Consumer NZ tested household cleaners and found most were no better than using vinegar and baking soda when cleaning tiles.

Kiwis are wasting money on expensive household cleaners when a homemade batch of white vinegar and baking soda would do a better job.

Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin said a test of 16 cleaners identified only one commercial cleaner to recommend.

It also found the homemade mixture of baking soda and white vinegar cleaned better than most manufactured cleaners.

The concoction ranked third, behind De-Solv-it Sticky Spot and Stain Remover (cost $30.64 for 750ml) and only just behind Easy Off Bam Power Cleaner Grease & Sparkle ($6.39).

But it cost less than both, with the cost per batch of the "not-so-secret" homemade mix coming in at just $4.78.

"The multi-purpose cleaners don't really work that well," Chetwin said.

It indicated people were wasting money on commercial cleaners, especially those marketed as being for specific purposes.

"When they call themselves special-purpose cleaners, like stain and spot removal, they are actually just multi-purpose cleaners that don't work very well," Chetwin said.

The cleaners were all tested on greasy, dirty tiles.

Chetwin said while De-Solv-it, which was only available from hardware stores, had performed well: "the more widely available such as Dettol Antibacterial Surface Cleanser, Mr Muscle Glass & Surface Multi Purpose, Simple Green Ready-to-Use All-purpose Cleaner, Nature Clean All Purpose Cleaner & Degreaser and Ajax Spray n Wipe Multi-purpose were not even worth considering".

The recipe for the home-made cleaner that Consumer used has long been something that thrift clubs recommend their members use.

"We used about three teaspoons of white vinegar and one-quarter of a teaspoon of baking soda. We sprinkled the baking soda on to the surface then sprayed with the vinegar. Once the soda foamed, the surface was scrubbed and rinsed off with water," Chetwin said.

Thrift blogger Jackie Gower has been making up her own household cleaners to a similar recipe for years, and has saved herself hundreds of dollars as a result.

"You go into the supermarkets and look at all those commercial cleaners, and some of them have labels saying 'extra baking soda'. Why do they add baking soda to their cleaners? Because it works," Gower said.

Evan Donnelly from the Domestically Disabled home cleaning service in Auckland doesn't use the vinegar and baking soda mix on people's homes, but some of his clients do.

"I had one send me an email of 1001 uses for white vinegar," he said.

"I have another who swears by popping white vinegar and baking soda down the drain to get rid of smells."

He himself uses white vinegar at home when washing the dog's bedding because it takes away the smell.

Domestically Disabled uses plant-based cleaners, Donnelly said, but he is not a great believer in the single-purpose marketing by detergent companies.

"In the last 20 years there has been a product created for every job, and you don't really need them."

For most surfaces a mix of water and ordinary dishwashing liquid will do the job perfectly well, he said, and it is cheaper and exposes the user to fewer chemicals.

And he says, most commercial cleaners can also be diluted, which households can use to trim their shopping bills.

"They work just fine at half strength," Donnelly said.