This week, Value for Money looks at a range of available bathroom cleaners.

Cif

€1.65 for 500ml, €3.30 per litre

Highs: This is the most widely available and most instantly recognisable of the cleaners we tried and is very efficient and very versatile. It has a pleasant - well, comparatively - lemony scent which lingers, creating a lasting impression that you've been hard at work, something that endeared it to us. One bottle lasts an age in an average-sized house filled with averagely mucky people, and, while it does not wipe clean as easily as we would have liked, it does rinse off without much fuss.

Lows: It's hard to escape the idea that we're being asked to pay this price to cover the extensive marketing that has helped Cif become the household name it is. It is considerably more expensive than some of the lesser-known competition and not really a whole lot better.

Verdict: Good but overpriced

Star Rating: ***

Cillit Bang Power Spray

€4.59 for 750ml, €6.12 per litre

Highs: This is a very, very effective cleaner that cuts through grease, grime and soap scum with commendable efficiency, and for really heavy duty jobs you'd struggle to find something as good. It smells - weirdly, we thought - of pink grapefruit, left few, if any, streaks and rinsed clean very easily.

Lows: It comes with "new multi-power", whatever that is supposed to mean - not a whole lot, we suspect. There are a lot of surfaces this is unsuitable for, including marble, brass, enamel and wood - and human hands. "Do not leave on surfaces for more than one minute to avoid potential adverse effects", the bottle warned us, so we had to clean with unseemly haste; that, and the burning sensation in our noses as we raced to clean the shower did not help it score highly.

Verdict: Too harsh and too dear

Star Rating: **

Ecover Cream Cleaner

€2.45 for 500ml, €4.90 per litre

Highs: This is the environmentally friendly option and, the bottle assures us, has harnessed the power of nature and is for people who care. Its green credentials are pretty well established and the company deserves a pat on the back for at least trying to raise awareness. We were also impressed by its cleaning ability. It did all that was asked of it, wiped clean easier than most of the competition and left a very subtle (to the point of non-existent) fragrance behind it.

Lows: We'd like it to have had a stronger smell but that is only a minor gripe. When it comes to really grimy tasks, this would not be the first bottle we'd reach for, and for everyday use we're not entirely convinced this offers value for money. It is expensive and we fear we'd end up going through a lot of it.

Verdict: Good and green

Star Rating:***

Vim Cream

€2.19 for 500ml, €4.36 per litre

Highs: This is a smooth and heavily-perfumed cream that wipes and rinses clean pretty effortlessly. Vim has gone all upmarket with this "newest generation of creams" and it is made with "NEW Microspheres" which replace the large granules found in standard creams. These "NEW Microspheres" are, Vim assures us, "up to 1,000 times smaller than those in standard creams, providing a more effective and deeper clean".

Lows: And if that sounds like a whole lot of makey-up nonsense to you, than we're on your side. While many cream cleaners are guilty of a little unwarranted hype, this particular brand really goes for it. It's grand, it'll clean your bathroom - but in much the same way as all the other brands, microspheres or not.

Verdict: Don't believe the hype

Star Rating: **

W5 Cream Cleaner (from Lidl)

99c for 750ml, €1.32 per litre

Highs: This is a versatile cream cleaner that has clearly taken a good deal of inspiration from Cif, or at least its thicker, grittier cousins. It is very lemony and very, very cheap and is exceptionally good value for money. It probably is not as good as Cif, but it is half the price and it doesn't bother with any of the ridiculous claims to be found on some other bottles.

Lows: Because of its thick gloopy nature, it is requires a good deal more elbow grease to wipe clean, although it does rinse off very well. It is also only available in Lidl which might make it harder to get for many people.

Verdict: Very cheap and pretty good

Star Rating: ****