"Out damned spot!" Lady Macbeth declares in a famous Shakespearean play. While the wrack of guilt from being implicated in murder is a stretch in comparing with cleaning sprays, how many times have we all felt frustrated that dirt and grime on our surfaces just won't budge, no matter how much we spray and scrub?
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And how often do we look like lost sheep in the laundry section of a supermarket in wonder of which spray to use? Should we just go back to the traditional materials of bicarbonate of soda and vinegar?
Consumer group Choice has put 46 different multipurpose cleaners to the test and revealed the ones which Lady Macbeth might have been able to use to get away with murder.
Choice cleaning expert Ashley Iredale said of that group, a list of eight achieved a score of 80 per cent or higher.
It was a tie between the Bosistos Multipurpose Cleaner, Citro Clean Super Concentrate Multi-Purpose Cleaner and Nifti's All Purpose Cleaner, with all three scoring 95 per cent.
However, there was also a number of them that performed the same as water, and scored 25 per cent.
These were Saba Organics Surface Sanitiser, Rhythm Cleaning Vinegar Kitchen Surface Spray, Morning Fresh Surface Disinfectant and Diggers Multi-Purpose Surface Cleaner.
"A special mention goes to Rhythm's cleaning vinegar, which costs $1.20 per 100mL, but performed the same as plain water in our testing. You can pick up a bottle of basic white vinegar from Coles for about 7 cents per 100mL - that's more than 17 times cheaper," Ashley said.
If you have your heart set on an 'eco' product, Bosistos Multipurpose is the top-scoring product in our test and costs $1 less per bottle - it's a much better buy than vinegar that's been trumped up and marked up.
"We've often found products that shout proudly about their 'eco' credentials are as expensive as they are ineffective," Ashley said.
"But Bosistos shows that if you choose wisely, you can have a clean kitchen and a clean conscience, without it costing you the earth."
There's a considerable difference between the best and worst products, too: while the recommended products scored 80 per cent and above, almost every other product in the test scored less than 50 per cent.
None of the supermarket, or 'home brand', multipurpose cleaners performed well; the best was a tie between the Aldi Green Action Multi Purpose Cleaner and Coles Ultra Multi-Purpose Cleaner, which both scored 45 per cent.
Again, the Bosistos product stood out for price versus performance - at $1 per 100mL with a 95 per cent ranking, compared with these two products that cost more than double and scored 45 per cent: Koala Eco Natural Multi-Purpose Kitchen Cleaner ($2.19/100mL) and Earth Choice Cove Surface ($2.11/100mL).
"Time and again we find price isn't necessarily an indicator of performance and sadly these two are great examples," Ashley said.
"They claim to be kind to the planet, but plain old water and elbow grease are kinder, and cost virtually nothing."
