We\'ve updated this post based on our new testing process. After comparing 12 popular stain removers, we found that Shout Advanced Stain Remover Gel and Oxi-Clean On-the-Go Stain Remover Pen were the most effective stain removers. Finally, we removed a product from The Laundress after a recent product recall.
Looking for the best stain remover to save your favorite t-shirt from certain doom?
We’ve all been there: you’re out and about enjoying a nice burger, salad, and glass of red wine when all of a sudden one, or all three, decide to spill on your favorite t-shirt and you’re suddenly in desperate need of the best stain remover. There are dozens of options out there from sprays to pens, powders and bars, all designed to help you remove clothing stains — but which one, if any, actually does the trick? We decided to put the best stain removers for clothes to the test to find out.
Removing a stain can be a complicated, multi-step process depending on the type of fabric you’re working with, the type of stain, how long it’s been sitting, and the stain remover you have access to. We could’ve spent months and months staining different types of fabrics with different substances, leaving them for different amounts of time and tallying up extremely granular, in-depth results for every possible stain scenario.
Instead, we decided to mimic the average, everyday stain scenario using both portable stain sticks and pre-wash spray removers on cotton white t-shirts to see which ones will lift your next spill the best. In total, we tested 12 popular stain removers against five common types of stains — coffee, pen ink, mustard, ketchup and olive oil.
Read More: The Best White T-Shirts of 2022
So how did the best stain removers stand up to our before and after tests? Keep reading for our full review of the best stain removers of 2022, plus more information on our testing process.
Editor’s Note: When testing the best stain removers for clothes, we included the popular product The Stain Solution from The Laundress. They have since recalled their entire product line due to potentially harmful bacteria, so we’ve removed them from this guide. They may still appear in some of our original photos. You can read more about the recall and find more information on their recall website here.
As you can see, no stain stick is a perfect match for yellow mustard, the bane of dry cleaners the world over. However, we found that the best stain removers from Tide, Shout, Oxi-Clean and some lesser-known brands were highly effective at removing the most common types of clothing stains.
After a comprehensive wash-and-wear test, we found that Shout’s Advanced Stain Remover was the best at-home spray stain remover, it removed stains most effectively and was the easiest to use. On the whole, the at-home sprays performed better than the portable stain remover sticks. However, our top picks in that category were Hate Stains Co.’s Stain Treater Spray and Shout’s To-Go Wipes.
To our surprise, the always-popular Tide Stain Stick was not the most effective stain remover for clothes. Keep reading to see all of our top picks, as well as more info on our testing process.
Not only is Shout’s Advanced Spray our favorite at-home spray stain remover by far, but it’s also one of the most affordable. It outperformed all others in our before and after stain testing. In addition to Shout’s stain-removing gel, a silicone bristle attachment makes it easy to apply the formula onto the stain without being too rough on clothes. It’s safe to use on all fabric types and all water temperatures, and we were very impressed with the results. It eliminated the ketchup and coffee stains and significantly lightened mustard, ink, and olive oil as well.
When it comes to portable stain removers, the Shout Wipe & Go stain remover wipes fared the best. They’re seamless to use on the go, offered impressive stain improvement across our test stains, and are safe to use on all washable fabrics. Unlike portable sprays or pens, the wipes allow you to moderate how much stain removal liquid you use and there’s much less bleeding and mess during the application process.
This stain remover spray from Grandma’s Secret Store impressively removed all five stains on the tester t-shirt and is made gentle for use on all washable fabric types, so you shouldn’t need to worry about accidental bleaching or damage. This spray was originally designed for rust stains, so it’s specially formulated to get out tough, set-in stains.
This stain remover from Hate Stains Co. is made with gentle, biodegradable ingredients that are safe to use with babies and children. It also happened to work incredibly well on all the stains we tried removing. It noticeably lightened and improved every stain, except for the mustard, and was very easy to spray without too much bleeding or mess.
Zout was the preferred at-home stain remover of SPY Senior E-Commerce Editor Taylor Galla before completing this test and it stood up to the competition fiercely. It removed or drastically improved nearly every test stain, and was an easy one-step process to get there. In the world of spray-and-wash formulas that use harsher chemicals to get the job done, this is our favorite.
Resolve Spray n’ Wash also makes an excellent pre-wash stain remover spray that was super effective during testing. It was not as effective at removing ink or mustard stains but worked quite well on ketchup, coffee, and olive oil. It has a moderate setting time and, like Zout, is safe to use on most fabrics that can handle harsher chemicals. We were impressed with its performance and would rate it mid-tier overall.
We tried a few ultra-portable stain remover stick and wipe options and this one from OxiClean was the most impressive. It lightened stains immediately upon use and also after a soak and wash. The pen itself works very well and was easy to use. It didn’t bleed quite as much as Tide To Go did and was more effective overall.
This Wow Stick from Nellie’s was one of the most unique stain removers we tried, and we were very impressed with the results. It’s made of a waxy material that you wet before use, so it’s a bit like using a bar of soap as a stain remover. It makes for a much cleaner, albeit stickier, process overall, and its effectiveness impressed us on nearly every test stain. While it lacks the name recognition of the best stain sticks, we’d recommend this over the ubiquitous Tide Stain Stick.
These were stain removers we weren’t as impressed with, or didn’t have any standout qualities like the ones previously discussed, but were worth including in the piece nonetheless. None of them damaged our clothing or were particularly difficult to use, they just didn’t “wow” our editors either.
Shout’s Stain Remover Spray worked perfectly well during testing, but not better than Resolve’s Spray n’ Wash, Zout or other options previously mentioned. It didn’t remove mustard or ink nearly as well as some other samples and despite removing coffee and ketchup quite well, it doesn’t have any unique or notable features we picked up on during testing.
We’re a bit surprised to rank this popular stain stick so low, but we were unimpressed by Tide’s results as a whole. The pen bleeds quite a bit during use, making it somewhat impractical for use on-the-go while you’re wearing the stained item. Tide’s wipes, on the other hand, would be much easier to use on something you’re already wearing.
Upon first application, pre-wash, it made the ink stain much worse and didn’t lighten anything else. It ran out of formula quickly and required frequenting pumping to dispel enough to cover the stain.
This is another product we were disappointed in. Not only does it take longer to use because they recommend a pre-soak of 2-6 hours before washing for stain removal, but it didn’t remove stains nearly as well as other, less intensive options. It’s also a powder form which is convenient for general stain removal in your washing machine, but is less ideal for isolated stain treatment.
In order to test the best stain removers we, you guessed it, stained a few pieces of clothing and used our test removers to side by side to see which one performed the best. After thoroughly researching the stain removers most cleaners across the web recommend, and finding the most popular ones on Amazon, we created a lengthy list from the top brands in the space.
Portable Stain Removers vs. At-Home Stain Sprays
Note: all of the stain removers we tested fall into two distinct categories — portable stain removers designed to be used out of the house and pre-wash spray treatments designed to be used at home (think on-the-go stain sticks versus spray bottles and powders). They’re both formulated for the same purpose, but their approaches are different and come with unique pros and cons. We ultimately compared them against each other for our final verdict, but took their distinct designs into account when closing ranks.
For the portable stain removers we took stock of how well they faired before washing in addition to after washing because they’re designed for on-the-go use when access to an immediate washing machine may be limited. For the pre-wash sprays we put them in the wash before judging their effectiveness.
Some of the portable stain removers we tested include Tide To Go, OxiClean’s On The Go Stain Remover Stick, Shout Wipes To Go and more. We also tested top-rated sprays from Shout, Resolve, Zout, OxiClean and Spray n Wash.
When you’re out and about the options for what can stain your clothing are aplenty, but we decided to narrow it down to five of the most common stain culprits of the food, beverage and liquid realm.
Our Stains:
Our Staining and Washing Procedure
We took a pack of white cotton t-shirts, a neutral fabric that would obviously show stains, and created a grid on each of them for each stain remover we were testing and painted on each stain to create a splotch. We then applied each stain remover according to the directions, pre-soaked them and washed them with a “Normal” laundry cycle and a “Mixed Loads” drying cycle. We used a Tide Free & Gentle pod to limit the stain removing of the detergent.
Note: for the OxiClean stain removing powder we gave it its own t-shirt since it’s designed to be used as a pre-soak and added to a regular laundry cycle.
As we’ve mentioned above, we separated stain removers into two categories during this test: portable and at-home. We measured both based on the same criteria, taking into account that they’re not made with the exact same objectives in mind.
As with all of our tests, our criteria for judging stain removers includes some specs, objective criteria, subjective criteria and any “wow” factors we encountered.
We gathered data on the following objective criteria during our tests.
Form of Stain Remover
Setting Time
Fabric Safety
In addition to gauging how effective each stain remover was at removing each type of stain, we also considered a few subjective criteria during our tests.
The best stain sticks and stain removers come in many forms, so there are a few factors you should consider before purchasing your preferred solution.
Stain Habits
How often do you stain your clothes? If it’s often it’s most likely while you’re outside the home, and a portable stain remover pen would be best. If your stains are further and fewer between, a spray for home use will suffice.
Clothing and Fabric
Another factor to keep in mind is the type of fabric you tend to wear. Some fabrics, like wool and cashmere, are harder to clean and need more care when removing stains. Others, like cotton, can tolerate sprays and intense wash cycles before fraying or shrinking.
Time and Effort
Lastly, you’ll want to consider how much time you want to dedicate to the task of removing stains. Are you a diligent cleaner who doesn’t mind a few extra steps? Do you want to exert the minimal amount of effort required? Some stain removers require a few extra steps while others take a few sprays and a good wash cycle, keep this in mind when making a purchase.
Here at SPY, we’ve written many how-to guides and reviews on cleaning, laundry and stain removal. We’ve tested and ranked carpet cleaners, how to clean a home security camera and how to wash your clothes at home. We’re also continuously improving and fine-tuning our testing process, including weighing the pros/cons of design, weighing convenience against effectiveness, and considering which product, out of many, we’d want to use in our real lives.
Taylor Galla is SPY’s Senior E-Commerce Editor. She’s reviewed and written about a plethora of home and fitness products from bike locks to spin bikes, adjustable dumbbells, weighted jump ropes and fitness mirrors. She is a passionate cleaner and laundry-doer in her household, and after reviewing hundreds of products for SPY has nearly perfected her product testing process.
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