IF you’re trying to save money, one way to cut the price of your weekly shop is to swap branded goods for supermarket own versions.
But it’s almost impossible to tell from the packaging whether these cheaper products are the same quality.
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To save you from guessing, The Sun’s Squeeze Team tested everyday products from all the major supermarkets for you, to find out which ones are the closest to the branded version and the best value for money.
Today, we’ve looked at the own-brand toilet rolls sold at the major supermarkets – we’ve compared them with Andrex Classic Clean to see how they measure up.
We bought the smallest pack of regular toilet rolls available from each supermarket.
In most cases this was a four-pack, but some supermarkets only sold their toilet roll in bumper sized packs.
To compare them, we folded two sheets from each roll together and squirted them with 1ml of water.
We looked at how well they soaked up the water and whether the paper split or fell apart, giving them a score out of ten for effectiveness.
We also analysed how many sheets were in each roll and how many metres of toilet paper they contained, giving a score out of five for value for money.
Here’s how the toilet rolls scored out of 15 overall.
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Andrex Classic Clean, £2.50 for 4 rolls
- Average roll length = 23.56 metres / Price per roll = 63p
- Average number of sheets per roll = 190 / Price per 100 sheets = 33p
The Classic Clean toilet roll sheets were soft and seemed strong. They held up well in our water test and the paper didn’t split.
At 33p per 100 sheets, however, Andrex toilet roll is more than three times as expensive as the cheapest supermarket version sold at Lidl.
- Effectiveness = 8/10
- Value = 2/5
- TOTAL SCORE = 10/15
Tesco Luxury Soft, £1.70 for 4 rolls
- Average roll length = 26.84 metres / Price per roll = 43p
- Average number of sheets per roll = 220 / Price per 100 sheets = 19p
Tesco’s version felt soft and were pretty strong. It did well in the water test but the wet paper split slightly more easily than Andrex.
At just 19p per 100 sheets, this was one of the cheapest products we tried and was definitely a great value alternative to the branded version.
- Effectiveness = 7/10
- Value = 4/5
- TOTAL SCORE = 11/15
WINNER: Asda Shades So Soft, £4.50 for 12 rolls
- Average roll length = 21.24 metres / Price per roll = 38p
- Average number of sheets per roll = 180 / Price per 100 sheets = 21p
The Asda toilet roll was surprisingly strong and felt thicker and softer than even the Andrex version.
It held up really well in the water test, with no splitting or damage to the paper.
Asda only sells this product in packs of 12 or 24 – but the rolls were the shortest we tested at just 21.24 metres long on average and had fewer sheets.
Overall this was our highest scoring loo roll, beating other supermarket own brand ones and Andrex.
- Effectiveness = 8/10
- Value = 4/5
- TOTAL SCORE = 12/15
Sainsbury’s Supersoft, £1.75 for 4 rolls
- Average roll length = 27.28 metres / Price per roll = 44p
- Average number of sheets per roll = 220 / Price per 100 sheets = 20p
The Sainsbury’s version looked and felt thick and soft but its performance in the water test was a bit disappointing as it split fairly easily.
You do get a lot for your money though – the rolls in this pack were the longest we tested, averaging 27.28 metres of paper each.
- Effectiveness = 6/10
- Value = 4/5
- TOTAL SCORE = 10/15
Morrisons Oh So Soft, £1.80 for 4 rolls
- Average roll length = 23.18 metres / Price per roll = 45p
- Average number of sheets per roll = 190 / Price per 100 sheets = 24p
The Morrisons paper felt thin and didn’t perform well in the water tests, breaking easily when it was wet.
The poor performance was surprising, because this was the most expensive supermarket own-brand product we tested, costing 24p per 100 sheets.
- Effectiveness = 4/10
- Value = 3/5
- TOTAL SCORE = 7/15
Aldi Saxon Soft White, £1.89 for 9 rolls
- Average roll length = 24.00 metres / Price per roll = 21p
- Average number of sheets per roll = 200 / Price per 100 sheets = 11p
Aldi’s toilet roll felt very flimsy and thin. It didn’t cope well with the water and broke into bits within seconds.
This was the second cheapest product we tested – at just 11p per 100 sheets – but you would need to use more than twice as many more sheets to soak up the same amount of liquid as Andrex, so it isn’t great value for money.
- Effectiveness = 3/10
- Value = 3/5
- TOTAL SCORE = 6/15
Lidl Floralys Soft White, £2.05 for 9 rolls
- Average roll length = 24.20 metres / Price per roll = 23p
- Average number of sheets per roll = 220 / Price per 100 sheets = 10p
This Lidl toilet roll felt very cheap, thin and scratchy. It disintegrated quickly in the water test, meaning you would need to use many sheets to get the same effect as the Andrex version.
That means it isn’t great value for money, despite being the cheapest product we tested, costing just 10p per 100 sheets.
- Effectiveness = 3/10
- Value = 3/5
- TOTAL SCORE = 6/15
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