Best Deals on Healthy-Home Essentials

If you’re looking for an air purifier for a small room, the Blueair Mini Restful might fit the bill. It’s on sale for the general public, and CR members can save even more. The Mini Restful earns the CR Recommended designation because it performed very well in our tests. Running at high speed, it aced the dust, pollen, and smoke removal tests, and did nearly as well operating at low speed. It gets a middling score for noise output at high speed, which is common across every model, but it’s actually pretty quiet at low speed, making it a great option for all-day use in, say, a home office.

The Blue Signature is one of our top-rated air purifiers for extra-large rooms. It didn’t ace any of our tests, but it earned high marks for particle removal at high speed and noise levels at low speed. But if you’ve got a room that’s 650 square feet or more, odds are that noise levels won’t be too much of an issue. 

This is $50 higher than it was during the last big sale, so if you wait until the end of the month, there may be a Memorial Day sale that will help you save more.

The Blueair Blue Pure 311i Max Air Purifier features an indicator light to alert you when you need to change or clean the filter. It also has a dirt sensor and four speeds. On its higher setting, it’s terrific at removing dust, pollen, and smoke, but expect a bit of noise. It’s easy to use, and is designed for use in a large space of 350 to 650 square feet. CR members find Blueair air purifiers to be highly reliable, and they’re very satisfied with their purchases.

The Leebein Power Spin Scrubber ANS-8050, now 10 percent less than usual, is a strong scrubber with an incredibly long battery life. It can last about an hour on its highest power mode, so it’s unlikely that it will die on you in the middle of cleaning. If the battery is entirely depleted, however, it will take a while to recharge. (In our tests, it took more than 3 hours.)

The scrubber has two speeds: 300 rpm and 400 rpm. It scores well for ease of use because it comes with 8 attachments, the most among the models we tested, including a scouring brush for greasy kitchen areas, a sponge brush for glass, a wool-like brush for polishing a car, and cloth brushes for leather and floor cleaning. It’s also relatively light and features an extension wand that extends up to 50 inches, giving you a wide reach. The angle of the scrubber’s head is fixed and can’t be adjusted. Unlike some of the other models, it comes with an IPX7 waterproof rating, meaning it can withstand brief immersion in water.

This classic, bright, concentrated cleaner can be used on most home surfaces. In our tests, it was especially good at lifting dirt from floors. It’s strongly scented, but if you’re looking for a bargain, it’s a solid buy, especially at 17 percent off.

This dish soap produced rich suds and had an elevated, herbal scent like no other we tested. It is also available in an easy-to-dispense 16-ounce bottle.

This Black+Decker POWERSERIES Extreme BSV2020P vacuum performs well in CR’s tests overall but struggled at edge cleaning. A few pluses: It’s self-standing, has a brush on/off switch, and features a filter cleaning dial that empties the filter dust into the dustbin to prevent your hands from getting dirty. In CR tests, it runs for about 30 minutes per charge on low and 10 minutes on the high setting. The batteries can be used in other Black + Decker products. A few caveats: If you grab the dustbin while vacuuming, it may disengage. The vac is also a bit wobbly in self-standing mode.

For a less expensive option than other robovacs, the Eufy C10 T2292 is a great choice if you don’t have too many carpeted areas in your home. While it’s only middling at cleaning dust and debris from carpets, it’s excellent at cleaning bare laminate floors in our lab tests. The vacuum is also impressive at cleaning up pet hair, making it ideal for pet owners.

This vacuum’s body is slimmer than those of the other vacuums we’ve tested, and its low clearance means it’s less likely to get caught under furniture. Although the vacuum’s dustbin is on the smaller side, that might not be much of a problem, because the vacuum automatically deposits debris into a self-emptying station.

The price of the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro Smart Wet Dry Vacuum Cleaner Mop fluctuates fairly often, but at nearly 50 percent off, this is just about the best price we’ve seen for this model. Wet pickup and dry pickup were very good, but dry pickup was only so-so. It earned the highest possible score in our tests for ease of cleaning, which is a plus, and run time was above average. It’s equipped with a battery life indicator, a dirt sensor, and an auto-drying feature that circulates warm air around the brush roll that you just washed. It weighs 11 pounds.

The Dirt Devil Compact Portable Spot Cleaner is back to the lowet price we’ve seen all year at Amazon. This is a light little carpet cleaner at just 9 pounds with a full tank of solution. While the portable cleaners in our tests don’t measure up to full-sized machines in terms of their cleaning abilities, this model did well, especially when it comes to drying. It’s also one of the quieter models we tested. The tank isn’t huge (partly why the cleaner is so light), but if you’re just using it for spills and spot-cleaning, this model will do the trick.

The Hoover SmartWash+ Automatic FH52000 is convenient to handle, adequate at removing red-clay stains from carpet, and outstanding at removing cleaning solution to leave carpets dry, according to our tests. The model comes with a hose and has separate tanks for clean and dirty water. This sale brings the price back down to where it was earlier this summer.

The high-end Hydrow Rower uses a quiet electromagnetic resistance system and tracks all standard metrics that rowers use to measure progress—from stroke rate to split time. This machine earns top marks across all CR’s tests. It also has a 22-inch high-definition screen that can be used to access Hydrow’s live and on-demand fitness classes. As with other high-end machines, those are subscription-based—$44 per month—and include access to many types of workouts, not just rowing. It’s $100 more than the sale price at the beginning of the month, so it’s not the best deal we’ve seen. But if you’re in the market, a $300 discount is still decent.

If you want a way to do cardio at home, exercising on an elliptical gets you an aerobic workout without the impact that comes with running. The Air Glide 14i is at a decent discount right now, and it’s CR Recommended for its above-average performance in our lab tests. This model got exemplary scores in our tests for construction, ease of use, and user safety. It’s also above average when it comes to ergonomics. It did fall short in terms of heart rate accuracy, but you can always wear a smartwatch or fitness tracker for more accurate readings if you want to track that.

The partial triangle handle and adjustable massage head on the Renpho R4 Pro make it easy for users to comfortably target hard-to-reach areas of the body. “The handle on my massage gun is really one of the biggest selling points,” said one of the Renpho R4 users we heard from, who also praised the light weight of the device. 

This device is not particularly powerful, but its moderate massage should still be sufficient for many users. It’s straightforward to use, with a single button to change speeds. And while it performs very well in our evaluations of handle ergonomics, postural stress, and ease of use, changing the attachments feels clunky and requires a significant force compared to the other devices we’ve tested.

This massage gun is pretty much always this price. It rarely goes on sale for less and almost never costs more, but it’s a great value, so I keep it on this list for those looking for a low-cost massage gun (I own one and it’s perfect for an occasional user). It offers a weaker massage than other devices we evaluated, though it may still be enough for some users—and it’s pretty quiet as a result. The interface on this device can be cumbersome. While it comes with 10 attachments and a case, the attachments often get jumbled up inside the case, making it annoying to fit the massage gun in. This device charges via a USB-C cable.

The Therabody Theragun Mini (Gen. 2) is a top pick for portability and noiselessness. This is the lightest model we evaluated, making it an excellent travel-sized option. For its size, the updated Theragun Mini delivers an impressive massage while still being one of the quietest devices we’ve tested. The wedge-shaped handle makes it easy to hold the device in a number of ways, but it still won’t be able to reach certain parts of your back. 

The Pixel Watch 3 has many of the same pros as its predecessor, also on sale below—an elegant design, as well as seamless compatibility with the Pixel phone and full Google ecosystem. In our testing, the model barely beats out the original, thanks to a slightly more robust suite of health features, like automatic workout detection and heart rate variability tracking. It also can give you a more holistic look at your health, with daily Readiness and Sleep scores. The Pixel Watch is also catching up to other high-end smartwatches with strong scores for ease of use, readability in bright and low light, and heart rate accuracy.

The Versa 4 is a great fit for fans of Fitbit who want a sleeker-looking smartwatch. You get a good-sized display and all the basics from GPS-enabled workout tracking to heart rate monitoring, plus a generous six days of claimed battery life.

The Farberware Millenium stainless steel set is a great, low-cost option if you’re interested in moving away from nonstick cookware. Plus, Wayfair’s price beats every other major retailer by $30, making this one of the better deals you’ll find during Way Day. The reason this is CR Recommended? It gets a perfect score in cooking evenness, and it gets nearly as good scores in all our other tests. The only places it falls a little short are handle sturdiness and sauce simmering.

The Circulon ScratchDefense A1 Series nonstick set may be a good option if you’re looking to replace your current cookware. It got top marks in our tests for cooking evenness and nonstick food release, and it did nearly as well when it came to handle temperature, nonstick durability, and heating speed. In this set, you’ll get two frying pans, a saute pan, two sauce pans, and a stock pot, along with four lids.

The Hestan ProBond Professional Clad set is the priciest stainless steel cookware set in CR’s ratings, and it’s now 20 percent off. This set receives excellent scores for speed of heating and cooking evenness. And for those nervous that stainless steel may cause food to stick, never fear: it also receives an excellent score for food release, meaning eggs cooked with oil slid off the pan with little to no effort in our lab tests. You may want to have a potholder at the ready when cooking, though, because its score for handle temperature is just so-so. This 10-piece set comes with a lifetime warranty.

Whether you’re a meal prepper or you just prefer quick and easy cooking, the microwave can play a big role in your kitchen. Anyday makes cookware specially designed for use in the microwave, and we have an exclusive offer on their cookware for our members that’s even better than the general sale. We’re not just talking reheating, but fully cooking meals.

In her review of the plastic-free io Collection, a collaboration between Anyday and Chef David Chang, CR reporter Pang-Chieh Ho found that it actually works really well. Ho cooked a variety of foods in her microwave, from rice to scrambled eggs to bacon, and even chicken and fish. Everything but the rice took under 15 minutes.

As its Category 5 name suggests, this gun-metal-finish blender is noisy, but its commercial-grade horsepower takes blending to the next level. In fact, it’s Cuisinart’s most powerful blender ever. With variable speed control from 1,500 RPMs to a turbo-boosting 30,000 maximum blending power, it also features automatic load sensing, adjustable presets, digital display, and a setting memory function. It comes with an extra large, 64-ounce BPA-free Tritan plastic jar with a soft-grip handle.

The Professional Plus Kitchen System BN801 Personal Blender is especially handy if you plan on using a new blender to make smoothies and soups, considering its excellent performance in our tests for icy drinks and purees. It also has very good performance in our ice crush tests. I haven’t seen the price go any lower this year, and our Price Tracker can back me up.

This Ninja air fryer has two baskets, and each can be removed on its own, which allows you to cook two different things at separate temperatures and cook times simultaneously (say, fries and chicken nuggets). Its total measured capacity is 6 quarts. In our tests, it was very easy to use and clean, and while it’s a little on the noisy side, it’s not the loudest of the models we’ve tested. It has six cook functions—air fry, air broil, roast, bake, reheat, and dehydrate—and programmed settings for cooking specific foods. It comes with a one-year warranty.

The NuWave Brio Plus 37401 is at the best price we’ve seen all year. It has a 7.1-quart capacity that can fit a good amount of food, which is ideal if you’re batch-cooking or preparing a meal for multiple people. It excels in our assessment of its controls and for ease of cleaning, and it’s almost as quiet as air fryers get. Its digital controls are also near the top of the machine and angled upward, so it’s a little easier to use them without stooping down.

The large Cuisinart AIR-200 has a window and a light so you can see your food cooking, and its large six-quart capacity means there’s enough room to cook for a crowd or to air fry an entire meal. Touchscreen controls come with five cooking pre-sets, including one for frozen snacks and one for leftovers, and a toss reminder alerts you when it’s time to flip your food. The AIR-200 also comes with a generous three-year warranty.

Ninja’s air fryers all perform well in our tests, and the Max XL is no different. What sets this one apart is its 5.5-quart capacity. Standard air fryers tend to fall in the 4-quart range. It got top marks in our lab tests for its easy controls, and scored better than average for convenience and noise. It did fall a little short when it came to cleaning.

This matches the same sale price we’ve seen a few times so far this year—and we’ve never seen the price go any lower.

The Chefman RJ38-2T not only earns our recommendation but also carries CR’s Green Choice designation, meaning it has less of an environmental impact than other air fryers, based on its design, energy usage, and other factors. This air fryer receives top scores for its ease of cleaning and noise, and a very good score for ease of use, which reflects how easy it is to set your desired time and temperature.

The 6-quart 1,350-watt DeLonghi Livenza is another multi-cooker without a pressure-cook function, so fast cooking isn’t its promise. But its slow-cooking mode is top-notch, with the model earning a strong rating in that test. It also earns top-notch scores for sautéing and steaming, both tests that few models ace.

This cooker has a baking function, too, which we tested with mixed results. Our chocolate chip bars were nice and chewy on top but burnt on the bottom around the corners of the pot. Like the Cuisinart above, this cooker’s oblong shape is useful for bulky roasts and racks of ribs.