After a particularly lively night, you might find your favorite shirt covered in splashes of wine, coffee or mustard – or if you’re really unlucky, all three. These can all be stubborn stains, and their chemical makeup is different. Is there a single stain remover that can combat them all?
To find out, I tested more than a dozen popular stain removers on all those messes, plus several more, including grass, lipstick and ink. Since we’re not always at home when a laundry disaster strikes, I also tried pens and wipes that are easy to stow in a bag or purse.
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Why you should trust me
As a somewhat messy eater (others may have compared me to a toddler once or twice), I am plenty familiar with mystery stains – and, out of necessity, the techniques to get them out. You might not want to invite me to dinner, but I can probably help you eliminate the spaghetti splatters and red wine drips covering your tablecloth.
I am also a science and tech journalist with more than eight years of experience testing and reviewing products. In addition to reviewing cleaning products, I have also put washers and dryers through the paces to find which ones are the best, no matter what laundry detergent you use.
How I tested
To test 14 stain removers, I painted 10 different substances on to new white T-shirts. I made 2in circles and filled them with ketchup, red wine, mustard, red lipstick, turmeric, chocolate sauce, blue ink, coffee, olive oil and grass. Each shirt was dedicated to an individual cleaner and had its own set of 10 stains.
After letting the stains set for 24 hours, I treated them according to the manufacturers’ instructions. Some needed to sit for 10 minutes, while others needed to be rubbed in. Next, I washed each shirt in my typical cold-water washer cycle with a small amount of detergent.
When the shirts were dry, I compared the remaining stain with the original to see how much the stain remover had eliminated. For the more stubborn stains, such as lipstick, I compared the shirts to each other to find which remover worked the best.
I conducted a few other tests, too, such as staining small pieces of silk with chocolate and mustard to see how well the products worked on a different material. I also treated red T-shirts with each stain remover to test for color fastness. In a final bonus round, I used the winning products to clean longstanding, stubborn stains on my winter coat and a dirty lunch bag.
Keep reading for my top picks and a stain remover Q&A at the end.
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At a glance: the best US stain removers in 2025
Best overall:
Zout No Scent Laundry Stain Remover
Best for turmeric:
Spray ’n Wash Max Pre-Treatment Laundry Stain Remover
Best for travel:
Tide to Go Instant Stain Remover Pen
Best eco-friendly:
Miss Mouth’s Messy Eater Stain Treater Wipes
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Best overall:
Zout No Scent Laundry Stain Remover Liquid
$5.54 at DK Hardware
$15.48 for a pack of three at Walmart
Zout is a jack of all stains for your laundry room. Many food stains seemed to all but evaporate after washing, and it was among the leaders of the pack for some of the trickier liquids.
Why we love it
Quite a few products initially made a T-shirt look clean, but when I held it up to the window, I could still see faint traces of chocolate or coffee. That didn’t happen with Zout.
It’s a great choice for an all-around stain remover that does well with everyday food messes, including chocolate, coffee and ketchup. For fresher stains that had only been sitting for a few hours, Zout did an even better job.
Zout is simple to use and only required between one and five minutes to tackle stains. Since a lot of us only remember to treat stains while we’re in the process of doing laundry, it’s nice to have a product that you don’t need to sit and wait for when you’re at the Laundromat or trying to rush out the door.
It’s a shame that … It can’t do everything. It’s not the best product for removing ink by far, and it was only OK at getting rid of lipstick.
Amount: 12oz
Best for removing: Chocolate, olive oil, grass, ketchup
Stains it struggled with: Lipstick, turmeric, blue ink
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Best for turmeric stains:
Spray ’n Wash Max Pre-Treatment Stain Remover
$4.27 at Walmart
$4.99 at Ace Hardware
Turmeric gets its own category because it was among the most stubborn stains I tested. Nothing got it out completely, but Spray ’n Wash worked the best.
Why we love it
Like Zout, Spray ’n Wash was a standout in almost every category. It’s another versatile stain remover that thoroughly got rid of most of the same stains.
With lipstick and turmeric, Spray ’n Wash did particularly well. It still left quite a bit of both behind, but these stains were visibly more faded after treatment.
The spray didn’t work quite as well on mustard as Zout did. Otherwise, these two were pretty evenly matched.
It’s a shame that … It requires more effort than Zout. The directions suggest letting it sit for five minutes before rubbing the product in. While it’s not a dealbreaker, it does mean you can’t just spray and toss it into the wash – which is ironic, considering the name.
Amount: 22oz
Best for removing: Chocolate, olive oil, grass, ketchup, turmeric
Stains it struggled with: Lipstick, blue ink
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Best for travel:
Tide to Go Instant Stain Remover Pen
$2.97 at Walmart
$2.99 at Target
The Tide pen works well enough that you might want to keep a couple on hand at home as well as in your go-bag.
Why we love it
Who knew that such a heavy hitter would come in such slim, portable packaging? In testing, the Tide pen left behind only faint reminders of the ketchup, chocolate, olive oil and coffee stains. It also worked surprisingly well on the ink stain.
To apply it to a stain, you push the tip in a few times to release a liquid, and then run the pen over the stain. It’s convenient for travel, but it did worry me that I was missing spots here and there, compared with a spray that easily saturates stains.
I didn’t notice an odor when using the pen, which is ideal for a stain remover you might apply to something you’re still wearing.
It’s a shame that … You’ll never know when the pen is about to run out. There is no window or liquid sloshing around to alert you when it’s close to empty.
Amount: 0.33 fluid oz
Best for removing: Ketchup, chocolate, coffee, olive oil, grass, blue ink
Stains it struggled with: Lipstick, turmeric
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Best eco-friendly:
Miss Mouth’s Messy Eater Stain Treater Wipes
$4.97 at Amazon
$4.97 at Walmart
For those looking for an environmentally friendly way to fight stains with fewer chemicals, Miss Mouth’s wipes make few sacrifices.
Why we love it
Sometimes products that are gentler on the environment lack the oomph to blast through hardcore stains.
But Miss Mouth’s wipes were some of the best at removing red wine stains and did well on many other stains. For one of my stress tests, I used a wipe to clean up marks on a dingy coat. The pocket hasn’t looked this bright since I bought it.
It’s also nice that you can use them on the go. The Tide pen outperformed Miss Mouth’s with ink and turmeric. Otherwise, the two had similar results for the rest of the stains. Compared with a laundry pen, wipes can be a little more convenient to carry in a pocket or tiny purse. Plus, they might be a little more intuitive for kids to use.
It’s a shame that … The turmeric smeared into an even larger stain. There’s a slight odor that you may not want to wear around after treating your clothes. It’s also a pretty pricey option at about a dollar a wipe.
Amount: Five wipes
Best for removing: Red wine, chocolate, coffee, olive oil, grass
Stains it struggled with: Lipstick, turmeric, blue ink
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The best of the rest
An eco-friendly alternative:
Dr Bronner’s Pure-Castile Magic Soap
$16.67 at iHerb
$16.97 at Amazon
Why we love it
Laundry is on the list of this Castile soap’s 18 different uses. It did an admirable job with the mustard and lipstick stains, which were some of the overall toughest to get out. Dr Bronner’s also makes Sal Suds, an all-purpose cleaner that can fight stains.
It didn’t make the final cut because … Miss Mouth’s wipes cleaned up in more categories, including red wine, turmeric and ink.
Amount: 32oz
Best for removing: Ketchup, chocolate, olive oil, grass
Stains it struggled with: Red wine, turmeric, lipstick, ink
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Great for stubborn stains:
Amodex Ink & Stain Remover
$7.49 at Hobby Lobby
$7.98 at Lowe’s
Why we love it
In addition to the messy T-shirt tests, I tried a few of the top-performing products on random, older stains around the house. Amodex did well on the sleeve of a dirty coat that I’ve tried a zillion other stain removers on.
It didn’t make the final cut because … It didn’t work as well in the T-shirt and silk tests as the other cleaners on the list.
Amount: 1oz
Best for removing: Stubborn stains
Stains it struggled with: Olive oil, turmeric, lipstick, blue ink
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What other products did the Guardian test?
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Frequently asked questions about stain remover
How do you remove stains or spots from clothes?
Unfortunately, there is no one-method-fits-all for stain removal. Blood, oil and wine stains won’t necessarily react to the same product in the same way, for example. Fabric type and color and the age of the stain will also dictate how you treat it.
How do you get old stains out of clothes?
It’s best to treat stains as soon as they happen, but that is not always possible. Once a item has gone through the dryer, it can be particularly difficult to get a stain out of it. Most methods for set-in stains recommend letting the product sit on the fabric for several minutes to as long as overnight.
What is this mysterious stain, and how do I get rid of it?
Without a time machine or a forensics lab, it may be difficult to determine how splotches of indeterminate origin ended up on your favorite sweater. If it’s a beloved garment, take it to a dry cleaner, which may be able to help find the culprit and have options to appropriately treat it.
Do Tide pens work on old stains?
One of the benefits of a Tide pen is that it’s portable, so it can start working on the coffee you dribbled on yourself at work right away. But all the stains I treated using the pen were more than 24 hours old, and it still worked great. For set-in stains that had already been washed, the pen didn’t work as well as some of the other options, such as Zout or Spray ’n Wash.
What are enzyme cleaners?
Enzyme cleaners contain enzymes and microbes that combat urine, blood, grass and other organic stains. They can help remove some odors, such as sweat, as well. Some of these products need a few minutes to work, and they’re usually not safe to use on certain fabrics, including silk and wool.
Can I make my own stain remover?
Yes, but it may not perform as well as commercial products. I used a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and dish soap to test on grass, wine, ink and the rest of the stains. The homemade cleaner held its own with ketchup, chocolate and coffee, but it struggled when confronted with mustard, turmeric and other troublesome spots.
What are the hardest stains to remove?
Lipstick, turmeric, ink and mustard thwarted every stain remover I tested. Granted, I used a lot of each substance to make my 2in circles, so smaller, lighter spots will definitely be easier to get out.
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Jenny McGrath is a freelance tech and science journalist with eight years of experience testing tech and home products. She’s dusted her floors with cereal, dumped red wine on carpet samples and splattered dishes with egg yolk to evaluate vacuums, stain removers and dishwashers. She always has podcast recommendations.
