I Avoid All Household Brands Except These 6 Options

When you've got little kids running around, you go through household products like they're going out of style. Toilet paper, disinfectant wipes, and trash bags seem to run out faster than we can buy them. That's why, as a mom of three kids, I have to prioritize purchasing products that are both high-quality and affordable. Sometimes, that means opting for the generic brand, and sometimes it means splurging on a name-brand product.

Some of the most common household products in the U.S. are paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, wipes, and trash bags. Like many families, we have a preferred brand for all of these products. In some cases, it's because of the cost, and in other cases, it's because of how effective a certain brand is.

In this slideshow, we'll walk through the household brands my family of five can't live without and why we choose each one.

Spills are a part of life when you have young kids. From juice to cookie crumbs to yogurt, there's almost always something spilled on the floor. In our house, the Swiffer is the quickest way to clean up those pesky messes.

Many stores, like Target, sell their own version of Swiffer wipes. I want to like the store brand wet mops as much as the name brand since the generic brand is a lot more affordable, but the quality doesn't compare. Other brands of wet mopping refills just don't get the job done like Swiffer.

Cascade is one of the most popular dishwasher detergent brands out there. It's easy to find at most stores like Target or Walmart, and it is often available at many Costco locations for a competitive price, though availability may vary by store.

Dishwasher detergent is another household product I wish I didn't have to splurge on. Some of the generic brands are less than half the cost of Cascade, but they leave our dishes with a residue, or they don't clean the food off well at all. You'll find us buying Cascade detergent at Costco for as long as we have a dishwasher.

When you've got little kids in the house, it's not just messes you have to worry about — it's also germs. Disinfectant wipes are a must-have product in every household, especially if you've got kids. But it's easy to go through them quickly, especially during cold and flu season.

Other brands of disinfectant wipes may be just as effective at killing germs, but they're not as high-quality as the Lysol brand. Out of all the ones I've tried, Lysol wipes are the toughest and leave the least amount of residue.

I've gone through my fair share of laundry detergent brands as a mom of little ones. I know how sensitive their skin is when they're born, and I try to avoid brands that have unnecessary fragrance or other ingredients, even if they claim to be baby-friendly. Molly's Suds has ended up being our favorite choice for detergent, and we appreciate their mission.

Powdered laundry detergent isn't for everyone, and it took me some time to get used to it, but we love Molly's Suds. When our babies are little, we buy the original unscented detergent to use on their clothes. Molly's Suds does offer a liquid detergent as well that comes in a lavender scent.

Although there are many Up&Up products we skip over, we exclusively buy the Target brand trash bags. As of 2026, Up&Up offers a wide range of household essentials, such as toilet paper, paper towels, and storage bags.

Trash bags are one of the products that we prefer from the Up&Up brand. This brand has several varieties, such as unscented kitchen bags, heavy-duty bags, and ultra-stretch trash bags. We like using the Up&Up kitchen bags with a lavender scent and find that the scent is not overpowering like other brands.

There are plenty of quality toilet paper brands to choose from, and I'll be the first to admit that I often make a decision based on which brand is on sale. When shopping at Target, I'll check the Circle app to see if there are any coupons before purchasing, but when there aren't, Cottonelle is the go-to choice for our family.

There are actually quite a few toilet paper brands our family is fond of, but Cottonelle is our go-to because of the texture. Cottonelle is softer than many other brands, in our opinion, and higher quality than some of the store-brand options.