The Best Household Products of the Year
Dec. 8, 2006 — -- Every year, Good Housekeeping gives the Good Buy Awards to what it considers the best new household products of the year, products that solve a consumer problem, perform well and are a good value.
After evaluating more than 2,000 products, the magazine revealed the nine winners of this year's awards on "Good Morning America."
1. Woolite Pod from Bissell: $4
Have a rug that looks a little shabby from stains? Good Housekeeping recommends the new Woolite Pod from Bissell. It's an all-in-one spot removal tool that fits in the palm of your hand and permanently removes stains. Squirt the Pod's cleaner onto any set-in splotch and use the brush to scrub. Once the carpet dries, fluff it with the Pod's built-in grooming comb. The Pod typically cleans six to eight stains.
In Good Housekeeping's tests, it was great at getting out wine, coffee, chocolate syrup, ketchup and ink. It's sold at grocery stores and at Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl's.
2. Simple Start Car Battery Charger from Black & Decker: $60
With Black & Decker's Simple Start, you can jump your car without ever getting out of it. Plug the charger into the car's cigarette lighter and in about 10 minutes, you'll be driving home. The Simple Start also has a helpful built-in flashlight, which can be handy if your car battery is dead and you can't turn on the overhead lights.
To be sure it's always ready to work, recharge the Simple Start once a month through your car's cigarette lighter or an electrical outlet. The Simple Start is sold at Home Depot, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, Sears, Target, Kmart, Kohl's Ace, True Value, hardware stores and at blackanddecker.com.
3. DaysAgo Digital Day Counter from Double U Products: $12 for Two
The DaysAgo Digital Day Counter ends all debates about the half-eaten jars of sauce in your refrigerator. The device attaches to a container and keeps track of the number of days and hours it's been open, so you can confidently eat your food before it expires. The counter is a small, battery-operated digital timer. It is available with either a magnet on the back or a suction cup.
Good Housekeeping recommends them for preventing baby foods and leftovers from being kept beyond the time they can be safely consumed. The counters are sold at kitchen stores and through howmanydaysago.com.
4. QuatroCooling Convertible Refrigerator from Samsung: $2,600
Sometimes you need more freezer space; other times, you need more refrigerator room. Samsung's QuatroCooling Convertable Refrigerator solves the problem. In addition to its standard refrigerator/freezer compartments, it has two bottom drawers, and each can function as a refrigerator or a freezer on any given day. Push a button and the unit quickly changes modes.
The side-by-side refrigerator is 24.6 cubic feet and comes in stainless steel, stainless pPlatinum and black. It's sold at Lowe's stores.
5. TROMM SteamWasher from LG Electronics: $1,599
Imagine that the shirt you want to wear is crumpled and you don't have time to iron it. Throw it in LG's TROMM SteamWasher. This front-loading washing machine has a special steam-only cycle that conquers creases in 20 minutes. You can cut back on your dry cleaning by using the setting to freshen clothes, such as a blazer you've worn just twice.
If you have tough stains, you can add steam to your regular load. You will actually use less energy than with the normal cycle alone. The SteamWasher is sold at Home Depot, Best Buy and appliance stores. You can buy a matching TROMM dryer for $1,199.
6. Shur-Line Premium Roller Covers: $9 for Three
It can normally take 10 minutes to wash standard paint rollers -- if you don't give up and toss them first. But you can save time and hassle with the new Premium Roller Covers from Shur-Line. They are Teflon-coated, so paint rinses right off.
Stacy Genovese, Good Housekeeping's consumer electronics and eEngineering director, said consumers are more likely to reuse these rollers because they're so easy to wash. That's better for the planet as well as your wallet. Shur-Line rollers are sold at home centers and paint stores.
7. Felicity Huffman Head's Up Comfort Pillow: $30
It's literally a pain in the neck when you're trying to relax on the couch but the pillow behind your head won't stop shifting. That's why "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman designed the Head's Up Comfort Pillow.
It has a slip-resistant flap that hangs over the back of your seat so the cushion stays in place while you rest your head. Huffman says the pillow "can turn any room in the house into a comfort zone." Good Housekeeping says it's also great for airplane trips. The pillow is sold at Bed Bath & Beyond and through QVC.
8. Anthelios SX Sunscreen from La Roche-Posay: $29 for a 3.4 ounce. Bottle
Good Housekeeping says Anthelios SX sunscreen can help guard users from sunburns and cancer-causing rays better than ever before. The new sunscreen is the first brand sold in the United States to protect skin from the full spectrum of UVA and UVB radiation.
What's special about Anthelios is that it contains Mexoryl SX, which was available only in Europe until recently, and helps protect against UVA rays. Mexoryl SX was the first sun filter approved by the FDA in 15 years. The sunscreen is light, not greasy and perfect for use on the face. It's sold in dermatologist offices and through Anthelios.com.
9. Fresh Step Scoopable Clumping Cat Litter with Odor Eliminating Carbon from Clorox: $5 to $12
Finally, Clorox has come up with cat litter that really gets rid of embarrassing odors. Unlike other brands, Fresh Step Scoopable Cat Litter uses activated carbon to eliminate odors rather than ingredients that just mask them.
Activated carbon is the same freshening ingredient in water filters, air filters and fish tank filters. The litter is sold in supermarkets, drug stores, pet stores and Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target.