The Worst Home Products
Here are 18 that didn't make the grade in CR's tests, from fridges that lose their cool to wood stains that fade away in no time
We usually write about the best products to help you find the ones most fit for your home, but with the 9,000+ products that have gone through our labs, there are bound to be quite a few on the other end of the spectrum.
Here, we highlight some of the worst products we’ve tested.
Worst Major Appliances
These large appliances cost thousands of dollars, but their performances in CR’s tests struggle to justify their price tags.
Refrigerator: Viking Professional 7 Series VBI7360WRSS
Overall Score: 44
CR’s take: This Viking refrigerator costs more than $15,000, but in our tests, its internal temperature does not always match the thermostat setting. It also earns unfavorable ratings for predicted reliability and owner satisfaction—people who buy Viking refrigerators are more likely to have them break within the first few years than with other brands, and they’re also not likely to recommend Viking fridges to others. For better options, read about the best refrigerators from our tests. And for more information on refrigerators, see our refrigerator buying guide.
Washing machine: Maytag Commercial MVWP576KW
Overall Score: 27
CR’s take: This Maytag Commercial MVWP576KW washes clothes gently and quickly, with just a 30-minute cycle and a claimed capacity of 3.5 cubic feet. It’s also energy-efficient and barely vibrates. But a washer is designed to clean clothes, and this one isn’t up to the task, receiving a poor rating for its cleaning performance. It’s also a water guzzler and noisy, earning unimpressive marks in both areas. These tested deficits make it our lowest-rated washer. You can find better options in our roundup of the best washing machines, or read our washer buying guide for more information on shopping for a washing machine.
Range: Fisher & Paykel OR30SCG4X1 Pro-Style Range
Overall Score: 33
CR’s take: If you’re spending more than $5,000 on a gas range, you’d probably expect stellar performance and fancy features, not one of the single worst ranges we’ve tested in recent years. The Fisher & Paykel OR30SCG4X1 is a dud of a pro-style range, and while it may be beautiful, it lacks even basic features like a self-cleaning oven or markings for common temperatures on the oven temperature dial. Performance is largely subpar, too, with exceptionally poor baking, so-so broiling, a small oven, and burners that can’t maintain a steady simmer. Pro-style ranges often fall behind the very best regular ranges, but we’ve still got you covered if you crave that pro-style look. Find out more about ranges in our kitchen range buying guide.
Worst Countertop Appliances
From mediocre smoothies and terrible coffee to lukewarm food, these smaller kitchen appliances will help kickstart your day—but not in a positive way.
Countertop microwave: Commercial Chef CHM14110B6C
Overall Score: 39
CR’s take: With a name like Commercial Chef, you’d expect this large countertop microwave to be competent in the kitchen. On the contrary. It heats slowly and unevenly, and doesn’t defrost well, either. And the controls aren’t intuitive, so you’ll be left leafing through the manual when trying to make adjustments. It is pretty quiet, which is a blessing because it will have to be running a long time to get your food hot. For better options, read about the best microwaves from our tests. For more information on microwaves, see our microwave buying guide.
Toaster oven: GoWise USA GW44800-O Deluxe Toaster oven
Overall Score: 34
CR’s take: This GoWise toaster oven lands at the very bottom of our toaster oven ratings—and for good reason. This countertop cooker is poor at baking and toasting and is not easy to use. It only does one thing well—reheat. Outside of that, its performance in our tests can be described as passable at best. If you’re looking for even toast and better baked goods, read about the best toaster ovens from our tests. And to find out more about toaster ovens, see our toaster and toaster oven buying guide.
Coffee maker: Mr. Coffee HotCup Single Serve/Pod Free BVMC-HC-CIPS
Overall Score: 35
CR’s take: Mr. Coffee coffee brewers are quite reliable based on our member surveys, but that’s the only thing this single-serve brewer has going for it. It receives a less than satisfactory rating for brew performance, the most important test we conduct on coffee makers, and our tests found it rather difficult to clean and use. For top-rated options, read about the best coffee makers from our tests. To learn more about what to look for in coffee makers, see our coffee maker buying guide.
Stand mixer: Hamilton Beach 6 Speed 64655 Mixer
Overall Score: 39
CR’s take: Don’t be tempted by the low, low price of this Hamilton Beach stand mixer, because it won’t help you up your baking game. In fact, you can buy a better hand mixer for about the same price. Although our testers found the mixer’s controls to be intuitive, they found its mixing to be just so-so. The model also vibrates and labors when kneading dough, and it took a long time to whip cream in our test. For our favorite picks, read about the best stand mixers from our tests. And for more information on mixers, see our mixer buying guide.
Blender: 3 Squares Soup3rb 7-cup Cook & Blend
Overall Score: 26
CR’s take: Despite its name, results from this blender aren’t superb at all, especially if you like soups. Our tests reveal that this blender is lousy at puréeing raw ingredients into soups. Sure, it can chop ice, but not for long stints due to its subpar durability. If you’re thinking you can get by just making smoothies, it’s so-so at that, too. For the best full-sized blenders from our tests, check out our detailed ratings. To find out more about different types of blenders, see our blender buying guide.
Worst Home Improvement Products
These home improvement products will hardly improve your home. In fact, they make your house more vulnerable to break-ins and to scratches from foot traffic.
Door lock: Yale Edge Series YR82EB
Overall Score: 9
CR’s take: This Yale deadbolt is the weakest door lock in our ratings, receiving substandard scores for being highly susceptible to kick-ins, lock picking, and being drilled through with a cordless drill. For stronger picks, read about the best door locks from our tests. And for more information on door locks, see our door lock buying guide.
Video doorbell: SpotCam Video Doorbell 2
Overall Score: 26
CR’s take: This SpotCam video doorbell has terrible video quality, sluggish response time for alerts, and disappointingly weak data privacy and data security. Simply put, it won’t do a good job of keeping watch over your front door, and it won’t protect your data well, either! For video doorbells with better privacy settings and quicker response times, read about the best video doorbell cameras from our tests. And for more information on video doorbells, see our home security camera buying guide.
Flooring: Heritage Mill Red Oak Natural Click PF9356 (Home Depot)
Overall Score: 27
CR’s take: The Heritage Mill Red Oak Natural Click flooring at Home Depot earns only mediocre ratings for resisting foot traffic and scratches, meaning it’s more likely to show wear, especially if you have pets or a lot of people in your household. It also doesn’t resist dents, earning a poor rating for the visible marks left when we dropped objects on it to simulate a pot or utensils falling onto the floor. And it gets a poor score for resisting sunlight; after we subjected samples of the flooring to intense ultraviolet light for about two weeks, they looked much lighter. Not great for anyone who likes to let the sun shine in. For stronger, more durable flooring selections, read about the best flooring from our tests. And for more information on flooring, see our flooring buying guide.
Worst in Cleaning and Filtering
These tools have a hard time with just performing the actions dictated by their name, whether it’s cleaning, purifying the air, humidifying your apartment, or simply filtering water.
Air purifier: Black+Decker BXPI510B Air Purifier
Overall Score: 14
CR’s take: An efficient air purifier delivers on one core promise. It removes harmful airborne particles that could potentially make you sick. But the Black+Decker BXPI510B struggles to do that. It’s not very effective at removing dust, smoke, and pollen at any speed, high or low, receiving a dismal rating in both of these tests. It also lacks a filter indicator, so you’ll have to keep track of when it’s time to change/clean the main filter. Another drawback—because it’s not Energy Star qualified, it’s less energy-efficient compared with qualified air purifiers. For better options, read about the best air purifiers from our tests. And for more information on air purifiers, see our air purifier buying guide.
Robotic vacuum: Eureka Groove NER300
Overall Score: 32
CR’s take: The best thing about the Eureka Groove NER300 robovac is that it’s pretty quiet. So quiet, in fact, that you’ll hardly even know it’s working, especially because its scores for cleaning carpet are subpar and for bare floors they’re abysmal. And don’t depend on it to tidy up along the edges. Instead, check out the best robotic vacuums from our tests. And for more information on vacuums, see our vacuum buying guide.
Console humidifier: Aircare Companion CM330DWHT
Overall Score: 26
CR’s take: The Aircare Companion CM330DWHT console humidifier is energy-efficient and relatively easy to use. However, this unit is very noisy, and its water output over 24 hours—2.2 gallons per day—just isn’t enough to humidify the 1,000 square feet or more it’s designed to handle. In contrast, the CR-recommended and highly rated Vornado EVAP40 emits a commendable 4.1 gallons per day, for a price of about $50 more. For more options and information, check out our humidifier buying guide.
Small-room humidifier: HoMedics TotalComfort UHE-WB01
Overall Score: 28
CR’s take: The concept for this portable humidifier is a great example of reuse philosophy: It allows you to employ a standard-sized water bottle as its tank. But the performance of the HoMedics TotalComfort UHE-WB01 fails to match up to the idea. This low-priced unit, designed to add moisture to rooms of 26 to 299 square feet, emits less than 1 quart in a 24-hour period, earning it the worst possible output score in our ratings. For about the same price, Comfort Zone CZHD20 Tabletop Humidifier, which uses the same design concept, puts out more than twice as much moisture. For more information on the best models and sizing a humidifier to your space, see our humidifier buying guide.
Water filter pitcher: Clear2O GRP200
Overall Score: 38
CR’s take: The Clear2O GRP200 is the lowest-rated pitcher in CR’s ratings. Your patience will be tried by its extremely slow flow rate. This pitcher also has the smallest capacity in our tests (6 cups per pitcher), which means you’ll be racing from faucet to fridge more often than a parched teenager after soccer practice. You might prefer highly rated pitchers from the likes of Brita or Pur Ultimate, which performed well in our tests. You can learn more about how to filter your water by checking out our water filter buying guide.
Worst Outdoor Products
Be sure to skip this lawn mower and deck stain if you want your yard to look pristine.
Lawn mower: Sun Joe MJ401C-XR Battery Mower
Overall Score: 38
CR’s take: This 14-inch battery-powered push mower from Sun Joe is the lowest-rated mower in our tests. There are only two mowers with cutting decks this narrow in our ratings—the other is the slightly better Worx WG779—but because of their miniature size, neither can match the cutting performance of bigger machines. The Sun Joe takes 3 hours to charge, but its battery conks out after about 25 minutes. There’s also no mulching mode. Plus, if you want the mower to discharge clippings from the side, you have to fork out more to buy an accessory chute. For better battery-powered offerings, check out the best battery mowers. And for more information on mowers, see our lawn mower and tractor buying guide.
Deck stain: Sherwin-Williams SuperDeck Clear Sealer Wood Stain
Overall Score: 4
CR’s take: A deck stain (or sealer) has one job, to protect your wood deck and keep it looking new. The SuperDeck Clear Sealer performs that one job so poorly that we deemed its protection unacceptable after only a single year of simulated wear. It also offered almost no notable benefits when it came to preventing mold or mildew formation, color change, or cracking. It’s true that most clear sealers don’t perform nearly as well as the best semi-transparent or solid color stains in our test, but SuperDeck is at the very bottom of the pack. If the thought of staining and sanding a wood deck doesn’t appeal to you, consider trading up to composite decking, which doesn’t require that kind of maintenance. Learn more about wood stains in our wood stain buying guide.