Best Bathroom Staples and Supplies, According to Our Tests

Our favorite store-bought hand soap was none other than this version from Trader Joe’s. We dug our hands into damp potting soil and set a timer to see how long it took each soap to get our hands from dirty to spotless. This pick blew us away with the shortest cleaning time: just 7 seconds. After chopping garlic for 5 minutes, we tried each soap and washed our hands in warm water to see whether any hand soaps could remove the smell of garlic. Trader Joe’s worked better than most of the others we tested. Its “sea breeze” fragrance is more sophisticated and engaging than typical “ocean”-scented hand soaps. It smells like fresh herbs on a beach.

For more options: Best Store-Brand Hand Soaps

A standout in our recent evaluations, the Kirkland Signature Bar Soap with Shea produced a rich lather. It was one of the only soaps that did not become goopy after two days on a soap dish in the shower. It has a barely there powdery, pleasant scent that does not linger on the skin post-shower. This bar soap was purchased in a bulk size of 15 bars. While this might not be ideal if you’re short on storage space at home, considering it was the only bar soap we tested that cost less than $1 per bar, you may be willing to make some room for it at home.

If you prefer unscented bar soap, this version from Dr. Bronner’s is one to consider. It was a favorite because it did not have that chemical-like scent often found with unscented personal care products. It truly smells like nothing. In addition to its unassuming non-smell, the 5-ounce bar lathered up really well, and it didn’t become too soft on the shower shelf.

For more options: Best Bar Soaps

The Simplehuman Rechargeable Liquid Sensor Pump has a capacity of 9 ounces and comes with a proprietary charger. A regular USB charger won’t work, which could be a pain. It also comes with 3.5 fluid ounces of proprietary liquid hand soap, which smells great. However, the amount of soap dispensed is determined by how close (or far) your hand is from the sensor, which is tough to modulate. This is the most attractive soap dispenser we evaluated, though. Its no-nonsense, minimalist design added to our bathroom decor.

For more options: Best Automatic Soap Dispensers

An organized shower is a clean one, and this Simplehuman caddy deserves a spot in yours. It’s big, but it still fit into our evaluator’s small shower. It must be screwed closed over the showerhead, but this, coupled with its high-performing suction cups at the bottom of the caddy, means this thing stays firmly in place. It is the only shower caddy, in fact, with suction cups that actually work on porcelain tile. 

This caddy has three levels that are divided into six shelves, a design that allows a shower hose to hang between each cubby. The shelves are adjustable, so if a bottle doesn’t fit, you can move a shelf up or down an inch to allow for more space. A razor can hang from three plastic hooks that attach to the side of one shelf, and there are two small shelves, with drainage, for bar soap. There’s a round hook at the bottom of the caddy for a loofah, washcloth, or shower brush.

For more options: Best Shower Caddies

Stone bath mats made from diatomaceous earth are compressed slabs of this powdery material with millions of pores that soak up water and keep the surface dry. The Dorai Aspen Stone bath mat was a standout in a recent evaluation. It absorbs water upon contact and dries within seconds. During the break test, it ranked the best, showing only small indentations and no cracks from the impact of a 3-pound solid object.

For more options: Stone Bath Mats That Dry So Fast, You’ll Ditch Your Regular Bathroom Rug

This machine-washable polyester bath mat is pricey, but it’s worth it. It aced our absorbency test, and its flat, grippy profile stayed put. The rug itself attaches via Velcro-type material to a padded mat that rests below it, offering more cushioning and stability than if the rug were flat on the floor. Just bear in mind that you shouldn’t expect this rug to dry your feet the way a higher-pile rug might.

For more options: Best Bath Mats

Our evaluators raved about this razor. The silver handle is pleasantly weighted, and it has a grippy spot for your thumb that makes it easier to hold in the shower. Because the head is so bulky, you may need to angle it carefully while shaving difficult areas, such as the hollow of an underarm or an ankle. This razor has a silver-colored shower holder that attaches to a wall with mounting putty.

For more options: Best Razors From Our Tests

The three-ply Who Gives A Crap performed well in general, earning a top slot in our evaluations. It’s practically lint-free, but it’s also not especially soft, so sensitive bottoms might want to stick with Angel Soft. And though “cute toilet paper” isn’t something you hear too often, Who Gives A Crap is individually wrapped in fun prints, with black and white squiggles, red and pink checkerboard, and even a “poetry” edition in a sort of bathroom version of Magnetic Poetry. The rolls start easily, with no ripping. Oddly, we found that the toilet paper squares weren’t totally equal in size; when doing three repetitions of our tearing test, in which we test how easily it is to tear off a square of toilet paper, the toilet paper didn’t tear evenly on the third test. 

For those who prefer something a bit more traditional, Quilted Northern Ultra Plush toilet paper is not one to miss. This three-ply extra-soft toilet paper is the strongest that we tested. It’s thick and almost fabric-y, but one side is more textured than the other, in case you want something a bit more grippy. It is, however, quite linty, which is the price you often pay for a more plush TP. It performed in the middle of the pack for both tearing and ripping tests, so you might not get a perfectly torn new square with each attempt, but you won’t be sitting on the toilet with a jagged, uneven piece, either.

For more options: The Best Toilet Paper for You—and Your Plumbing

Amazon Basics Flushable Wipes achieved an above-average Overall Score in our tests and were the second strongest wipe. They cleaned really well, removing sticky honey from skin with just two passes from one wipe. They also dried easily (without leaving a lingering wet residue behind like some wipes). They come in plastic packaging with a resealable sticker, which can help the wipes retain their moisture better than a wipes package with a clickable lid (which may allow more air in to dry out wipes faster). 

For more options: Best Flushable Wipes From Our Tests

This product stands out for being pretty effective, easy to use, and not overly smelly. After rinsing off the cleaner, one of our evaluators said her grout was significantly lighter in color than when she used some of the other products. The Grout & Tile Cleaner is easy to apply with a spray and has a foamy texture. Rinsing or wiping off the product requires a little more work because of its foamy, sudsy nature, but not so much that it turns people off using it. One of its biggest draws was its scent— all of the evaluators found the smell to be on the lighter side, especially compared with the other products.

For more options: Best Grout Cleaners