Best Deals Under $25

This toy may not be your favorite, but your cat might just fall in love with it. CR writer Jodhaira Rodriguez refers to it as the “most annoying tweeting bird to ever exist,” but take one look at her cat, Frank, playing animatedly with it, and it’s hard to say whether you’ll be able to resist getting one for your own.

A CR writer, Jodhaira Rodriguez, sprang for a lick mat as a means of feeding her cat, Frank, his wet food, while making sure he doesn’t munch his meals away too quickly. For his dry food, she opted for this puzzle, which he loves. “It really slows him down and keeps him busy for a while,” she says.

This was one of the dustiest litters we tested. However, it was a champ at masking smells. It also clumped easily and could be transferred from the litter box to the trash without falling all over the floor. Its Febreze scent wasn’t overpowering, either.

These stainless steel shears are durable and feature micro-serrations on the blade, with a comfortable grip. They come with a safety blade guard and are available in several colors. This deal beats the usual best price by about $2.

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 lever-style ice cream scoop is relatively lightweight and has a dishwasher-safe stainless steel round scooper and a plastic handle with grips. It’s incredibly comfortable to hold, and its spring-loaded lever pushed inward with ease, released without getting jammed in our tests.

The Zulay Kitchen Rotary Cheese Grater, now $5 less than it was last month, is a versatile and user-friendly tool with five interchangeable blades that are perfect for grating cheese, though the brand says it can also be used on nuts and some veggies. Left-handed users can even easily turn the gadget for seamless operation. 

This was the only grater with extra surfaces and a handy container to store them. It is a bulky device overall—it stands at 11.25 inches tall, so it won’t fit into most drawers—and is meant to fit in a cabinet or sit on the counter. 

Most colors are on sale for around $30, and these, though not listed as on sale, are significantly less.

The Zulay Kitchen Premium Apple Corer is a breeze to use. You press the corer down on the center of the apple, and the serrated blades allow you to core the fruit in seconds. The handle is designed to give you an easy grip, making the process quick and effective. For less than $10, this is a handy gadget to have in your kitchen.

Justin Huynh, a CR product manager, completely reseals his chips rather than clips them closed. “I personally like using these melting sealers because I often don’t come back to snacks for a long time after opening them, so I feel that this gives them a better shelf life,” he says. “I’ve used multiple sealers before, and they’ve never performed consistently, but this one is the closest. I can get a good seal within 2 tries on this one, and it includes a blade on the inside that can cut the excess bag before sealing. This is also by far the smallest one I’ve gotten, which makes it easy to throw into the pantry for easy access.”

The ThermoPro TP19H instant-read meat thermometer offers handheld temperature readings with a single stowable probe. There’s a built-in LED and rotation lock for the display, and a magnetic backing allows you to store it on your refrigerator between meals. Perfect for checking meats, this simple thermometer delivers reliably accurate readings within seconds.

We found the Onlyone Water Flosser quite easy to use and charge. Despite its smaller countertop footprint, it holds quite a lot of water, which means longer flossing sessions without needing a refill. The removable tank has a large opening, which facilitates easy filling. It’s a few dollars cheaper than its previous sale price.

This CR Recommended sunscreen is above average for UVA protection and SPF, and it’s water-resistant for up to 80 minutes. Just note that with spray sunscreens, it can be harder to know if you’re getting even coverage, so CR suggests spraying the sunscreen into your hands and then applying it to your body to help ensure better coverage.

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.

The Whatafit Resistance Bands did extremely well in our tests, with consistent performance across a wide range of exercises. They also do a solid job of maintaining uniformity. The set has five training bands (10-, 20-, 30-, 40-, and 50-pound bands) for up to 150 pounds of total resistance when stacked. The Whatafit resistance bands are made from latex with steel carabiner clips, and the set includes two cushioned handles, two ankle straps, one door anchor, a carrying bag, and an exercise guidance booklet.

If you’re looking for soft curls, this lightweight foam could be worth a look. This mousse tells you how many pumps of product you should apply to each section of hair because it provides a guide for varying hair lengths. Because the foam is so lightweight and watery, it spread through our testers’ hair evenly and didn’t leave any clumps of sticky, stiff hair strands. We found it worked best for our testers who had finer hair, so if you’ve got thicker hair, it’s probably a skip.

This lightly scented micellar water from a popular French brand landed in the middle of every evaluator’s ranking. “It gets the job done,” said one evaluator. Another said it required a few swipes with a cotton pad to remove tubing mascara, “but nothing too strenuous.”

Although the company claims that its product is designed for sensitive skin, the inclusion of fragrance means it might not be right for everyone.

I’ve been using Garnier’s micellar water for years and love that it’s gentle on my more sensitive skin. One tester liked this budget-friendly micellar water, which was gentle and removed all highlighter in her test. Other evaluators were lukewarm about it. Lisa noted that it remained wetter on her face after use rather than soaking in or evaporating immediately, which she found unpleasant. Jennifer mentioned something similar, but said the feeling quickly faded. And Mary Beth had “no major qualms besides having to use a little bit more to get the tubing mascara off my face.” 

This has a SkinSafe 100 score. But according to SkinSafe, it contains coconut in the form of disodium cocoamphodiacetate, a surfactant made from coconut oil fatty acids.

The Guohaoi Cooling Blanket was the second most cooling blanket we tested. When wearing it for an hour, the evaluator reported it felt very cool and didn’t retain heat. The front of this blanket is constructed with nylon and polyester and feels like smooth, cool, swimsuit material. The back is made from Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified cotton. The stitching isn’t the neatest and feels a little inexpensive, and the two layers aren’t attached, but you can often expect some shortcomings for lower-priced items, and the important thing is that this blanket has a cooling effect as advertised.

Glamburg bath towels are very soft, and a set of four at just over $25 is a great deal. They are on the smaller side, measuring 27 inches wide by 54 inches long, and after 10 washes, they showed some signs of shrinkage along the borders. However, they received high marks in our tests for softness and drying time, making them one of the most highly rated options we tested.

If you’re a fan of features, this lamp is for you. It’s got four different brightness settings and different color choices, and you can set three timer shut-offs for 2, 4, and 8 hours. The lamp height is adjustable, but our tester found the base to be a bit unwieldy, so it may not fit every candle. Its metal material also made spilled wax a little annoying to clean.

The Lerekam Solar Spot Lights are among the priciest outdoor ones, but you get unrivaled performance. In our tests, they earned top marks for light duration and ease of use. They can be angled, installed with ground spikes (included), or screwed to other surfaces. They have an on/off button and can be recharged with a USB cable (also included). Each of the lights in the six-pack has 40 LEDs, resulting in intense white light that shines wide over an area, not unlike a flashlight. That makes them ideal as spotlights. They’d be great for drawing attention to a water feature or an ornamental tree, but they can also be pointed down to illuminate a path or walkway.

NYC Plant Doctor Christopher Satch, who’s a professor of plant biology and pathology at The New York Botanical Garden, always starts with insecticidal soap when faced with unwelcome visitors in his garden. “It’s superior to neem [oil] in that it not only has a greater efficacy at killing insects due to its mode of action but also doesn’t hurt the plant like neem oil can,” Satch says. “Neem oil suffocates the plant over time by the oil clogging the plant pores.”

Satch recommends this insecticidal soap from Bonide, which can be used on shrubs, trees, flowers, ornamental greens, and garden vegetables.

Protecting yourself from the elements is just as important as anything else when it comes to caring for your lawn or garden. “For people who live in areas where black-legged ticks [the ones that cause Lyme disease] are common, it’s super-important to use insect repellent whenever you’re doing yardwork,” says Catherine Roberts, a CR senior health editor who has reported extensively on identifying common tick species and protecting ourselves against them. 

This 30 percent deet insect repellent from Off is one of the top-performing aerosol spray options from CR’s tests. It offers excellent protection against mosquitoes and ticks. It does tend to damage fabrics and other materials, however, so apply with care.

Although hard to close, these are very sturdy bags, and make a great option for parents with toddlers who have a penchant for throwing their snacks.

This classic, bright, concentrated cleaner can be used on most home surfaces. In our tests, it was especially good at lifting dirt from floors. It’s strongly scented, but if you’re looking for a bargain, it’s a solid buy, especially at 17 percent off.

The long-lasting suds produced by this dish soap left all our dishes clean with little effort. It’s mildly scented, easy to dispense, and doesn’t leave dishes smelling like the dish soap post-wash. The formula left our hands feeling a little bit dry.