The way we test

Good Housekeeping online 17.09.2006

Our tests are devised to replicate as closely as possible the way you use things at home.

GHI tester and iron Researchers in the Good Housekeeping Institute are trained consumer scientists with a meticulous approach to testing and assessment, but they aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. They let milk pans boil over, spread chocolate on the laundry, smear lipstick on wine glasses, and pour the contents on the carpet. How else could we find out which hobs are easiest to clean, which washing machines and dishwashers wash best and which stain removers really do the job?

There's more to Good Housekeeping than keeping house and getting things clean, though. Suitcases are trundled up and down stairs and over cobbles, while pushchairs and their occupants endure only a slightly less rigorous road test. Cameras and cordless phones are painstakingly assessed, not just for their technical performance at picture-taking or call-making but also for how easy to use they are by people with large or tiny hands, dirty or otherwise. Our tests are devised to replicate as closely as possible the way you would want to try things out if you had the chance - and to produce results that allow us to make fair comparisons, without fear or favour, between different products on the market.