Heat, detergent and good laundry hygiene habits all play a role in killing germs when you’re washing clothes, sheets and other linens. Soap is able to dissolve this lipid layer, causing the virus to fall apart. This stops it from binding to our cells, effectively killing it.

Persil Antibacterial Laundry Sanitiser works in one easy step; simply add it to your fabric conditioner drawer and then use your regular laundry detergent to leave your clothes, towels and bedding hygienically clean every time. Cleanright.eu by the International Association for Soaps, Cleaning and Maintenance Products (A.I.S.E) While you may be tempted by its low cost per wash of just 6c, the Aldi Laundrite Laundry Liquid was the worst performer out of all the liquids and powders we tested, scoring just 50% – no better than plain water. We put 33 bio and non-bio washing powders, liquids and capsules through our tough cleaning tests so we can reveal the best – as well as the worst. Our latest tests included brands such as Ariel, Ecover and Persil, plus own-brand detergents from Aldi, Lidl, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons supermarkets.

HOW DO GERMS GET ON CLOTHES?

And what about green brands? We dug into the sustainability details on brands including Ecover , Smol , Method and Bio-D . Laundry detergent test results Washing with an effective detergent like Persil Bio is also important to make sure your clothes are properly clean. Once again, Omo was a standout in our test, with the Omo Expert Anti-bacterial Power (70%) ranking as the best, and the Omo Ultimate Powder (65%) taking out third place. Powder detergent - great for extra bright whites and heavily soiled items, but tends to fade coloured fabrics. Can't see your brand? See the full laundry detergent test results. Why it's probably not worth buying laundry capsules

Our results may surprise you – the most expensive cleaning products aren't always the best. And as we reveal which laundry detergents are the best value, we can help you save money. With that in mind, choosing a high performing detergent is even more important for people with top loaders," says Matthew. But, providing you follow the NHS advice on washing your hands for about 20 seconds (the equivalent of singing Happy birthday twice), then you don't need to use antibacterial soap to help prevent COVID-19. Two of our five bottom performers for front loaders are capsules, with Surf Tropical Capsules and Surf Aqua Fresh Capsulesscoring just 53% and 54% in our testing despite the fact they cost over 40c per wash.

Omo dominates the top of the table, while yet again we find some products that barely perform better than water.

Although we do recommend eight capsule products, on the whole they don't perform as well as liquids or powders. Washing your hands regularly is likely to be significantly more important than clothes washing at preventing most infections. However, germs can get on clothes and so it is important to keep them hygienically clean to prevent germs from spreading. Underwear, for example, may contain germs from traces of faeces (poo). https://www.ifh-homehygiene.org/factsheet/what-home-hygiene-%E2%80%93-terms-and-definitions-use-and-misuse 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%.