The Best Stain Remover For Clothes

Your guide to this review today is by Cleaning expert Adam Barker
Published on
February 26th, 2019

Expert BioExpert Bio

Adam has a passion for cleaning from his youth growing up in England, and he has carried it with him to the US. Adam’s formal training and certifications in cleaning include the Advanced System Cleaning specialist (For HVAC cleaning / ductwork), through NADCA (this is the highest certification that NADCA has), as well as several other certifications from the IICRC. Adam has either advised, consulted, or done research with dozens of cleaning and cleaning related business entities. Adam holds an undergraduate degree from Oxford, a Master’s degree from Oxford, and a Master’s degree from Harvard Business School.

The Cleaning Institute

It’s nice to not have to worry about how you’re going to get rid of grass stains, coffee stains, berry stains or any other type of stains on clothing when it happens. This is especially true if you have kids and it’s inevitable they will come home from school with some sort of stain on their clothing. Having the best stain remover handy will save you a lot of time and potentially money so you won’t have to go out and buy new clothes.

When you’re shopping for a stain remover for clothes, it’s easy to only think you need the strongest product and don’t take into consideration anything else. You may only want a spray to apply to the stain and it goes away instantly. But what if the product leaves behind an odor you don’t want to smell all day? This could change your opinion of the product drastically, and it’s an aspect we take into consideration in our analysis.

In our 35 years of experience evaluating cleaning products, we’ve learned to look at all aspects of any given product. As a result, we’ve completed a significant amount of testing on various clothing stain removers to help you make an educated decision before choosing one to purchase. After close evaluations, the Biokleen Bac-out Stain+Odor Remover earned our Top Pick, the OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover got our pick for Honorable Mention and the Puracy Natural Laundry Stain Remover earned our Green Pick.

Testing Categories

It’s helpful for you to know how we tested and evaluated each stain remover, so you can get a feel for what’s most important to you. Our overall score took into consideration the power, application and odor of each product in order to come up with our final three selections.

Power: The power category takes into consideration how much of the product is needed to get rid of a stain in clothing. We also tested different types of stains with varying levels of severity to see which ones worked quickly and effectively. We also compared our own findings to the claims made on the product label itself to determine whether the results are similar. Power is the biggest component anyone needs to look at when evaluating stain removers, but it’s not the only one.

Application: We evaluated how easy it was to apply different stain removers and weighed the score accordingly. Some things we considered was whether the product only needed to sit on the clothing for a few minutes before washing or if it required the clothing to soak in the product for hours. This can play a major factor when making a purchasing decision, so this category weighed heavily in the overall score.

Odor: Most stain removers for clothes have a neutral smell, which is what you probably want for a product like this. You don’t want to spray it on and have a smell that’s too strong. We tried to take an unbiased approach when evaluating the odor of different stain removers and give it a better score if it had a fresh or neutral scent.

Top Pick

Biokleen Bac-Out
Stain+Odor
Remover

The toughest laundry stains are no match for the Biokleen Bac-Out Stain+Odor Remover. The unique blend cleans quickly with one application, so having stained clothes is a thing of the past.

Price Check

Most notable upside: This stain remover earned our Top Pick because it’s strong enough to remove virtually any stain, does not have to be diluted before using and does not have any hazardous chemicals contained in it. Grass and dirt stains are no match for this product, and pet odors in your clothes or in your house will no longer be a problem. And not only will your clothes not smell bad anymore, they will smell lemony-fresh with the pleasant fragrance of this Biokleen product.

Biggest downsides: Depending on the severity of the stains you have in your clothes, you may have to use a significant amount of the stain remover to get them out. This means you’ll have to use more of it and the bottle may have to be replaced quicker. As with many stain removing products, you have to use this one as directed on the label. Otherwise, you may not get the results you expected or desired.

Honorable Mention

OxiClean
Versatile
Stain Remover

This OxiClean Stain Remover is powerful, safe and effective for removing stains in clothing. Add some to your load in addition to your regular laundry detergent and enjoy stain-free clothes.

Price Check

Most notable upside: OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover is safe to use on all colors of clothing without having to worry about fading or discoloration. If you have kids that constantly stain their clothes, or if you work on projects that results in frequent staining, you can clean them right up with this product. It’s not necessarily designed to be an odor remover, but you may be pleasantly surprised at how good your clothes smell after using this stain remover.

Biggest downsides: While the OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover works extremely effectively, we gave it our Honorable Mention pick since you have to soak the clothing prior washing it. This can present challenges if you need to coordinate your washing times around your busy schedule, especially if you have kids. This may not be an inconvenience for your lifestyle, but we prefer a product that can be used quickly and be just as effective.

Green Pick

Puracy
Natural Laundry
Stain Remover

If your goal is to remove stains from clothing as naturally as possible, look no further than Puracy Natural Laundry Stain Remover. Some of the toughest stains are no match for this quality product.

Price Check

Most notable upside: Puracy Natural Laundry Stain Remover gets our Green Pick because of its natural ingredients, being gluten-free, non-bleaching, non-toxic and hypoallergenic. It has been used on clothing with grass stains, sweat stains, berry stains and can even eliminate certain odors from clothing. Simply apply the stain remover to the affected area of the clothing and let it soak until you’re ready to do your normal washing schedule.

Biggest downsides: Severe stains on clothing may require a few different applications in order to be completely effective. The spray bottle itself isn’t the best quality either, which can give you the idea that the liquid isn’t going to be quite as effective as other brands. Overall, there aren’t many things to complain about with this stain remover as long as it’s used as indicated on the label.

All Our Picks

Tips for Effective Stain Removal For Clothes

It’s critically important to read the label of any given stain remover and follow the directions as indicated. If you use too much of the product, you could potentially damage the clothing. If you don’t use enough, then you may think the product is ineffective. When in doubt, start with a small amount and increase it as needed until you start seeing results.

While it may be inconvenient to have a piece of clothing soak for hours in order to remove a stain, the reality is it’s sometimes necessary. Be as patient as you can and give the stain the attention it needs from the stain removing product and you’ll have better results.

A Note About Safety and Storage

Some stain removers may be non-toxic, but they still should be stored on a shelf where they are out of reach of children and pets. If the bottle or container spills on the floor, you may be dealing with a bigger mess than you wanted if the product doesn’t react well with the material. The best place for most people is above their washing machine and dryer where it’s out of reach and out of sight.

If you happen to get some of the stain remover on your skin or eyes, be sure to flush it thoroughly to prevent irritation or other issues. Most stain removers will not cause a significant amount of harm, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

The Best Stain Remover For Clothes

Your guide to this review today is by Cleaning expert Adam Barker

The Cleaning Institute

Testing Categories

Biokleen Bac-Out
Stain+Odor
Remover

OxiClean
Versatile
Stain Remover

Puracy
Natural Laundry
Stain Remover

All Our Picks

Biokleen Bac-Out
Stain+Odor
Remover

OxiClean
Versatile
Stain Remover

Puracy
Natural Laundry
Stain Remover

Tips for Effective Stain Removal For Clothes

A Note About Safety and Storage

Quick Links

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

The Best Stain Remover For Clothes

Your guide to this review today is by Cleaning expert Adam Barker

The Cleaning Institute

Testing Categories

Biokleen Bac-OutStain+OdorRemover

OxiCleanVersatileStain Remover

Puracy Natural LaundryStain Remover

All Our Picks

Biokleen Bac-OutStain+OdorRemover

OxiCleanVersatileStain Remover

Puracy Natural LaundryStain Remover

Tips for Effective Stain Removal For Clothes

A Note About Safety and Storage

Quick Links

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Biokleen Bac-Out
Stain+Odor
Remover

OxiClean
Versatile
Stain Remover

Puracy
Natural Laundry
Stain Remover

Biokleen Bac-Out
Stain+Odor
Remover

OxiClean
Versatile
Stain Remover

Puracy
Natural Laundry
Stain Remover