Best & worst

Carpet stain removers

None of the products we tested were great, but Bissell's OxyPro Carpet Spot & Stain Remover, $4.85, was best at lifting French dressing and spaghetti sauce. Dyson's Dyzolv Spot Cleaner, $13, left much of those stains behind and was even worse on coffee and red wine. Improve your odds by attacking stains as soon as possible and using a wet/dry vacuum to suck up the spill and the remover.

Carpet-cleaning machines

The Hoover Dual V Steam Vac All Terrain With Spin Scrub F7452-900, $270, left, cleaned almost as well as a professional service we hired. The Hoover left very little solution behind, so the carpet dried faster. Bissell's QuickSteamer 1770, $80, left most of the dirt where we put it, in the carpet.

Dishwasher detergents

At just 12 cents per load, Cascade Complete with Bleach Hydroclean Action Powder excelled at cleaning dishes, thanks in part to phosphates, which can harm the environment. The best phosphate-free product we tested was Method Smarty Dish tablets, 25 cents per load, which was fine for cleaning dishes but not so good at pots. Avoid phosphate-free Wave 2X Ultra High Performance, which left our loads pretty dirty and costs 22 cents a load.

Laundry detergents

For washing away tough stains, the top scorer is Tide 2X Ultra with Color Clean Bleach Alternative, 32 cents per average load; Tide 2X Ultra for Cold Water did almost as well and costs only 19 cents a load. Pass on bottom-rated Xtra 2X Concentrated Lasting ScentSations Spring Sun Shine. If you have a front loader, use a high-efficiency detergent such as top- rated Tide 2X Ultra with Color Clean Bleach Alternative HE, at 25 cents per load. Skip Purex Ultra Concentrate HE After the Rain.

Paper towels

Walgreens Ultra Quilted was absorbent and survived more than 100 scrubs over our test tiles. It costs just $2.50 per 100 square feet. Earth Friendly Products lasted only 15 scrubs, held little water, and cost almost twice as much.

Wet/Dry vacuums

Here's what $100 gets you: the midsized Ridgid WD1450, left, which excelled at sucking up nails, bolts, and tile shards, or the bottom-rated, midsized Shop-Vac Quiet Plus 585-12-00. It had an overall score of only 55 (compared with the Ridgid's 83), mostly because of its so-so performance at wet and dry pick-up. The Ridgid is sold at Home Depot.

For more Best & Worst products see our Kitchens and baths & Home and garden reports.