Best Laundry Stain Removers From Consumer Reports' Tests - Consumer Reports (2023)

FAQs

What is the most effective laundry stain remover? ›

OxiClean has the best overall value for its ability to tackle tough, set-in stains on clothes and throughout other household areas. We think it's the best laundry stain cleaner on the market and can replace several products in the laundry room. OxiClean is also easy to use in most cases.

Your best bet, though, is to buy pure sodium percarbonate (which you can easily find on Amazon for less than $20). Not only does sodium percarbonate not contain any unnecessary additives as do some store-bought products; Richardson says it's also much stronger than true OxiClean (which means you need less of it).

Tide's Power Pods Free do both. A winner for cleaning and stain removal in our 2021 Good Housekeeping Cleaning Awards, this Tide detergent beat out all the other detergents we tested in removing stains like ketchup, red wine and grass.

Sponge or soak stain in cool water. Pretreat with prewash stain remover, liquid laundry detergent, liquid detergent booster or paste of powder laundry product and water. Launder using sodium hypochlorite bleach, if safe for fabric, or oxygen bleach.

Yes! Vanish is capable of removing old stains as well as new stains.

Even if that stained shirt has been sitting at the bottom of the laundry bin forever, OxiClean™ Versatile Stain Remover can get out even old, set-in stains. Fill scoop to line 4 per 1 gallon of water. Submerge stained items in solution after dissolved.

Don't use OxiClean on wool, silk, or other off-limits fabrics. OxiClean's manufacturer suggests that it should not be used on the following fabrics: wool, wool blends, silk, silk blends, leather, or on fabrics labeled dry clean only.

If you're looking for a gentler detergent, baking soda is a great option. Oxiclean becomes just peroxide and washing soda once it hits liquid. So any liquid detergent claiming to contain Oxiclean likely just has peroxide in it. Want that great oxiclean power in your homemade detergent?

“If the stain sets, spot treat it with a solution of 50 percent vinegar and 50 percent water, then use a brush and a little laundry soap to remove the vinegar.

What is the powerful stain removing ingredient? ›

Hydrogen Peroxide is a powerful DIY stain remover that can safely be used on your laundry. It works for tough grass stains and blood stains!

For stain removal, liquid detergent gets first prize for greasy and oily stains. It's easy to pour a little detergent onto the stain to dab out the worst of it before placing it in the wash. Although for heavier staining from mud or grass, powder detergent most often contains more powerful cleaning agents.

Patric Richardson, a self-proclaimed "laundry evangelist," recommends keeping a spray bottle filled with vodka in your laundry room to help clear up any lingering smells. "You need to have vodka in your bar—and your laundry room," Richardson says in the trailer for his new discovery /HGTV show The Laundry Guy.

1. Chlorine Bleach and Color-Safe Bleach. Diluted household bleaches are among the most effective stain removers for clothing and linens.

Yes, they are. Douse the stain with white vinegar, then apply a paste made of equal parts baking soda and vinegar. If this doesn't work, immerse the item overnight in a bucket of water containing a few tablespoons of detergent and vinegar. Rinse and wash the following morning.

It's important to remember that laundry stripping does not remove stains. The purpose of stripping is to remove residue from oils, detergent, minerals, and softeners, not stain removal. Use a stain-removing laundry detergent as part of your regular laundry routine and get stains out before stripping.

Distilled white vinegar is actually one of the best stain removers we have been given from nature. Found in invariably every household, it is mildly acidic, so acetic vinegar removes the tough spots and blotches without ruining the fabric of your clothes.

Hydrogen peroxide, in the 3% solution that you can find at any drug store, or as the key ingredient in oxygen bleach, is an excellent blood stain remover as well, even working on dried, older stains.

Hydrogen peroxide works differently than vinegar and is better at removing different types of stains. Hydrogen peroxide doesn't actually remove stains—it just makes them invisible! It breaks up strong chemical bonds in stains including ink, and in doing so it makes the stains colorless—but they're still there!

Removal is Not Always Necessary

While it's never a bad idea to sand and strip old stain, doing so can certainly be time-consuming and challenging. In some cases, you can get away with leaving the previous coat as it is, as long as you perform the other necessary preparation steps, such as sanding and power washing.

What can remove permanent stains? ›

“A paste of vinegar and baking soda can remove even the toughest stains,” she says. There's a misconception that vinegar will remove color from clothes but in fact, it's gentle enough to use on most fabrics, vinegar can actually restore and brighten color in fabric and can also prevent fading.

These stain removers contain bleaching agents, commonly hydrogen peroxide, which breaks down colour-causing sections of chemical structures, removing the appearance of the stain. The hydrogen peroxide is usually present in the form of sodium percarbonate, which releases hydrogen peroxide when combined with water.

Douse the stain with white vinegar, then apply a paste made of equal parts baking soda and vinegar. If this doesn't work, immerse the item overnight in a bucket of water containing a few tablespoons of detergent and vinegar.