How We Choose the Best Home Products

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From soft-yet-durable sheets to powerful vacuums, the Business Insider Reviews team rigorously tests and reviews a wide variety of items for the home. For nearly five years, the team has tested hundreds of products, including mattresses, sheets, vacuums, home-office furniture, cleaning products, and many more.

What types of home products we test

Mattresses: We test the best mattresses for all types of sleepers from a wide range of brands, including Casper, Helix, Leesa, Tempur-Pedic, and more. And yes, our sleep reporter sleeps on every single mattress he tests for at least two weeks.

Bedroom furniture and bedding: Our reporters review and test bedroom products, including the best bed frames and linens, all price points and climates. They’ve tested practically every fabric and have tried sheets, duvet covers, pillows, and comforters from Brooklinen, The Company Store, Crane & Canopy, L.L.Bean, and more.

Vacuums: From the best robot vacuums to cordless to upright, we use benchmark and objective tests for vacuums and recommend products from Bissell, Dyson, Roborock, Shark, and more.

Bath linens and laundry care: It’s important to keep your bathroom free of mold and mildew, so we test bath mats and towels to make sure they dry quickly. We’ve developed tests for clothes steamers, hangers, and drying racks, and have also evaluated laundry detergent for efficacy.

Air conditioners, fans, and heaters: We’ve tested space heaters, air conditioners, and fans to ensure they provide great climate control without being too noisy or difficult to use.

Furniture and large appliances: These are some of the biggest investments you’ll make for your home. We use expert sources, in-depth research, and hands-on testing to review the best sofas, dishwashers, bathtubs, and more.

Home office: From office chairs to standing desks, we put home-office furniture through the paces to ensure it’s sturdy and easy to use while still being stylish and affordable.

Home improvement tools: We methodically research the tools and equipment you need to care for and repair your home. We interview industry experts and do extensive research and testing to review the best lawn mowers, best paint, best drills, and more.

Home accessories, decor, and services: We believe your home should be a safe and comfortable place to be. To help you find the best smoke detector, trash can, compost bin and more, we extensively research and test a wide variety of home accessories, decor, and home services.

Our sleep reporter, James Brains in his testing room where he’s slept on more than 60 mattresses.

James Brains/Business Insider

How we test home products

We test home products by using them every day for weeks and months. We develop original testing methods and use benchmarks to evaluate home products and objectively compare them. We sleep on pillows for weeks, wash and rewash sheets, run cordless vacuums until their batteries run out, and assemble office chairs and standing desks. We take factors like price, durability, style, and other factors into consideration to offer quality options for all budgets.

What sets us apart from other review sites

Instead of testing in labs, we use products in our own homes in real-life conditions. We test products as professionals to evaluate how each item meets industry standards, but we don’t stop there. Where other sites may evaluate a mattress based on performance in lab tests, our reporters sleep on every mattress for a minimum of two weeks. Every product we test becomes part of our daily routines, so we know if a vacuum can keep up with heavy shedding or if an air conditioner is loud enough to keep you awake at night.

Though we earn commission on products purchased through our stories, no company can pay us to be included. All of our top picks are researched, tested, and then compared to our previous experience.

Meet our expert home team

Our home team has years of experience testing and reviewing products. Each editor and reporter is an expert in their beat, having reviewed dozens of products from their categories. Meet the home team below:

Read more about our teams

If you want to learn more about how each team tests products and meet the rest of our editors and writers of Business Insider Reviews, check out these pages:

Jenny McGrath

Senior Reporter

Jenny McGrath is a senior science reporter, covering archaeology, paleontology, and more.
She’s written about science throughout history, technological innovations, and women in science. Some archaeological and paleontological research she has covered include Neanderthal cave drawings, some of the oldest stone tools found in the US, a tiny “ice mouse” that lived among dinosaurs, and Pleistocene extinctions.
Other areas of interest include invasive species and scientific mysteries.
Before joining the science team, Jenny covered smart-home technology and home appliances.
Prior to working at Business Insider, Jenny was a senior writer and home editor for Digital Trends. She launched the site’s home section as its first home editor in 2014, before Amazon released the first Echo and the same year Google bought Nest. At trade shows including CES, KBIS, and IFA, she’s watched smart-home and home appliance trends evolve.
She always has podcast recommendations.

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