that the Mzoo mask was a great option.

The Tangle Teezer brush has what its manufacturer calls patented 2-tiered technology. The 325 bristles are supposed to remove tangles and knots with the taller flexible teeth while smoothing hair for a glossy and frizz-free finish with the shorter teeth. The bristles, being so close together and not as firm, did not work well for thick, hard-to-detangle, or extremely curly hair. But the Tangle Teezer is a good brush for people with thin, fine, or straight hair.

The Conair Double Ceramic Flat Iron is a great lower-cost option if you’re in the market for a new one. It has five temperature settings, a rare find at this price, and it heats up in about 30 seconds, but the temperatures vary about 6 degrees from whatever you set it to. Our evaluator found it to be a bit clunky to use, but it’s small, light, and easy to maneuver thanks to pivoting plates and a swivel cord.

If you’re looking for a new hair towel that stays put, this might be the one you’ve been waiting for. Our testers found that the YoulerTex hair towels stayed snugly in place. They’re a bit thicker than other towels we evaluated, but this didn’t make them any more absorbent. The testers all said their hair was still damp after about half an hour of wear time, but it might be the perfect choice if you’re the kind of person who sleeps in their hair towel.

Ouidad gel was a favorite among our testers, and has been a go-to for one of our writers for years. She says it provides just the right amount of light hold without weighing down her curls. It also controls frizz and keeps her hair feeling silky. If you’re looking for a new product to take your locks, this sale price could be the perfect reason to give this brand a try.

This Biore UV Aqua Rich SPF 50 Daily Moisturizer facial sunscreen uses chemical active ingredients and delivers strong broad-spectrum protection, with excellent UVA coverage to help prevent premature aging and long-term skin damage, and very good UVB protection to effectively guard against sunburn. Its high-performing formula makes it well-suited for daily use as well as extended time outdoors, offering reliable defense in a lightweight, comfortable application. It’s a lotion with a citrus and lemongrass aroma, but it is not water-resistant.

Veken Packing Cubes provide great bang for your buck, though they are a few dollars more than we’ve seen recently. This set has the largest capacity among the cubes we tried, and you get eight different ones to stay organized: four small, medium, large, and extra large, a laundry bag, a shoe bag, a toiletries bag, and an accessories bag. The laundry bag, in particular, is on the larger side, which can be a real asset when you’re on a longer trip.

If your wallet can use a little tidying up, consider taking a slimmer approach. Think of the Vulkit VC-104 as a low-risk stepping stone toward minimalist wallets. Featuring an aluminum case with an elastic front pocket (that’s great for folded dollar bills or coins), the wallet is available in a wide range of colors, including two-tone.

Traveling and want to stay safe and secure in your hotel? Keep this handy flashlight in your luggage to detect urine or other substances in your hotel room or Airbnb.

The Alcedo digital thermometer earned top marks for accuracy and consistency, and despite its very reasonable price, it’s packed with features. This model can be used as an in-ear thermometer and, when an included cap is affixed over the probe, it can also be used as a forehead thermometer. It isn’t used with disposable plastic probe caps, so it needs to be thoroughly cleaned after every in-ear use. But our testers found that it was quite easy to clean. The memory recall on this thermometer stores up to 20 temperature readings. You can also use the forehead mode to measure the temperature of objects, such as bottles of formula.