Babs Costello from ‘Brunch With Babs’ steps “Inside the Labs” at the Good Housekeeping Institute for a behind-the-scenes look at how we test the products that make everyday life easier. From spilling cereal to vacuuming oats, Babs gets hands-on with our trusted methods—and we just might have her convinced to trade in her iron for our top-rated steamer.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00You know, steam is really a good cleaner.
00:02Things you can't wash.
00:04I'm sold.
00:05I'm sold.
00:09Hi, I'm Carolyn Forte, Executive Director
00:11of the Good Housekeeping Home Care and Cleaning Lab,
00:13and I'm so excited today to be here with Babs Costello
00:16from Brunch with Babs.
00:17Welcome, Babs.
00:18I'm sorry I did be here.
00:19As you can see, on this side of the lab,
00:21this is where we do all of our laundry evaluation.
00:23All of the stains that we put on fabrics
00:25for laundry detergent evaluation,
00:28stain removals, spot and stain treatments,
00:30all done in this part of the lab here.
00:32This is an interesting machine.
00:33That's a machine that evaluates detergent formulations.
00:36So you can put four different detergent formulations
00:39in each one of those chambers,
00:41test it at the same time, and compare the results.
00:44Wow.
00:44Yeah.
00:45One of the other things we do related to laundry
00:47are garment steamers.
00:48This one is called the Laura Star.
00:50So it's an upright steamer.
00:51There's a cart you can purchase with it,
00:53but it's so nice.
00:54This is the real deal.
00:54This is the real deal.
00:55It's got a nice big water tank,
00:57which is one of the things we look at.
00:58That's right.
00:59How long it steams,
01:00the capacity of the water tank,
01:01how easy it is to use,
01:03ease of use is evaluated on everything that we do.
01:05So we love this one because it's super powerful.
01:07We're going to have you steam this.
01:08Well, and you have the most wrinkled blouse.
01:10So if it's going to work,
01:12if it's really, you know, top of the top.
01:14We do that on purpose.
01:15Yeah.
01:16When we test irons in garment steamers,
01:18we wrinkle the fabrics up.
01:20Yes.
01:20Fold them up, twist them up,
01:22put a rubber band on them,
01:23and leave them overnight.
01:23So what we're looking at is we're looking
01:25at the amount of steam it produces.
01:27Okay.
01:27Let's see what we got.
01:29Oh, my word.
01:31That's incredible.
01:32Is that unbelievable?
01:36Wow.
01:37I mean, look at how fast.
01:38Want to give that other side a try?
01:39Yeah.
01:45Wow.
01:45Is that unbelievable?
01:46I'm going to throw my iron away.
01:48Really?
01:49You know, steam is really a good cleaner, too.
01:51It releases odors.
01:53Oh, my God.
01:53So for things you can't wash.
01:55I'm sold.
01:56I'm sold.
01:57This is incredible.
01:58It's beautiful.
01:59I love it.
01:59It's one of my favorites.
02:01Now, on this side of the lab,
02:02the other side was our laundry side.
02:03This is where we do floor care products.
02:05We've got a bank of dishwashers,
02:07as you can see here.
02:07Yeah, yeah.
02:07So we've got six different dishwashers
02:10that come in,
02:10and it's our job to make everything dirty,
02:12to see how well everything works,
02:14to clean it up.
02:14Clean, by the way.
02:16So we're going to have you do
02:17a little floor cleaning today,
02:18if you're up to it.
02:19Okay?
02:19I'm ready.
02:21So we're going to have some cereal today.
02:23Okay.
02:23And we're going to dump it on the floor,
02:24and I'm going to have you pick it up.
02:26Okay.
02:26And I've seen it done many times.
02:28Channel your grandchild.
02:29Yeah, here it is.
02:30Here it is.
02:30It's my turn to make a mess.
02:32I can't wait.
02:33Woo-hoo!
02:33Oh, no.
02:35Oh, I'm so sorry.
02:36Oh, that's okay.
02:37No worries.
02:38I didn't mean to spill my cereal.
02:39Auto mode.
02:40Auto mode.
02:41It's in auto mode.
02:43Okay.
02:46Oh, my gosh.
02:49And it's cleaning.
02:50It is.
02:52I want to tell you,
02:53back in the day,
02:54it was a lot more difficult
02:55to clean up these spills.
02:55Oh, my gosh.
02:56Isn't that unbelievable?
02:58And what's nice about it
02:59is that there's a clean water tank
03:00with detergent in it,
03:02so you can actually wash the floor
03:03when you're done.
03:04So you're washing the floor,
03:04cleaning up the spill,
03:05and your floor is better than ever.
03:07And then all of the dirty water
03:09powering off,
03:10it tells you what it's doing.
03:11The appliance on the charging base
03:13for self-cleaning.
03:14Then you finish with this.
03:15You put it back on the base.
03:16Yeah.
03:16You hit the self-cleaning cycle.
03:18It cleans itself.
03:19Oh, my word.
03:20This is unreal.
03:21So the next thing
03:21we're going to look at
03:22is stick vacs.
03:23We test stick vacs
03:24or dry vacuuming.
03:25Right.
03:26So I'm going to lay the carpet down.
03:27All right.
03:27We have an embedded dirt test,
03:28but we also do a litter test.
03:30I get to vacuum?
03:30Yes.
03:31I can't wait.
03:32So today we're going to have you
03:33work with this one
03:34from Samsung.
03:35Okay.
03:36I don't know if you've seen these
03:37that self-empty.
03:38Where have I been?
03:40So you sprinkle down
03:42some orzo pasta.
03:43And again,
03:44when we do our legitimate tests,
03:46we measure all of this.
03:47Oh, incredible.
03:49And then put a few little oats down.
03:51A little oat.
03:53Okay, that's good.
03:54So you're going to use this one.
03:55Okay.
03:57It's got AI,
03:58so it means that it senses
03:59how much soil is on the carpet.
04:02And it picks it up.
04:03Oh, my word.
04:04But you can increase the suction
04:05or decrease the suction
04:06if you want.
04:07If you feel.
04:07Yes.
04:08So now mid and max.
04:10Okay.
04:15Go ahead.
04:15Perfect.
04:16Yeah, yeah.
04:18Oh, my word.
04:19Wow.
04:21Love it.
04:22I'm going to do the whole thing
04:23because you're so clean here, right?
04:25This is unreal.
04:26So it did a good job, right?
04:27A great job.
04:28Yeah.
04:29There you go.
04:29Turn it off.
04:30Oh, my gosh.
04:31And the pole is adjustable,
04:32which is nice.
04:33This is fabulous.
04:34It's fabulous.
04:34And now, so now you put it back in.
04:36Right.
04:36Now we put it back on here.
04:37Yeah.
04:38So now what happens?
04:39This goes back in.
04:40Yeah.
04:41Okay.
04:43I didn't even have to push the button.
04:44You didn't even do it.
04:45You put it back on the tower.
04:46The little door opens up to the dust cup.
04:49The suction pulls out everything that's in there,
04:51puts it into a bag,
04:52and then you toss the bag when it's full.
04:55So you can handle it?
04:56Nothing.
04:57Isn't that great?
04:57That's quite a machine.
04:58I'm blown away.
04:59So the next thing we do on this side of the lab
05:01is dishwashers.
05:02Not only how well they clean,
05:03but how easy they are to load.
05:05Yeah.
05:05How much you can get in.
05:07And when we test dishwashers,
05:08we put a load in there
05:10that no one would ever put in their dishwasher.
05:12Run the cycle.
05:13Every fork, every glass, every plate gets a score
05:16in terms of how clean or dirty it is.
05:19So I want you to take a look at our light box here.
05:22And this is how we evaluate the glassware.
05:23Yeah.
05:24So how do we do?
05:24So we've got some in here that did well
05:26and some that didn't do so well.
05:27You see that one?
05:28Yeah, and I can see another one.
05:29Yep, absolutely.
05:30So each one gets a score
05:32for how clear and spot-free it is.
05:35This is incredible.
05:36Thank you, Babs.
05:37I learned so much today.
05:39Oh, I'm so glad you came.
05:39And so much about new products
05:41that are on the market
05:42that really perform like you can't believe.
05:44Yes.
05:45Thanks for coming, Babs.
05:46This has been so impressive.
05:48Oh, I'm so glad you were here.
05:49Such a fun morning.
05:50And tell me about your new cookbook.
05:51I understand you have a new cookbook coming out.
05:52I have a new cookbook.
05:53It's called Every Day with Babs.
05:55Okay.
05:55It's 101.
05:56Family-friendly dinner recipes
05:59that you are going to just love.
06:01Oh, my gosh.
06:03It's so great to be with you.
06:04Oh, so fun.
06:04Bye-bye.
06:15Bye-bye.
06:24Bye-bye.
06:25Bye-bye.
06:27Bye-bye.