Which Laundry Stain Removers Brand Wins?
We compared 14 laundry stain removers options head to head. The Pink Stuff came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
The Pink Stuff
Price shown in test: $6 for 17 oz, 35 cents per ounce
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OxiClean Spray
Price shown in test: $7 for 12 oz, 58 cents per ounce
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Shout
Price shown in test: $4 for 22 oz, 18 cents per ounce
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Graphite oil stain ranking (1st to 14th of 14) | Grape juice stain ranking | Coffee stain ranking | Mustard stain ranking | Soy sauce stain ranking | Ketchup stain rating | Gear oil binary rating | Fabric fading test | Final combined score (average rating plus average finish) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1The Pink Stuff$6 for 17 oz, 35 cents per ounce | 10th | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 4th | rating of one (best possible) | rating of one (better than expected) | no fading observed | 2.4, the best of all fourteen entries |
| 2OxiClean Spray$7 for 12 oz, 58 cents per ounce | 1st | 1st | 6th | 6th | 11th | rating of one (best possible) | rating of one (better than expected) | no fading observed | 3.2, second best of all fourteen entries |
| 3Shout$4 for 22 oz, 18 cents per ounce | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 8th | 9th | rating of two (not the best possible) | rating of one (better than expected) | no fading observed | 3.3, third best of all fourteen entries |
| 4Tide Rescue$5 for 22 oz, 23 cents per ounce | 2nd | 10th | 5th | 4th | 8th | rating of one (best possible) | rating of one (better than expected) | no fading observed | not tested |
| 5Home brew (hydrogen peroxide and dish detergent) | 14th, the worst of all fourteen entries | 5th | 3rd | 5th | 2nd | rating of two (not the best possible) | not tested | the only entry that caused a small amount of fading on the red test shirt | not tested |
| 6Spray'n Wash$3 for 16 oz, 19 cents per ounce | 9th | 6th | 7th | 7th | 1st, described as a terrific job | rating of one (best possible) | rating of one (better than expected) | no fading observed | not tested |
| 7De-Solv-It$20 for 12 oz; transcript states $167 per ounce, which is a caption error since $20 divided by 12 oz is $1.67 per ounce, matching the pattern of every other price in the video | 6th | 9th | 14th, the worst of all fourteen entries | 3rd | 5th | rating of one (best possible) | rating of one (better than expected) | no fading observed | not tested |
| 8OxiClean Gel Stick$5 for 6 oz; transcript states 81 cents per ounce, though $5 divided by 6 oz is closer to 83 cents, a minor rounding discrepancy kept as spoken | 4th | 4th | 11th | 10th | 10th | rating of two (not the best possible) | rating of two (not the best possible) | no fading observed | not tested |
| 9Stain Rescue$6 for 4 oz; transcript states $50 per ounce, which is a caption error since $6 divided by 4 oz is $1.50 per ounce, the same correction needed for Miss Mouth's identical $6 for 4 oz price a few lines later | 13th | 11th | 4th | 9th | 6th | rating of one (best possible) | rating of one (better than expected) | no fading observed | not tested |
| 10Dreft$10 for 24 oz, 42 cents per ounce | 5th | 12th | 8th | 12th | 7th | rating of one (best possible) | rating of two (not the best possible) | no fading observed | not tested |
| 11Miss Mouth's$6 for 4 oz; transcript states $150 per ounce, which is a caption error since $6 divided by 4 oz is $1.50 per ounce, matching the same correction needed for Stain Rescue's identical price a few lines earlier | 12th | 8th | 10th, not spoken directly but the only unassigned rank left in that stain's full 1 through 14 list, derived by elimination | 13th | 3rd | rating of two (not the best possible) | rating of one (better than expected) | no fading observed | not tested |
| 12Zout$9 for 22 oz, 41 cents per ounce | 8th | 13th | 12th | 2nd | 13th | rating of one (best possible) | rating of one (better than expected) | no fading observed | not tested |
| 13Attitude$16 for 27 oz, 59 cents per ounce | 11th | 7th | 9th | 11th, not spoken directly but the only unassigned rank left in that stain's full 1 through 14 list, derived by elimination | 12th | rating of two (not the best possible) | rating of two (not the best possible) | no fading observed | not tested |
| 14Control (Tide Pod only, no stain remover) | 7th | 14th, the worst of all fourteen entries | 13th | 14th, the worst of all fourteen entries | 14th, the worst of all fourteen entries | rating of two (not the best possible) | rating of two (not the best possible) | not tested | not tested |
How it was tested
- graphite motor oil stain removal, ranked 1st to 14th
- grape juice stain removal, ranked 1st to 14th
- coffee stain removal, ranked 1st to 14th
- mustard stain removal, ranked 1st to 14th
- soy sauce stain removal, ranked 1st to 14th
- ketchup stain removal, binary rating of one or two
- gear oil stain removal, binary rating of one or two (a second, simpler pass distinct from the ranked oil stain test)
- fabric fading on a red test shirt
- stain transfer and whiteness retention (aggregate only, no per product breakdown given)
“the pink stuff came out on top with a 2.4”
Data notes and caveats
Fourteen entries competed across six named stains (graphite motor oil, grape juice, coffee, mustard, soy sauce, ketchup) plus a fading test and a stain transfer test: the twelve branded stain removers plus a homemade hydrogen peroxide and dish detergent mixture and a plain detergent only control, both included as reference points and given full 1st to 14th placements alongside the real brands. Several brand names are mangled by auto captions (Dreft as draft, drift, DFT; Zout as is out, out; Miss Mouth's as Miss Moue, Miss Mouse; De-Solv-It as dissolve it, dissolvent) and were resolved against the description's product list. Two pairs of numbers were derived rather than taken verbatim: Miss Mouth's and Stain Rescue's per ounce prices are both captioned with implausible values ($150 and $50 per ounce) that are simple caption errors given both products cost $6 for 4 oz, which is $1.50 per ounce; De-Solv-It's captioned $167 per ounce is likewise just $20 divided by 12 oz read without its decimal point, correctly $1.67. Two per stain rankings (coffee for Miss Mouth's, mustard for Attitude) omit a number in the spoken recap; both are filled in by elimination since exactly one rank position is left unassigned in an otherwise complete 1 through 14 list for that stain. The video's intro promises a comparison of which product removes bad smells like the gear oil, but no distinct smell specific ranking or result is ever narrated separately from the visual stain removal assessment; this appears to be a promise that was not delivered as its own test. The stain transfer and whiteness test gives only an aggregate result (roughly half the shirts kept a bright white rating of one, half darkened to a rating of two) with zero per brand attribution, so it could not be recorded per product. Only the top three entries have a narrator stated final combined score (Pink Stuff 2.4, OxiClean Spray 3.2, Shout 3.3); the rest of the products list here is ordered by averaging each entry's five explicit numbered stain placements, which is consistent with, but not identical to, whatever full chart the narrator references but does not read aloud for the remaining ten entries.