SPARKLE BRAND PAPER TOWELS FULL

The two bargain brands tested, Bounty Basic and Sparkle, ended up being nothing more than, ahem, paper tigers.For those who prefer durable paper towels that can stand up to the toughest cleaning jobs, then Scott paper towels are the way to go.However, keep in mind you are going to pay for it, as Bounty was among the most expensive brands on a cost per square foot basis. If you buy paper towels primarily for their absorbency, then Bounty is your best bet.If performance is your primary criteria for a paper towel, regardless of cost, then Scott, Bounty and Brawny are your best bets.If you’re looking for the paper towel that offers the best combination of price and performance, then Scott and Viva offer the best price-to-performance ratios.Here is a complete summary of my test results: In fact, my test results showed Scott to be significantly stronger than the next-best brand, Brawny. When it came to scrub strength, the Scott brand proved to be the most durable. Despite the low price, it performed very well in my absorbency test at 42 milliliters, only Bounty absorbed more water. The Viva brand was the least expensive paper towel at just a hair under two cents per square foot. It soaked up an average of 65 milliliters of water, far outdistancing its closest rivals.

When it came to absorbency, Bounty was the undisputed champion. That being said, Scott and Viva provided the best overall value. It turns out that no single brand excelled in all three categories.

The final ratings for each brand were simply derived by averaging the three scores for cost, absorbency and scrub strength. The top-performing towel was given a score of one hundred and the other towels’ scores were then scaled appropriately. Next, scores were assigned to each of the paper towels. I then counted the number of scrubs before the paper towel tore.įor each paper towel sampled, I conducted three separate absorbency tests and three scrub tests. To measure scrub strength, I wrapped a wet paper towel around a sponge and scrubbed it back and forth over a laminated counter top. To ensure an apples-to-apples comparison, I used 11 x 12 inch samples for all brands being tested. Once the towel was saturated, I removed it and squeezed the water into a beaker and measured it (in milliliters).

SPARKLE BRAND PAPER TOWELS FULL

To measure absorbency, I dipped a paper towel into a large glass full of water. Next, I had to devise a couple of tests to measure absorbency and scrub strength. The first step was to buy eight different brands of paper towels: Sparkle, Bounty, Bounty Basic, Scott, Great Value, Kirkland Signature, Viva and Brawny. Several years ago, Consumer Reports evaluated a bunch of different paper towels based upon absorbency, scrub strength and wet strength - but I’m most interested in:Īnd so, with that in mind, I decided to perform my own experiment comparing a host of paper towel brands based on those three criteria. Of course, the answer depends upon which factors one considers to be the most important when it comes time to evaluate them. With so many brands of varying price and quality to choose from, it’s tough to know which paper towel offers the best value. Today, the United States is the biggest consumer of paper towels, consuming 50% more towels than Europe and five times more than the folks in Latin America - so it’s no wonder that American grocery stores devote such an unbelievably large portion of their paper-products aisle to paper towels. Paper towels are the brainchild of Arthur Scott who, as the story goes, developed them in 1907 from a cartload of rejected toilet paper. Think about it: They’re not only invaluable for cleaning up spills and other messes, but the best ones can also handle tough jobs like cleaning the kitchen stove. The paper towel is one of the greatest inventions ever and, frankly, I think too many of us take them for granted.

Sparkle brand paper towels