16 Most Popular Items Our Readers Are Buying Right Now
Seasonal essentials are a hit, including top-rated vacuums, grills, coolers, and more
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We test and evaluate more than our fair share of products here at CR. And more often than not, a few pop up on our radar because of their popularity with our readers.
Unlike fad purchases, these particular items have merit. They’ve either been rigorously tested and approved in our labs or thoroughly vetted in our editors’ homes, where they’ve gone through the rough and tumble of real life.
What follows are the standout favorites, according to what our readers are buying.
Kitchen and Home
Attractive, budget-friendly, and high-performing pretty much sums up the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore 19039 two-slice toaster. This lever-activated model excels at every toaster test we put it through, heating single slices and full batches to golden-brown perfection in very little time. Plus, it makes an audible beep to let you know when it’s done. It has seven browning shades and a separate setting for gluten-free bread.
As seen in: Best Toasters
If you’re looking for an air purifier for a small room, the Blueair Mini Restful might be a good fit. It’s on sale for the general public, and CR members can save even more. The Mini Restful earns the CR Recommended designation because it performed very well in our tests. Running at high speed, it aced the dust, pollen, and smoke removal tests, and did nearly as well operating at low speed. It gets a middling score for noise output at high speed, which is common across every model, but it’s actually pretty quiet at low speed, making it a great option for all-day use in, say, a home office.
As seen in: Best Deals on Healthy Home Essentials
If silence is your main consideration, the Midea MAD20S1QWT is simply the quietest dehumidifier in our tests. It also earns standout ratings for water removal, convenience, and humidistat accuracy in CR’s lab tests. It’s relatively energy-efficient, comes with a drain hose, and has some nice features, including a timer and an auto-restart that turns the machine back on and restores it to its prior settings after a power outage.
As seen in: Quietest Dehumidifiers
The Leebein Power Spin Scrubber ANS-8050 is a strong scrubber with an incredibly long battery life. It can last about an hour on its highest power mode, so it’s unlikely to die on you in the middle of cleaning. If the battery is entirely depleted, however, it will take a while to recharge. (In our tests, it took more than 3 hours.)
The scrubber has two speeds: 300 rpm and 400 rpm. It scores well for ease of use because it comes with 8 attachments, the most among the models we tested, including a scouring brush for greasy kitchen areas, a sponge brush for glass, a wool-like brush for polishing a car, and cloth brushes for leather and floor cleaning. It’s also relatively light and features an extension wand that extends up to 50 inches, giving you a wide reach. The angle of the scrubber’s head is fixed and can’t be adjusted. Unlike some of the other models, it comes with an IPX7 waterproof rating, meaning it can withstand brief immersion in water.
As seen in: Best Spring Cleaning Deals
Laundry Room
Everspring 100% New Zealand Wool Dryer Balls
With Everspring 100% New Zealand Wool Dryer Balls, our evaluator’s laundry dried in just 15 minutes. The performance held up against other wool options she tested, but what stood out most was the smaller size, which made the whole cycle noticeably quieter than the others. That alone made a difference. She ended up naming them the best overall, and the price sealed it. You get three dryer balls for just under $13, which feels like a solid deal for how well they work.
As seen in: The Only Dryer Balls Worth Buying
The LG WM4000HWA earns stellar ratings for washing performance, energy efficiency, and water efficiency, and the brand receives top scores for predicted reliability and owner satisfaction in our latest member survey. Its capacity of 4.5 cubic feet handles larger loads, and its steam cycle helps remove tough stains from clothes.
As seen in: These Trusted Essentials Will Make Doing Laundry Less of a Chore
Outdoor Essentials
Coleman Chiller 9-Quart Portable Cooler
With about 1 inch of insulation, the Coleman Chiller Cooler is great at maintaining a cool temperature. Its performance is on a par with the Yeti (featured below), and it costs $180 less. “The Coleman is relatively easy to open and can take a beating,” Amézquita says. “The rigid flat top can serve as a small table, and a ledge inside can hold a small tray for food.” A large bail handle makes it easy to tote, but the hard-sided cooler weighs almost 3 pounds before you even put anything in it.
The manufacturer claims the cooler can hold four cans with 4 pounds of ice. We were able to fit seven cans in it with less ice, and it was still able to keep our drinks icy cold for 3 hours at room temperature and 2 hours at 100° F.
As seen in: Best Portable Coolers
The three-burner Napoleon Freestyle 365 F365DPGT delivers strong all-around performance. This small gas grill earns top scores for indirect cooking. Its temperature range and quick ability to preheat and cook evenly are impressive as well. Napoleon, as a brand, received ace ratings for reliability and owner satisfaction for its gas grills in CR’s latest member surveys. Overall, it’s slightly sturdier than the Weber and quicker to heat, but you sacrifice some evenness across the cooking surface.
While this grill isn’t on sale right now, we’ve previously seen it for as low as $383, so if you keep your eye on it this summer, you could score that low price again.
As seen in: Best Deals on Outdoor Essentials
The 21-inch Ego LM2123SP-2 battery self-propelled mower comes with a spare battery; if you swap batteries midway through the job, you will get an average of nearly 2 hours of operation. The batteries need just an hour to charge. This mower excels in all of our evaluations except bagging, where it still performs capably. The batteries come with a three-year warranty. Ego battery self-propelled mowers received middling predicted reliability scores but earned top-notch owner satisfaction scores in our latest member surveys. This model is part of the Ego Power+ battery platform, which includes string trimmers, leaf blowers, and pressure washers, among other tools.
As seen in: 10 Best Battery-Powered Lawn Mowers
Despite generating a relatively low 1,800 pounds per square inch of pressure, the lower-priced Greenworks PW18HYB cleans very well. It’s relatively light and easy to use and transport, and it’s quiet. It comes with four replaceable nozzle tips and an onboard soap tank. Two other Greenworks pressure washers—the GPW2301 and GPW3001—are also worth considering. Both perform similarly for cleaning, have five replaceable nozzle tips, and come with onboard soap tanks. The GPW2301 model has slightly less power, while the GPW3001 features a relatively low, flat design and more power. All three models have a 35-foot power cord and a 25-foot hose.
As seen in: Best Electric and Battery Pressure Washers
Vacuums, Steam Mops, and Carpet Cleaners
The corded Shark PowerDetect HZ4002 offers top-notch cleaning for bare floors and pet hair, and performs above par on carpets. It features an auto-detect mode that adjusts the brush roll speed to the surface, transitioning efficiently between carpets and hard floors. It also has two brush rolls, one with rubber fins for optimal contact with surfaces and a soft roller to capture small particles. It can be converted into a handheld vacuum, making it easier to clean stairs and tight spots in your home. It also pulls apart for compact storage, allowing it to stand on its own and take up minimal space. In our member surveys, Shark corded vacuums earn a top-level mark for predicted reliability and a decent mark for owner satisfaction.
As seen in: Best Vacuums
The Kenmore S200 Series SM2060 excels in cleaning messes and producing a large amount of steam. What makes it unique is its scrubber tool, which is built into the mop and can be used to remove dirt and grime from tiles once the mop head is detached. This mop features two distinct steam settings. Its run time is around average, and it doesn’t have features such as an empty indicator light, so its convenience score is only middling. But that doesn’t stop it from landing at the very top of our ratings due to its impressive cleaning ability.
As seen in: Best and Worst Steam Mops
The Bissell ProHeat 2x Revolution Pet carpet cleaner aces our drying tests and demonstrates strong performance in cleaning—plus, our testers find it very convenient to use. It scores a little less well for noise, but it’s as quiet as the carpet cleaners in our ratings get. Its hose length is just short of 7 feet, good for stairs and larger homes, and the machine covers 39 square feet per tank of solution. It also has carrying handles and separate tanks for clean and dirty water.
As seen in: Best Carpet Cleaners
Organizing Essentials
Elfa Classic Mesh Gift Wrap Door & Wall Rack
“I cannot live without the Elfa over-the-door rack storage system,” professional organizer Maria Sanchez says. “It works in many different areas. We use ours in our hallway closet to store a variety of toiletries and reduce the clutter that can easily build up on the shelves of this space.” The pro has also implemented the unit inside clients’ pantries, kids’ bedrooms, bathrooms, and garages.
Like-It Large Adjustable Organizer
This certified KonMari consultant uses the vertical fold method to keep garments in order while maximizing every square inch of storage space. “This tool allows you to customize the support within your drawer as needed,” Caitlin Roberts, a professional organizer and founder of Minimize with Purpose says. “So whether you just finished your laundry or are down to your last sock, your drawers will still look tidy and inviting.”
Ikea Variera Pot Lid organizer
A major challenge in many kitchens, regardless of size, is finding creative ways to store cookware. While some pots and pans can be nested together, lids with protruding knobs are more of a challenge. For Aline Lau, founder of Tokimekie, a decluttering service, and a consultant for KonMari (a decluttering method developed by Marie Kondo), an expandable lid organizer keeps pot tops neatly in line and makes efficient use of cabinet space. “The lid organizer is the only way I’m able to keep my lids, baking trays, and frying pans organized,” she says.
As seen in: 13 Organization Pros on the Storage Items They Can’t Live Without
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