In the appliance labs at Consumer Reports, our experts put the latest features to the test. The really innovative ones start on higher end models and move to mid-priced—but that can take years—and those features rarely wind up on the cheapest models. So when it comes to cooking and doing laundry at home, our experts know which features they want. Here are five of their favorites.

Gliding oven racks. “You can easily lift hot food up and out,” says Tara Casaregola, an engineer who tests our cooking appliances. She likes racks that glide along ball-bearing rollers, fully extending, making it easier to lift up hot and heavy dishes.
Recommended ranges with this feature. The Electrolux EI30EF35JS, $1,600, electric smoothtop range and the KitchenAid KDRS505XSS, $2,000, double-oven dual-fuel model, pairing a gas rangetop with an electric oven.

Convection roast. As a Consumer Reports analyst, Mike DiLauro scouts the market for innovations in cooking appliances. He also loves to cook. “Unlike convection bake, which uses the lower element and the convection element for heat and the fan to provide air circulation, convection roast takes it one step further,” says DiLauro. “It uses both the upper, or broil, and lower element in addition to the convection element and fan. The real advantage is the broil element, which results in nice browning, especially the top of roasts.” You can follow DiLauro on Twitter @midilauro.
Recommended wall ovens with this feature. The top-rated Whirlpool WOS92EC0AH electric single oven, $1,500, and the Whirlpool WOD93EC0AS electric double-oven model, $2,500.

Express wash. Here’s an option that allows Mark Allwood to speed up a front-loader’s long wash time and, by Allwood’s estimation, doesn’t sacrifice cleaning performance. He should know. Mark has four sons and has done plenty of laundry. He’s also the analyst who recommends the laundry appliances we test.
Recommended washer with this feature. The Kenmore Elite 41073 front-loader, $1,500.

Auto-load sensing. “It’s my favorite washer feature—less thinking on my part, plus it uses the appropriate amount of water and that means it’s less wasteful,” says Emilio Gonzalez. He keeps his family’s laundry from piling up and is the engineer who tests our laundry appliances.
Recommended washers with this feature. The LG WT1101CW is the top-rated top-loader and, at $700, a CR Best Buy. Most front-loaders have this feature, like the top-rated Maytag Maxima XL MHW8000AG, $1,450, and the $800 Whirlpool Duet WFW70HEBW, a CR Best Buy.

Moisture sensor. This dryer feature is another favorite of Emilio’s. “It figures out when the laundry is dry so I don't overdry my clothes.”
Recommended dryers with this feature. All the dryers recommended by Consumer Reports have a moisture sensor, such as the top-scoring Samsung DV50F9A8EVP electric dryer, $1,100, and the Whirlpool Cabrio WED5800BW. It’s $700 and a CR Best Buy.

—Kimberly Janeway

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

Got snow? We bet you do. If your back has been aching after a long winter of shoveling or blowing snow, maybe you’re doing it wrong. Here’s some advice from Consumer Reports home expert Eric Hado that’ll make clearing snow a little easier and get you through the rest of the winter injury-free.

Using a snow blower

If you have a snow blower, Hado says speed matters. Why? Go too slow and you won’t get much distance with your arc of blowing snow. Speed up and the snow could spill out the side of your machine. Experiment until you find the optimal speed.
 
Your clearing techniques should vary based on how your property is laid out. In general, you don’t want to throw snow on top of pavement you’ve already cleared. The snow that’s thrown from your blower will pack down and stick to the pavement and become harder to remove.
 
The best method for driveways that have clearance on both sides is to start in the middle and throw the snow toward one edge of the driveway. Make a U-turn then come back down the other side. Keep alternating. This way you won’t have to adjust the chute as often and any snow that falls short will be cleared on subsequent passes. Ideally, you won’t need a second pass.
 
If your house abuts the driveway, start on the side closest to the house. That way you won’t be throwing snow onto pavement you’ve already cleared.

Snow blower safety. Finger injuries, including amputations, accounted for about half of the more than 3,300 estimated emergency-room visits related to snow blowers in 2012. Back and shoulder strain were also common. Our experts say to take frequent breaks to avoid overexertion and never clean the auger with your hands.

Snow shoveling

With shoveling, you’ve got two choices. Shovel after every few inches of snow that falls or wait until the storm ends and remove the snow in layers. Remove only as much snow as you’re comfortable lifting.
 
Hado recommends clearing your driveway in two stages. First push the snow to the edges with a pusher shovel, such as #8 in the graphic below. Then use a garden variety shovel with sides, like #2, to shovel what’s left out of the way. Your best bet may be a versatile shovel configured for throwing, lifting, and pushing, like #1. If you have uneven pavement, an all-plastic shovel without a steel edge is less likely to catch.

Shoveling safety. An average of 11,500 snow shoveling-related injuries were treated in the ER each year from 1990 to 2006, according to the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital. One in three of those injured suffered lower back problems followed by injuries to the arms, hands, and head. Slips and falls accounted for one in five mishaps and 15 percent of the injuries were caused by being struck by a snow shovel.

The right tools for the job
No matter what snow removal method you use, try to avoid driving or walking on the snow before you get started. Packed snow is harder to clear. And if the snow is sticking to the shovel or the snow blower’s shoot, spray either with silicone or, in a pinch, a cooking spray. To find the best tools for the job, check our appraisal of snow shovels as well as the results of our snow blower tests. And to make sure your cleared surfaces stay that way, see which ice melts work best and are safest for your pets and your property.

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

Doctor’s, nutritionists, and probably your mom have long agreed that you should eat your fruits and veggies. Manufacturers and celebrities have taken that nostrum a step further by pushing juicing as an easier way to wolf down those nutrients—and help prevent everything from memory loss to diabetes.

The jury’s still out on juicing’s medical claims. But a recent Consumer Reports test shows that a good blender beats juicers when it comes to versatility and easy cleanup.

A juicing faceoff between the top-scoring, $450 Vitamix 5200 blender and the $250 Bella NutriPro and $140 Dash JB001CM juicers gave a slight edge to both juicers when it came to consistency and flavor (apple, carrot, and orange juice was thicker and a bit more bitter with the Vitamix). But unlike the juicers, the Vitamix can also make frozen drinks and even soup. Frequent jam-ups with the Bella and lots of parts to clean with both juicers—compared with a quick wash and rinse for blenders—also put the Vitamix on top overall.

And if you think Vitamix blender’s $450 price tag is over the top, we have more good news: The Ninja Master Prep Professional QB1004 also topped our latest blender tests, makes less noise, and is a CR Best Buy at just $60. For more details, as well Ratings to dozens of models, see our full reports on blenders and juicers.  

—Bob Markovich

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

For fussy coffee drinkers who like to customize their home brewing, the promises of the Brazen Coffee Brewer may seem like a dream come true. The manufacturer says its machine represents a “revolutionary new vision in coffee brewing” because of the level of control it grants. Consumer Reports put the claims to the test in its coffeemaker tests and found that the Brazen was a bit timid in its performance.

The 8-cup Brazen Coffee Brewer, $200, gives you defaults for how hot the water gets and how long the grounds stay immersed in the hot water. The machine’s attraction is the ability to set the temperature in one-degree increments between 190° and 210° F, and brewing duration from 15 seconds to four minutes. You can also compensate for how the water’s boiling point, typically 212° F,  lowers as the altitude rises.

We like the capability to adjust brewing temperature, especially with the added flexibility to account for higher elevations. But our brew-performance test measures to industry guidelines of brewing at 195° to 205° F for five to six minutes, which tends to extract the most flavor from the beans. Even with this broad range, the Brazen maxed out one to two minutes too soon. A manual-release feature, helpful for dispensing hot water into a teapot, theoretically lets you also release water incrementally into the grounds for a slower brew. For our test, we preferred at least an extra minute of brewing.

You might like the stainless-steel trim, which includes even the reservoir, designed to eliminate plastic tastes in what you brew. Yet other plastic parts, perhaps including the cupcake-style basket, may have contributed to the plastic taste our testers noticed in water heated in the Brazen after we’d already run a few water-only cycles. (You might not notice this in coffee, but it should take just a single water-only cycle to flush out residual plastic from the manufacturing process.) And while we tend to favor thermal carafes, this one poured sloppily and needed to be turned completely upside down to empty.

Overall, the Brazen scored only so-so, but we found many models to recommend in our tests of more than 100 coffeemakers. If you’re shopping for one now, check our coffeemaker buying guide, which includes a video on how we test.

—Ed Perratore

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

Refrigerators manufactured after Jan. 1, 2014, will be more energy efficient than older models, thanks to newly enacted federal energy standards. That’s good news if you’re shopping for a new refrigerator. But the new EnergyGuide label found on these energy-efficient models could cause confusion in the marketplace, even among well-intentioned retail sales staff. Here’s how to make sense of the situation.

The format for the new EnergyGuide label is basically the same, with one exception. Instead of black letters on a yellow background, the new label for refrigerators (and stand-alone freezers too) made after Jan. 1 will have yellow letters on a black background. That’s straightforward enough. The confusion arises with how the numbers for the new label are being calculated.

As part of the new standard, set by the Department of Energy, manufacturers are required to use more rigorous test methods to measure energy use. Those new tests are more in line with how Consumer Reports measures energy consumption. For example, we set the refrigerator and freezer to 37 degrees and 0 degrees, respectively, following the instructions found in most manuals. The new DOE standard calls for 39 and 0 degrees, rather than a more complicated, less real-world interpolation involving multiple temperature settings.

An easier update to wrap your head around concerns electricity pricing. The old label was based on a 2007 national average of 10.65 cents per kilowatt-hour. The new label uses the more current average of 12 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The upshot to all this is that pre-2014 refrigerators, which are still plentiful on showroom floors and through online retailers, could actually seem more energy efficient than newer models, because their EnergyGuide labels are based on an earlier, easier test.

So what can you do? For starters, make sure you only compare labels that are similar, that is, the old with the old and the new with the new. Better yet: check Consumer Reports’ refrigerator Ratings. Besides giving you a highly real-world sense of energy costs, our Ratings also include scores for performance, noise, and ease of use—crucial information that you won’t find anywhere on the EnergyGuide label, old or new.

—Daniel DiClerico     

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

The recent suffocation deaths of a sister and brother in a cedar chest has prompted the Consumer Product Safety Commission to renew a search for cedar chests that automatically lock when the lids are closed. The deaths of the Boston-area children took place in a 75-year-old Lane cedar chest that the family had purchased at a thrift store before the children were born. The chest had been part of a recall of 12 million Lane cedar chests in 1996 following the deaths of six other children.

The 1996 recall included Lane and Virginia Maid cedar chests that dated as far back as 1912. Often these chests are family heirlooms handed down from one generation to the next. Unfortunately, the recalled chests had a fatal flaw—a latch that shut without having to depress a button. As part of the recall, Lane began offering replacement locks that don’t lock automatically. But, as Lane reports on its website, there are still an estimated 6 million chests that need the safer replacement locks. Lane cedar chests built since 1987 already have the new safety lock and were not part of the recall.

Lane renewed its recall in 2000 after the death of a seventh child and the entrapment of two others. The recall remains active on the CPSC’s website. Citing a total of 34 deaths since 1996, the CPSC this week expanded its warning to include any type of chest or trunk that may lock automatically or that has lid supports that can’t be locked into place. And just last week Rowe Fine Furniture recalled 220 storage ottomans after a 3-year-old became trapped when his older sibling closed the lid.

To get the word out, the CPSC is working with such resale stores as Goodwill Industries, the Salvation Army, as well as the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops. In addition, the safety agency is recommending that consumers disable the locks on hope chests, toy boxes, and storage trunks regardless of whether they’ve been recalled. If you own a Lane or Virginia Maid chest, you can still get a free lock replacement by visiting the company’s website, sending an e-mail to  newlock@LaneFurniture.com, or by calling (800) 327-6944.

—Artemis DiBenedetto

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

Worried about the salt, sugar, and other possible additives in commercial baby food, more and more parents are making their own at home. There are plenty of reasons to recommend it, including the fact that staying out of the baby food aisle may help reduce the $9,564 a family of four spends on food each year. But the biggest plus may be that all you need to turn regular food into baby food is a capable blender or food processor. Here are the best from Consumer Reports tests.

When you make your own baby food, you know exactly what you're feeding your child and the baby gets used to eating what the rest of the family is eating. “Both my kids are great eaters, and I really attribute it to the fact that, through homemade purées, we introduced them to a lot of different flavors from an early age,” said Daniel DiClerico, a senior editor at Consumer Reports. DiClerico made baby food first for his daughter and now for her younger brother, including such homemade entrees as puréed fish and cheddar cheese casserole, beef and carrot stew, among many others.

Best blenders. The first solid food a baby eats is usually puréed fruits or vegetables. One of our top-rated blenders with an excellent puréeing score is the Ninja Master Prep Professional QB1004, a CR Best Buy at $60. In addition to the 48-ounce blending jar, it comes with a smaller container so you can prepare individual portions. The Vitamix 5200, $450, also aced our purée tests and is a durable machine.

Food processors. A baby eats purées for only a short time before moving on to food with more texture. With a food processor, you can easily adjust how smooth or lumpy the food is as your child grows older and eats more things. The Breville BFP800XL/A, $400, was very good at puréeing and excellent at all other processing tasks. It has a 16-cup container so you can process large batches and freeze some for later meals and a mini-bowl insert for small jobs. We also recommend four Cuisinart food processors, including the 11-cup Cuisinart DLC-2011CHB.

There are a growing number of cookbooks and websites where parents can find tips and recipes for making baby food at home. For example, Katie Workman, founding editor of cookstr.com and author of "The Mom 100 Cookbook," recommends that you “pulse the solid ingredients first, then add the liquid to loosen everything up and blend more evenly.” DiClerico gets many of his recipe ideas from "Top 100 Baby Purées: 100 Quick and Easy Meals for a Healthy and Happy Baby" by Annabel Karmel.

To learn more about baby food and safe eating tips for babies, see our baby food buying guide. And of course, before you get started, consult your child’s pediatrician about how and when to introduce solid food and what foods are best for beginning eaters.

—Artemis DiBenedetto

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

If you're feeling anxious about your hair loss, you could buy a wig. And guess what? If a psychiatrist prescribes it, it's tax deductible. Likewise, if your doctor says a special bed to help your back or sleeping disorder is needed, it's a potential tax break. And if your switch to a gluten-free diet is costing you more, the price difference between the old and new diets is also tax-deductible.

Welcome to the world of unusual medical tax deductions. According to Barbara Weltman, an attorney and contributing editor to J.K. Lasser's "Your Income Tax" book series, taxpayers often are not aware of all they can claim in medical expenses. Below are a few others.

• Improvements to make your home accessible to someone with a disability

• New siding on a home where a resident is suffering due to mold on the old siding

• Remedial reading help for a dyslexic child

• Herbal supplements prescribed by a doctor for migraine headaches

• Hearing-aid batteries

• Laser eye surgery

• In-vitro fertilization treatments for someone who is infertile

• The cost to buy, train, and maintain a therapy dog for someone who is visually impaired or hearing disabled, or has another physical disability. "In general, this includes any costs, such as food, grooming, and veterinary care, incurred in maintaining the health and vitality of the service animal so that it may perform its duties." says IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses.

• Breast pumps and lactation equipment. The Affordable Care Act also now requires these items to be covered by insurers, but people who remain uninsured or who are insured by "grandfathered" carriers can still take advantage of the tax deduction.

Travel to visit a child in rehabilitation when the visit is recommended as a necessary part of the rehabilitation may be deductible, Weltman confirms. 

She also mentions two new developments that could eventually become medical deductions. Pending legislation would treat umbilical cord blood banking service expenses as medical expenses (H.R. 3673: Family Cord Blood Banking Act). Also, while the IRS has advised that it does not currently have a published position on whether radon testing and mitigation expenses are medical expenses, it could issue its position soon.

Keep in mind that you can only write off those qualified medical expenses that exceed 10 percent of your household adjusted gross income. For households where one filer is 65 or older, the cutoff is 7.5 percent, at least through tax-year 2016. 

And, in case you were wondering, a federal tax deduction for medical marijuana remains a pipe dream.

—Tobie Stanger

See our Income Tax Guide for more advice and tips on preparing, filing, and saving on your income tax return.

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

The hour of sleep you'll lose Sunday morning, March 9, after your clock springs ahead might do more than just make you cranky. Some research suggests it translates into more car crashes and even heart attacks on Monday morning, thanks to worsened sleep deprivation. But a few simple steps might help smooth the transition.

• Don't take a nap today. That way, you'll be more likely to fall asleep early tonight, making it easier to wake up early tomorrow.
• Exercise. Working out today might also help tucker you out, and exercise, especially earlier in the day, seems to improve sleep.
• Get outside early tomorrow. A little sun on your face, especially early in the day, can help your body's circadian rhythm get back in sync.
• Embrace your new schedule. Try to eat meals at your usual time, and follow other habits according to schedule, too. The that will help you adapt to the time switch faster.
• Be alert. Take a little extra time on Monday morning to get yourself out the door, and pay extra attention on the road. After all, you won't be the only drowsy driver on the road.

For more on improving your quality of sleep, read about the secrets of good sleepers and our Best Buy Drugs advice for sleep problems. And if you're in the market for a new mattress, check our latest Ratings of beds, retalers, and brands.

—Joel Keehn

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

It may not seem like it but it'll soon be safe to put away your snow blower. But if you just shove it in the shed and forget about it, you might be sorry next winter. Spend a little more time with your snow blower now and next season you'll be blowing through the white stuff while your neighbors inch their way through it with shovels. Here are the steps to take.

Run the engine dry. The single-most important task to guarantee starting next winter is how you deal with remaining fuel now. Some experts say that you can leave fuel in the tank as long as you’ve added stabilizer, especially one designed to withstand the troublesome effects of ethanol in the gasoline. But a dry engine offers the best odds against the effects of oxidized gas and ethanol.

Siphon out as much of the gas as you can. (You can add it to your car’s fuel tank.) Then start the snow blower and run it dry. Since a bit of gas remains in the fuel lines, consider adding a few ounces of ethanol-free fuel, sold in Sears, home centers, and some outdoor-gear dealers. Then run it dry again. After the engine cools, drain the carburetor bowl. And when you fuel up next winter, use only fresh gas to which you’ve added stabilizer.

Change the oil. Today’s snow blowers have a separate oil reservoir like those in cars, and larger models have a bolt you loosen. Tip the machine back, and you can easily drain the old oil into a container. Once you’re done and you reattach the bolt, refill to the desired level. Your owner’s manual will list the proper type and grade of oil to use.

Swap out the spark plug. This is what ignites the fuel so the engine can start and run properly. If you didn’t replace it before winter, do it now. (Your owner’s manual may recommend a more specific frequency.) Coat the plug’s threads with anti-seize compound, and the plug should be easier to remove next year.

Stock up on spare parts. Two-stage snow blowers have shear pins that protect the engine and transmission by breaking if the auger hits something too hard. Keep extras on hand and resist the urge to swap in an ordinary bolt and nut. Also keep extra drive belts; you’ll typically need one for single-stage machines and two for two-stage models. This is also a good time to check for fraying in your pull cord.

Tighten fasteners. Check and tighten any loose nuts and bolts, especially on control linkages, which tend to loosen from the snow blower’s vibration. And on two-stage models, adjust the auger's scraper and skid shoes so the metal auger housing comes close to the surface without contacting it.

Check the tires. Snow blowers get the best traction with the right amount of air in their tires; owner’s manuals typically recommend 15 to 20 pounds per square inch (psi). Your owner’s manual will have the precise specs for your machine; it’s also on the side of the tire. Be sure to check tire pressures even on a fairly new snow blower, since many are shipped with over-inflated tires to reduce the chance of damage on the way to the store.

Take care with batteries. If you have a cordless-electric model, follow manufacturer recommendations (check the owner’s manual) to be sure they’ll last as long as possible. Recharging batteries, for instance, should be avoided in freezing temperatures.

While dealing with old fuel and picking up spare parts are “now” things with gas models, the timing of other tasks can be left to next fall. Do yourself a favor and keep a log to remind you of anything you didn’t do before stowing the machine.

Should you want to buy a new snow blower now, anything still in stores should be bargain priced. But don’t settle for a model that wouldn’t sell when the snow was falling; wait till next fall, before snow is predicted. See our buying guide for tips, and view our Ratings for which models get the job done.

—Ed Perratore

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

You don’t have to live in Erie, Pa., Grand Rapids, Mich., or any of the eight other highest-snowfall cities in America to be feeling winter’s wrath. Deep snow and ultra-frigid temperatures across much of the Northeast and Midwest have made the winter of 2013-2014 among the most damaging for homeowners and costliest ever for home insurers, which have shoveled out  $1.5 billion in payouts so far, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Snow and cold temperatures can wreak havoc on your home and property without your knowing it—that is, until leaks and other symptoms suddenly appear. The good news is, some of the most common winter home damage is relatively easy and inexpensive to fix and prevent. Here’s what to do.

Ice dams (damage to roof, shingles). Snow melts and freezes on the roof edges above the gutters, forming a wall of ice that forces water from melting snow and ice under the shingles and into the house. Result: Leaks and—eventually—major repairs. Having a pro melt the ice dams with calcium chloride is one solution. Some simple precautions such as insulating and ventilating your attic can also keep ice dams from forming in the first place.
 
Basements flooded with snow melt. This happens when hydraulic pressure pulls water trapped between frozen soil and basement walls into the basement itself. Shoveling snow away from the foundation in winter helps prevent this nasty sequence of events. Proper landscape grading in spring—and a properly working gutter system year-round—are other smart remedies.

Snow mold on grass. Hate fall raking? Or maybe you skipped that final mowing before it snowed. Those are two common culprits behind the ugly gray circles of mold that form on many lawns when snow melts in spring. The lawn mold will often go away on its own once the weather gets warmer. But you can nudge it along by dethatching the grass and perhaps adding some grass seed at the appropriate time.
 
Salt-damaged plantings. Salt may make roads and walkways safer, but it can be murder on trees and shrubs.  Burlap barriers are one way to safeguard your precious plantings as well as planting your trees and shrubs away from roadways that are heavily treated. Come spring, rinse off your affected plants and drench the surrounding soil.
 
Frost-heaved walks and driveways. It’s a lot like potholes: Water gets beneath the pavement then freezes, and expands. Repaving is about all you can do once the damage is done. Thinking of putting in a new walk or driveway anyway? Be sure to excavate 12 inches of earth, compact the soil and add 6 inches of crushed gravel as a porous layer between the soil and the new pavement.

If you need to repair your home’s exterior, check the results of our tests of roofing and siding. We also test exterior paints to see which withstand weathering best.
 
—Bob Markovich

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

Use too little detergent and your laundry might not get clean; too much can leave residue on your clothes. But hard-to-read caps can make measuring a pain. So Consumer Reports was happy to see Target Up & Up’s clear, well-marked cap. But when we followed the dosing directions and did the math, we were less impressed.
 
Using the recommended amount, the 150-ounce container of Target Up & Up liquid detergent would only wash about 70 loads, not the 96 claimed on its label. For the typical household, that can cost an extra $30 per year.
 
We contacted the company about the questionable math. They thanked us for bringing the issue to their attention and said that the current dosing directions, which say to fill the laundry cap to level 4, are incorrect. Target said it will be “promptly updating” the label in the coming weeks and use the new label going forward. Until then, if you want to get 96 loads, fill the laundry cap to the second line, which is what we did when we tested the detergent.

In our laundry detergent tests, Up & Up was very good at removing grass stains but it didn’t clean well enough overall for us to recommend it. We found better and cheaper choices, including Member's Mark Ultimate Clean liquid sold at Sam’s club, which did make our list of top laundry detergent picks.

If you prefer powder, our top-rated detergent is Tide Ultra plus Bleach Vivid White + Bright HE. But for less than half as much, you can get our CR Best Buy, Kirkland Signature Ultra Clean powder sold at Costco.

–Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

The gasoline most of us put into our cars and outdoor gear, with 10-percent ethanol, is available nationwide, and we pump E10 without a second thought. But a newer form of gas is good for only some cars—and a nightmare for outdoor power equipment. Nothing, in fact, warns you against filling up your mower, string trimmer, or gas can other than a little 3x3-inch warning label that competes for your attention with larger, bolder ads on the gas pump. So the outdoor power equipment trade group is waving the warning flag in Lowe’s, Walmart, and other stores.

That newer form of gasoline, called E15, has 15-percent ethanol, and ethanol causes small engines to run hotter and draw in water, which makes for tougher starting and eventually ruins seals, tubing, and linkages—all of which affect durability. Already 59 gas stations in 12 states carry E15, and the list is growing. If your car is newer than model year 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says using E15 is fine. For outdoor power equipment, the little sticker warns, “it may cause damage and is prohibited by federal law.” The industry’s trade group, the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, knows that if you put E15 gas into your power gear and it overheats and quits, you might kick yourself for putting in “prohibited” gas.

It's not the machine, it's the gas
More likely, though, you’ll curse the manufacturer and swear never to buy that brand again—especially when you learn that practically no product warranty covers damage resulting from using gasoline with ethanol higher than 10 percent. OPEI last year began the program, Look Before You Pump, to educate and protect consumers and manufacturers. But more recently, the group has ramped up the program further, with warning signs displayed near the price tags in stores.

Kris Kiser, president and CEO of the OPEI, emphasized that before the debut of E15, you could opt for the cheapest fuel for your outdoor power equipment and do fine. But because the price of ethanol periodically rises or falls relative to the price of pure gasoline, E15 gas might occasionally be cheaper than E10. “Price is no longer the way to choose your fuel,” he said at last year’s Green Industry & Equipment Expo show. “You have to choose the right fuel.”

The new signs are already appearing in Walmart, such as in the Berry, Ark., store where the photo was shot, and in Lowe’s stores. As shown, a prominent, red hand symbol indicates “OK” for E10 and “No” for higher blends with more ethanol. Both will also highlight the program in its circulars, and True Value will feature the ad on the back cover of its spring outdoor-product catalog.

No precautions will help if you inadvertently fuel up your outdoor equipment with E15, but with some extra TLC you can avert the still-real effects of E10 gasoline. First, use only fresh gas to which you have added fuel stabilizer; formulas designed to counteract ethanol are probably your best bet. Start your machine periodically even if you don’t need it. And run it dry before long-term storage, such as over the winter or summer.

Should you need a new mower or string trimmer, view our buying guides for lawn mowers and string trimmers before checking out our Ratings for mowers, tractors, and string trimmers.

—Ed Perratore

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

LED lightbulbs continue to improve, becoming more like incandescents. Take the Philips DimTone. It’s meant for track and downlighting and Philips claims it dims just like an incandescent. So the lightbulb experts at Consumer Reports put it through some preliminary tests. Here’s a first look.
 
Philips promises that the DimTone BR30 LED creates warm, intimate light as it dims, and our initial tests found it delivered on its promise. This $35 LED floodlight was able to go from the warm yellow of an incandescent to a deeper yellow when dimmed. “All the other LEDs we’ve tested put out less light when dimmed but the light color stayed the same, so it looked unnatural,” said John Banta, the engineer who tests energy-saving lightbulbs for Consumer Reports.
 
As for the other claims, the DimTone LED replaces a 65-watt incandescent yet used only about 13 watts, and it was as bright as claimed on the package. This LED is also pretty good at revealing the colors of objects and furnishings. That’s CRI, or color rendering index in lightbulb lingo, and the Philips’s CRI was in line with most of the other LEDs and CFLs in this category. Philips says the DimTone has a life of 25,000 hours. That’s nearly 23 years if you use it 3 hours a day.
 
We’ll keep testing this LED and report our findings. But if $35 is too much to spend for one LED and its color shifting capability isn’t that important to you, take a look at our Ratings of lightbulbs we tested for 3,000 hours, including the Feit Electric BR30 Dimmable LED. We recommend it and it costs $18. And even though LEDs are becoming more affordable, always look for rebates from your utility company and manufacturers.

—Kimberly Janeway

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

How’d you like crisp, clean clothes and an extra $30 or $40 in your pocket at the end of the year? Switching from a premium-priced detergent to a private-label brand from Costco or Sam’s Club could give you just that, based on the latest laundry detergent Ratings from Consumer Reports.

As part of our latest report, we put several lines of Member’s Mark, a Sam’s Club exclusive, through our tough tests, which involve fabric swatches stained with blood, mud, and other stubborn stains. The Member's Mark Ultimate Clean, a liquid detergent that sells for 12 cents a load, was second only to Tide Ultra plus Bleach Vivid White + Bright HE among dual use detergents, or those designed for all types of washing machines. The bargain brand was particularly tough on grass and ring around the collar, though it struggled with blood.

If you do 300 loads of laundry per year, about average for most households, the Member’s Mark would cost you $36. Our top-rated Tide, meanwhile, would cost you $69, though it's tough on all stains, including blood.       

In third-place in the dual-use category was the Costco-exclusive Kirkland Signature Ultra Clean, a powder detergent that proved very good in all of our tests. At 9 cents per load, it costs an average of $27 per year. Though it missed our recommended list, we also judged the Kirkland Signature Ultra Clean Pacs very good overall, in case you prefer your detergent in a single-use pac.                      

Not all low-priced detergents fared well in our tests. Walmart’s Great Value Naturals, 14 cents per load, replaced Martha Stewart Clean 2X at the bottom of our Ratings. Both detergents were only slightly better than plain water at tackling stains in our tests. We were also unimpressed by Trader Joe’s Liquid Laundry HE.

Despite those few lowly performers, the bargain-brand category is clearly coming on strong. Perhaps feeling the heat, Procter & Gamble has introduced a lower-priced Tide detergent, called Tide Simply Clean. It sells for 10 cents per load. We'll let you know how the Tide Simply Clean peforms once testing is complete in the coming weeks.          

—Daniel DiClerico 

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

Downsizing has hit the toilet paper aisle as rolls become narrower, cardboard tubes grow in diameter, the number of sheets per roll falls, and the sheets get smaller. With Americans using an average of 46 sheets of toilet paper a day, according to Kimberly-Clark, you want to make sure the kind you buy gets the job done. Consumer Reports tests toilet paper for strength, softness, disintegration, and tearing ease. Two winners top our latest toilet paper tests.

At 25 cents per 100 sheets, White Cloud 3-Ply Ultra sold at Walmart was named a CR Best Buy. It got excellent marks for strength and softness, and disintegration and tearing ease was very good. While tearing ease for Charmin Ultra Strong was excellent, it did not score as high on the other three attributes and costs 41 cents for 100 sheets. But it too made our list of top toilet paper picks.

The also-rans include Scott 1000, 8 cents, which is neither soft nor strong; Marcal Small Steps, 25 cents, which is almost as harsh as Scott 1000 and doesn’t tear easily, and Cottonelle CleanCare with Touch of Soft Cotton. Despite its name, it’s less soft than many and at 44 cents per 100 sheets costs more than all but one other tissue in our tests. And don’t buy by brand alone. Various Scott, Cottonelle, and Charmin products scored quite differently.

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

“This is not my mother’s American Standard,” said Jay Gould, the company’s CEO, as he introduced the new DXV collection at its New York showroom. With toilets that feature heated seats and automatic flushing and a $5,500 soaking tub, the brand has definitely gone upscale. And along the way settled the argument of who left the toilet lid up.

Divided into four design groups that represent different eras—Classic (1880–1920), Golden Era (1920–1950), Modern (1950–1990), and Contemporary (1990–today)—American Standard hopes to “re-earn the love of homeowners,” Gould said. Prices range from $325 to $425 for a bathroom sink, $520 to $600 for a pedestal sink, $650 to $900 for a toilet, and $3,200 to $5,500 for a soaking tub. The collections are available in 500 kitchen and bath showrooms nationwide, which you can find on the American Standard website.

American Standard also introduced the AT Series of smart toilets and bidets. The seat lid of the AT200 toilet, $4,200, opens automatically as you approach it. All cleansing functions are enabled by a sensor as soon as you sit down on the heated seat. And once you’re done, the lid closes and the toilet automatically flushes. So who left the seat up becomes a moot point.

Top toilets in our tests
If you don’t mind opening and closing the lid or flushing the toilet yourself, you can choose a more standard American Standard. The American Standard Champion 4 2002.014, $300, topped Consumer Reports tests of single-flush toilets.  The comfort-height model combines superb solid-waste removal with quietness and a reasonable price. Single-flush toilets from Gerber and Toto scored almost as well. The champ of our tests of dual-flush toilets is the Glacier Bay N2316 sold at Home Depot and at $100 it’s a CR Best Buy.
 
—Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

"Does detergent-free laundry sound too good to be true?” So asks Pure Products International, maker of the pureWash Eco Friendly Laundry System. Based on Consumer Reports’ testing of this product, as well as the similarly marketed Wash It laundry system, the answer for now is, “Yes, it's too good be to true.”

The $300 pureWash and $400 Wash It systems are about the size of a large toaster oven. They mount to the wall behind and above any top-load or front-load washing machine. An inlet and outlet on either side of the devices connect them to your home’s cold water line and washing machine. Both devices also come with a power adapter that plugs into the nearest electrical outlet.

We had no trouble installing the pureWash and Wash It systems. But that’s where our positive experience ended. Following our usual laundry detergent test procedure, we loaded the two washers with test fabric swatches soiled with mud, blood, grass, chocolate, and the like. Instead of laundry detergent, pureWash and Wash It systems are supposed to get clothes clean by injecting ozone into the cold wash water. “Ozone is a powerful oxidant; it disinfects, deodorizes and sanitizes,” claims the Wash It web site. “Ozone kills micro-organisms found in soiled laundry (kills bacteria 3,000 times faster than bleach),” says pureWash.

Test results
While we didn’t bust out the microscope, we did use a color-sensitive instrument called a colorimeter to assess how well each device cleaned our soiled fabric swatches. The results were not what you’d call sparkling. Indeed, both devices were only a bit better than plain water at tackling soils. Since their user manuals said that you could also add a small amount of detergent, we ran a second test using a dose of industry-standard laundry detergent. Again, we saw no ozone-induced boost in cleaning performance.

Given that ground-level ozone is an irritant that can worsen asthma and compromise the body’s ability to fight respiratory infections, we checked the ambient air in our test lab while the devices were in use and measured ozone levels well below the maximum limit set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Still, the apparent safety of the pureWash and Wash It systems doesn’t change the fact that they don’t really work better than most detergents. And that of course diminishes the money savings—which aren’t that great to begin with. For example, the $300 pureWash is supposed to last 10 years. Depending on how often you do the laundry, it would take anywhere from 8 to 11 years to use about $300 of one of our Best Buy detergents—and of course you’d have really clean clothes in the process.             

Bottom line: We’re all for the idea of a detergent-less laundry system, which would save money and time for consumers and have less impact on the environment. Unfortunately, neither of these systems lives up to the potential.

—Daniel DiClerico

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

It’s time to break some rules about painting your home’s interior. Warm grays are now neutrals and there’s no reason the trim has to be white. Painting walls and trim the same color with little contrast in sheen is popular, creating a clean line and redirecting your eye to the room’s furnishings. So how much do you have to spend for interior paint that goes on easy, hides well, and holds up over time? About $34 a gallon, according to Consumer Reports’ latest interior paint tests.
 
Buy the cheapest paints and you’ll wind up putting on more coats for better hiding. The top-scoring paint in our tests, Behr Premium Plus Ultra Satin Enamel, is $34 at Home Depot. Among flats and mattes, the Behr Premium Plus Ultra Matte, $32, was tops, but like all flats it's not good at resisting stains and its finish wasn't as smooth as some and showed some roller marks. In the semi-gloss category, the high-scoring Behr Premium Plus Ultra Semi-Gloss Enamel, $34, was superb at hiding and resisting scrubbing, and very good at resisting stains, with little change in sheen after rough cleaning. But like most semi-glosses we tested it left a slightly textured finish. The good news is that eggshell and satin paints have gotten better at holding up to scrubbing so there’s no reason you have to use semi-gloss on trim.

Paint patter
All three Behr paints are self-priming, so you can skip the primer, a timesaver if you’re painting bare wood or drywall or repainting a finish that has a glossy or semi-gloss finish. In addition to “self-priming,” paint can labels are crammed with information. Here’s what you’ll want to know before picking a paint.

• Eggshell. The finish should be slightly less glossy than satin.
• Enamel. It used to indicate that the paint was oil based, providing a tough finish and high gloss. Enamel now appears on labels of all finishes, including flat, and implies that the finish is tougher than non-enamel paints.
• Low or no VOCs. Volatile organic compounds are solvents released into the air as the paint dries and are linked to respiratory problems and air pollution. All the interior paints we tested carry a low- or no VOC claim, but the tints used to color the base might have some.
• Matte. It shouldn’t have a sheen, making it flatter than flat paint.

Most people pick a store first and then a paint and if that’s what you do, check our Ratings for brands where you shop—we have recommended paints from Ace Hardware, Benjamin Moore, and Lowe’s, in addition to the Behr paints from Home Depot. Spring’s nearly here and it’s finally time to pick up a paint brush and put away that shovel.

—Kimberly Janeway

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.

Wouldn’t it be great if the stand-alone freezer in your basement could occasionally double as an extra refrigerator—say, to hold catering trays and drinks before a big party? That’s the promise of the Frigidaire FKCH17F7HW, the industry’s first convertible freezer/refrigerator. And the $770 multi-tasker, with its respectable 12.7 cubic feet of usable capacity, proved adept in both modes in Consumer Reports’ tests of freezers and refrigerators.

Like most stand-alone freezers, the Frigidaire FKCH17F7HW has a plain white-box design, though that shouldn’t matter since it’s meant to sit in a utilitarian part of the home. Its real beauty is in its frost-free operation, and a cooling system design that lets you convert the unit to a refrigerator with the push of a button. In its refrigerator mode, the Frigidaire delivered excellent temperature control and energy efficiency.

We then toggled the unit back to freezer mode and waited about 75 minutes for its internal temperature to reach 0˚ F. As a freezer, the Frigidaire also delivered excellent temperature control, plus it’s self-defrosting, so you won’t have to periodically do that task by hand. Its noise and ease-of-use scores were just average, though as with its ho-hum looks, those factors shouldn’t be a deal breaker if what you want is a solid stand-alone freezer with the unique ability to provide on-demand auxiliary refrigerator space.

—Daniel DiClerico

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2006-2014 Consumers Union of U.S.