Stain Removers Reviews

We found numerous tests of stain removers, but only a few go beyond a casual test of a single product. Good Housekeeping provides the most reviews, primarily in the form of short videos in which a few products are shown at work. Good Housekeeping covers stain removal products for clothing, but also for carpets, walls and general household use, so it's a good destination if you have an unusual stain. They even report on stain-resistant tablecloths and clothing. Good Housekeeping also maintains an alphabetized stain database along with suggestions for removal.

While Good Housekeeping has the most tests, Consumer Reports has the most extensive test. Editors try three "instant" stain removers on 48 stained fabric swatches of varying fibers and stains. Furthermore, Consumer Reports includes stain removal as a component of their overall testing of laundry detergents. In addition, editors offer short reports on "do-it-all" household cleaners, homemade remedies and carpet stain removers. Slate.com also contributes a well done hands-on test. More stain removers are tested (seven), but only a T-shirt is used for testing stain removal.

Good Housekeeping, Consumer Reports and Slate conducted the most comprehensive tests by far. To supplement this research, we also found more than a dozen casual tests conducted by television news programs, which usually choose to test just one product (usually either Tide to Go or OxiClean) against a couple of stains.

You've undoubtedly heard one of the many home remedies for removing stains -- using club soda on a red wine stain is a classic example. Slate tester Dan Chase includes club soda in his test, but finds that it wasn't very effective. Ultimately, club soda is outperformed by five commercial products (although it does just as well as or better than three others). In a 2006 report on homemade remedies, Consumer Reports cautions that such solutions "don't perform as well as the products you'll find in stores." We found reference to a scientific trial that tested commercial cleaners against alternative cleaners, such as borax, lemon juice, vinegar, ammonia, baking soda and water. In this 1994 study from the Journal of Environmental Health, the home cleaners as a group are less effective "in both microbial reduction and soil removal" than the commercial cleaners. The article suggests that consumers have to work harder with home remedies than with commercial products to achieve the same results.

Some home remedies may even be harmful to clothing. Dishwasher detergents are sometimes a component in MacGyver-like home remedies. However, "they may fade colors or damage wool, silk, or nylon fibers," according to an article posted on the Ohio State University website by Janis Stone, a textiles and clothing specialist. Stone also cautions that dishwasher detergents "are so highly alkaline they can irritate your skin if you use them in stain removal."

The Internet abounds with websites that will help you remove just about any stain you can come up with, but many of the remedies include commercial products, including dish soap or laundry detergent, or agents you might not usually have on-hand, such as glycerin or wood alcohol. Also, home remedies sometimes involve mixing and measuring several ingredients in precise amounts. Experts agree that a key to stain removal is addressing the stain as soon as possible, which might be facilitated by having a product you can use immediately.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

Tide to Go and OxiClean Powder are the most widely reviewed products. However, they are also more frequently the subject of single-product tests where the reviewer does not compare performance to other products. So while these two products get a lot of recommendations, results of comparison testing is far more mixed. In fact, experts say that no stain remover will work well for every stain. Tide to Go, for example, works best on fresh food stains. As a laundry additive, OxiClean seems to work well for grass stains, grape juice stains and dirt, but not as well for greasy or tomato-based stains.