Cheap Cleaning Products: Woolies Wins at $40.45

Woolworths has this 12-item cleaning and laundry basket for $40.45. Coles comes in at $54.25. Aldi lands at $87.06, but that figure is misleading because two items simply aren't available there. IGA sits at $55.60 with one item missing.

So the honest headline is: Woolies wins this one by a clear margin, and Aldi is not the budget play for this particular shop.

What Does a Monthly Cleaning Cupboard Actually Cost?

This basket covers the things most households restock every few weeks: laundry liquid, dishwasher tablets, toilet paper, garbage bags, bleach, fabric softener, tissues, a multipurpose spray, toilet cleaner, dishwashing liquid, paper towels, and dish sponges. Twelve items. Nothing fancy.

According to Canstar Blue's July 2025 survey, Aussie households spend an average of $178 per week on groceries. Cleaning and laundry supplies sit outside that number for most people until the month they need to restock everything at once, and that's when the price swings really bite. Some of these items move 30% or more between catalogue cycles, so timing the restock matters almost as much as which store you choose.

Where the Biggest Savings Are

Three items do most of the heavy lifting in separating Woolies from the pack.

Dishwasher tablets (40 pack) are $4.00 at Woolies. That's the cheapest in the basket by a clear margin. If you're paying more than that elsewhere, you're leaving money on the bench.

Bleach (1.25 L) is $2.00 at Woolworths. Not a huge dollar figure on its own, but it's the same price as dish sponges ($1.80 at Woolies) and cheaper than most people expect bleach to be.

Laundry liquid (2 L) is $1.99 at Aldi, the cheapest of any store on that one item. If you're already shopping at Aldi for other things, throw it in the trolley. CHOICE has previously flagged Aldi's front-loader detergents as strong performers for the price, so you're not sacrificing quality there.

The multipurpose spray ($1.85 at Aldi), garbage bags ($1.99 at Aldi), toilet paper ($8.39 at Aldi), dishwashing liquid ($1.39 at Aldi), and tissues ($1.79 at Aldi) are all cheapest at Aldi too. That's six items where Aldi beats everyone, but Aldi also can't sell you two items in this basket at all, which is why its total blows out.

Where Prices Are Basically the Same

Fabric softener ($2.70 at Coles), toilet cleaner ($2.20 at Coles), and paper towels ($2.00 at IGA) are cheapest at their respective stores, but the differences from second place are small enough that you wouldn't drive anywhere specifically for them.

Dish sponges at $1.80 from Woolies are only cents away from what you'd pay at Coles or IGA. Same story with bleach. On those items, whichever store you're already in wins.

Is the Cherry-Pick Worth It?

The cherry-pick total, buying each item at its cheapest store, is $38.20. That saves you $2.25 compared to buying everything at Woolworths.

Two dollars and twenty-five cents. For visits to multiple stores.

Be honest with yourself: if you're already an Aldi regular and a Woolies regular in the same week, the cherry-pick makes sense. Grab your laundry liquid, multipurpose spray, dishwashing liquid, garbage bags, toilet paper, and tissues at Aldi, then pick up your dishwasher tablets, bleach, dish sponges, and fabric softener at Woolies. Add toilet cleaner and paper towels wherever you happen to be.

But if you'd need to make a dedicated extra trip? That $2.25 saving won't cover the petrol.

Who Should Shop Where

If you shop at Woolies anyway, this is your basket. $40.45 for the lot, and you'll find almost everything on the shelf. The dishwasher tablets alone justify it.

If you're an Aldi loyalist, you'll save on six individual items but you'll need to top up two elsewhere. Budget $35 at Aldi and add $5, 7 at Woolies or Coles for what's missing.

If Coles is your regular store, you're paying $13.80 more than you need to for this basket. That's real money over 12 months. Even switching just the dishwasher tablets and laundry liquid to a different store saves a noticeable amount at the end of the year.

IGA shoppers are in a similar position to Coles. One item isn't stocked, and most prices run above Woolies. The paper towels at $2.00 are a genuine win if you're already there, though.

The Practical Call for Families vs. Single Households

A family of four burns through laundry liquid, dishwasher tablets, and garbage bags fast. For them, the Aldi items, especially the $1.99 laundry liquid and $3.99-range tablets when on special, add up to real savings over a year. Running two trolleys at two stores is already normal for a lot of families doing a big weekly shop.

A single person or couple restocking every 6, 8 weeks? Woolies at $40.45 is simple and genuinely good value. Don't overthink it. Grab everything in one go and move on.

The data from Finder confirms what most shoppers already know: the weeks you need nappies, cleaning goods, and dishwashing tablets in the same shop are the ones that blow the budget. Planning this restock separately from the food shop, and checking the catalogue cycle, is the one habit that consistently cuts the bill.