Consumer Reports - Companies spend more than $300 million a year advertising laundry detergents. Tide is even employing the star power of a TV celebrity these days.

Project Runway's Tim Gunn is touting Tide's latest edition: Tide Total Care. He claims even after 30 washes Tide Total Care keeps clothes looking like new.

Consumer Reports wanted to see whether Tide Total Care delivered on its promise, so testers washed three brand new cotton dresses like this one 30 times; one in Tide Total Care, another in All Small & Mighty, and another in 2X Ultra Tide for Coldwater.

Consumer Reports then compared the new dress to the washed ones. The dress washed with All faded compared with the dress washed with Tide Total Care. But the dress washed in 2X Ultra Tide for Coldwater looks about the same as the Tide Total Care dress and it costs about half as much.

In Consumer Reports' stain-removal tests, the cheaper 2X Ultra Tide for Coldwater did a better job.

In the end, Consumer Reports named two Best Buys that will tear through tough stains and save you some money, too.

For conventional top-loading washers, try 2X Ultra Tide for Coldwater. For high-efficiency front-loaders, Consumer Reports recommends Ultra Cheer Colorguard 2X concentrated.

To save more money, wash your laundry in cold water instead of warm. With a traditional top-loader, Consumer Reports says that can reduce your energy costs by $60 a year.

(Consumer Reports has no commercial relationship with any advertiser or sponsor appearing on abc27.com.)

(Copyright © 2005-2009 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc.)

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