Most of us are guilty of following the crowd when it comes to choosing which cleaning products to buy, although there has been a switch in recent years to people choosing more environmentally friendly products, or even concocting their own solutions.

However, we could be wasting our money altogether as new survey by CHOICE has revealed that many popular dishwashing liquids are only fractionally more effective at cleaning our kitchenware than tap water itself.

The consumer advocacy group tested a total of 40 products, ranging from name brands such as Palmoliva, Fairy and Morning Fresh, to homebrand offerings from the likes of Aldi, Coles and Woolworths. And, to really hammer home thier findings, they compared the results to the cleaning power of plain old tap water.

Top of the pack with an overall expert rating score of 81 per cent was Morning Fresh Ultra Concentrate Ultimate Dishwashing Liquid, which can clean 3150 plates per 350ml bottle.

The product – which was also the most expensive of those tested at $1.23 per 100ml – scored 82 per cent in CHOICE’s scrub test and 74 per cent in the foam test.

Following close behind in second place with a much lower expert rating of 72 per cent was Aldi’s Tandil Ultra Power Soak N’ Clean, which scored 75 per cent in the scrub test but just 46 per cent in the foam test.

Those two products were the only ones to bag an expert rating score of more than 50 per cent as third place went to Palmolive’s Divine Blends Vanilla & Berries with a score of just 49 per cent. While a 700ml will help you clean more than 6,000 plates, the product performed poorly in the scrub test with a result of 46 per cent.

A Palmolive product also secured fourth place as the brand’s Gentle Care Ultra Strength Dishwashing Liquid scored 48 per cent. While a 750ml can clean 6,750 plates, the liquid scored just 45 per cent in the scrub test and 75 per cent in the foam test.

Rounding out the top five was Organic Choice Dishwashing Liquid – Luxe with an overall score of 46 per cent, a foam test score of 55 per cent and a scrub test score of 46 per cent.

In last place was Trix Antibacterial Dishwashing Liquid which scored just 28 per cent. In comparison, tap water scored an overall rating of 25 per cent, with a scrub test result of 27 per cent and foam test result of just 7 per cent.

CHOICE previously tested a range of household cleaning products, from floor cleaners to multi-purpose solutions, and similarly found that many were no better than water at removing grime and bacteria.

To see the full CHOICE rankings, click here.