People with existing medical conditions should follow the recommendation from their medical professional. You may see some laundry detergents that come with antibacterial claims, as well as products you can soak your clothes in to kill bacteria, such as the Dettol Laundry Cleanser, as seen above.

So, how does heat kill germs on clothes, and does a dryer kill germs as well as a washing cycle does? In other unfortunate news for our hip pockets, only two out of the top 10 performers are supermarket own-brand products.We can’t see the germs on our clothing, so it’s vital to know how to kill germs in laundry routines effectively. Use a high-quality powder detergent containing active oxygen bleach or a specially designed laundry product with antibacterial or antiviral action.

And while we can't directly compare the scores we've given liquids and powders with the scores we've given capsule products, as we tested them slightly differently, there were a couple of capsule products from Surf that also performed poorly in our front loader tests, scoring just 53% and 54%. Using the very best laundry detergents means your laundry will emerge from the machine spotless, with whites pristine and colours vibrant.

From blue antibacterial Fairy washing-up liquid to Carex hand wash and Dettol detergent, you'll see lots of hand wash, washing-up liquid and laundry products that claim to kill bacteria. Note, regular detergents are not designed or tested against antibacterial or disinfection activity even if they contain active oxygen bleach. Use our handy guide below, based on our extensive experience testing laundry detergents, to decide what you need. Laundry detergents help us maintain good hygiene by removing the soils, grease, stains and dirt from clothing.