We present a numerical study of mixing and reaction efficiency in closed domains. In particular, we focus our attention on laminar flows. In the case of inert transport the mixing properties of the flows strongly depend on the details of the Lagrangian transport. We also study the reaction efficiency. Starting with a little spot of product, we compute the time needed to complete the reaction in the container. We find that the reaction efficiency is not strictly related to the mixing properties of the flow. In particular, reaction acts as a \