The results are in for our dishwashing liquid review. Some big brands such as Aldi have changed ranking since we last lab tested the detergents, and we’ve also included a number of ‘dishwashing spray’ products that have since entered market (spoiler - some do not work well!).
The full review is available here:
I am confused! In a previous testing of dishwashing liquids, Choice recommended the Aldi product. This latest testing rates a Morning Fresh product as the best. ???
Hi @Vivalgos, welcome to the community.
Store branded products can change regularly, especially when they retailer goes out to the market place to get better prices for their own store branded products (they don’t make products themselves but contract the manufacture and supply to other companies). Retailers do this to allow them to reduce their prices and try and maintain their competiveness. As a different manufacturer (or even the same one with different more cost effective formulation) may now make the detergent, it can result in the product being different over time. As a result, store branded product formulations can change significantly over time causing them to perform differently.
Store branded products are generally driven by price and their price point on the shelves…and not necessarily performance. Sometime as indicated by the Aldi product in the past, they manage to hit both. Other times (like indicated in the current review), their performance can be less compared to past formulations.
I have also moved the post to a thread about the 2022 Dishwashing Liquid Review.
A similar thing happened a few years ago: Fairy Platinum was rated the best (so I bought, and used it for a long time) - it was displaced in the next lot of testing!
I was advised that the manufacturers had changed the formula…
How the mighty are fallen! The current Choice test now has it at/near the bottom.
PS. If it is any comfort for you - I swapped to Tandil Ultra based on the previous test’s high rating; have found it to be more than OK for my needs - and at $0.90/100mls cheaper than the Morning Fresh, it will stay that way - at least until my existing supply is all used.
A few years ago I found Coles Ultra Concentrate dishwashing liquid excellent. I even washed my car tyre rims with it. But I notice in the last year or so that it hasn’t got the oomph it once had. I’m now inclined to use the very cheap Earth Choice and just use a bit more.
Yes. I’m sticking with the Tandil Ultra. Works for me!
If you only shop at Aldi, maybe it might be worth trying Aldi Unamat Dish Washing Liquid as it rates higher and recommended by Choice (compared to Aldi’s Tandil Ultra). You can then see if Choice is right in relation to current formulations of both detergents.
I’ve been buying Morning Fresh Ultimate Original detergent since I first saw it in a Choice review, at the top of the table. I just finished a bottle I would’ve purchased in the last few months. I have noticed changes to the stock, and assumed they were just changing the look of the packaging. This morning I used the very dregs of the older bottle, & topped up the sink with the newer bottle. Difference in colour was immediately apparent-newer one neon glow-in-the-dark green. And then I noticed the smell-I dunno, like bug spray??
It seemed to work ok-I had lots of greasy things, so it was a bit hard to judge properly.
So I decided to check place of manufacture. Bottle on right of pic is old one-made in Poland, bottle on left-new stock at Coles-made in China.
Did you buy the Morning Fresh Ultimate Original dishwashing liquid from the same retailer - a larger retailer rather than a smaller independent type or ‘cheap’ shop?
We have seen Morning Fresh as a grey or parallel import where products are different as they were developed/manufactured at different locations. Some detergents are modified for different markets depending on the softness of water and standard treatment processes carried out on the water. It is possible that the Chinese manufactured one was for a different market and someone had decided to parallel import it to make a few more cents.
Choice possibly recognises the potential for parallel imports and as a result includes the place of origin/manufacturer in its test results. This includes for dishwashing liquids.
Grey or parallel imports have nothing to do with it.
The brand morning fresh dishwashing liquid is made by the UK Cussons company.
They make their products in many places and distribute worldwide.
My morning fresh original, which I always use since I have never found anything better, is made in Indonesia.
It does have a lot to do with it. Recipes for a detergent under the same name can vary depending on the market that the dishwashing liquid is supplied. Water in different countries is treated differently and/or has different salts which are acceptable under their own standards. If a country has harder water, many manufacturers change their recipes to that which they supply for countries which generally have softer waters.
They also add different fragrances which better suits what the local consumer thinks a detergent smells like.
If the detergent in question is made for the Chinese market, having lived in and travelled extensively around China, its water and contaminants are vastly different to that which is acceptable in Australia.
Another good example is toothpaste. Being fortunate to travel to a number of countries, the flavour of commonly available toothpastes varies between countries. This is done to meet the ‘taste’ preferences of the consumers where the products is consumed. Other examples include clothes wash powders and liquids.
Edit: some products can be paralleled imported and the parallel import is the same as that retailed locally.
Both bottles were purchased from Coles. I wait until they’re on half price special, then buy a couple of bottles.
Can still smell it on my hands…
I wonder if Morning Fresh has changed the country of supply to Australia…or Coles are parallel importing Morning Fresh to improve their margins. It could be the later as there has been reports of Amazon undercutting Coles/Woolworths prices by using parallel imports (AFR - paywall). Coles may have taken the initiative to do likewise.
I’ll check the bottles next time I’m at IGA. I’m pretty sure the Woolies bottles look like this too now.
It appears this may be the case. Morning Fresh FAQs states:
How do I know that the product I purchased is genuine Morning Fresh?
You can be sure that the product you have purchased is genuine when you see our Australian contact details on the back label
As the ’ Made in China’ product you have photographed and shown above has the Australian contact details, it is unlikely to be a parallel import.
It appears Cussons have changed which factory where Australian retailed Morning Fresh originates. They might have changed the recipe for some reason or have decided to use the Chinese factory recipe for Australia.
Maybe Choice (@airedale) needs to add a statement on the review that test results are for the product purchased at the time of testing and from the country of origin. Parallel imports or products from differing manufacturing origin may have different test results to that found by Choice.
Manufacturers do on occasion change the formulation and country of origin of their products, and unfortunately for Choice and our members, it often happens without notice - they’re certainly under no obligation to do so. That’s why for FMCG products we re-test the entire range each year rather than adding new products to our data like we do for appliances - it’s the easiest way for us to capture those formulation changes.
I agree with previous posters in that if the label lists an Australian company address it’s unlikely to be a parallel import, but sadly that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll smell any better.
Parallel imports may or may not be the same formulation as the ‘official’ version, but even if the formulation is the same then there may be another problem, in that often parallel imports are ‘old stock’ from an oversupplied international market. Dishwashing liquid doesn’t suffer as much from age as other cleaning products, in particular bleaches, which can break down and loose their efficacy over time.
A final note on country of origin - while it’s stated on the packaging it’s not the whole story because, while the product may have been mixed and bottled in the stated country, the ingredients could have come from anywhere. Beware the dreaded ‘made in Australia from imported ingredients’ label!
I’ve given feedback to Cussons, so let’s see if they contact me as they promise.
Anomaly, IMO, in this review! Not comparing apples with apples… Please explain!!
A previous top recommendation - Morning Fresh Ultra Concentrate Ultimate Dishwashing Liquid - wasn’t even included in the current test/review: instead a spray cleaner was (strangely) tested!!
Morning Fresh Ultimate Power Clean Spray Citrus Fresh with a rating of 45% - not surprising as it isn’t a dishwashing liquid…
In fact, MF UPCS Citrus fresh scored highly (88%) as a kitchen cleaner in March 2022.
Hi @evanstrish3,
Apologies that the Morning Fresh Ultra Concentrate Ultimate Dishwashing Liquid was not included in the dishwashing liquid review. Sometimes we cannot include products if there are supply and availability issues at the time of testing, and because dishwashing liquid formulations can change (and therefore affect the score), we haven’t included it until we can test again in the future.
I’ll be sure to pass on your feedback to our product testers.
Our dishwashing liquid review has been updated for 2024. Check out the results here:
