Depress the tip of the pen to release solution. Uncap the pen and press the tip onto the area of fabric where your stain is located, until enough solution comes out to cover the area of your stain. You’ve been there before: you sit at the coffee shop across from a friend when your elbow slips on the table. Suddenly you’re wearing your latte on your favorite pants. Editor's Note (September 2023): This product review was originally written and published in 2021. To make sure we are still recommending the best products for your needs, we recently reviewed this story to make sure it is still accurate and that we stand by what we wrote. In addition to this original hands-on review, we also had the opportunity to test this product in The Lab. Thanks to its at-home and lab performance, it is still a top choice in The Best Laundry Stain Removers despite newer models and options being available on the market. All stain remover instructions recommend that you test the colorfastness of an item before using the product on it. This way, you find out if the dyes used in your clothing will be ruined during the stain-removing process. Once finished, blot the fabric dry. If the stain has been treated with the Tide to Go pen, blot away any excess solution. You can also air-dry the clothing until you're ready to clean it properly.

Though pre-treating seems to be the essential step in stain removal, these products all suggested the same method: spray on the remover, let it sit for five to ten minutes, and wash (besides Shout gel, which said one could let it penetrate overnight and then wash, which we did).

Treat the stain further if needed. Use another pretreatment stain remover product at home if you find that the Tide to Go Pen hasn’t effectively removed the stain. Do this as soon as you are able, and before you machine wash or dry clean your garment. Use your Tide to Go pen until the solution runs out. Continue to use the same Tide to Go pen to remove new stains until the solution runs out. The typical Tide to Go Pen size of 10 ml (0.338 fl oz.) will last approximately 10-20 uses. This instant stain remover can be stored at room temperature. Dispose of the product in a dump according to your local regulations.

The best product for the most complex chemical interactions is OxiClean. Not only did the product eliminate all of the stains (besides the week-old ink stain, which it did fade substantially), it is also the best price, the best in usability, and the most versatile. Other ingredients used on the Tide To Go instant stain remover pen include various surfactants and detergents that grab stain molecules to assist draw them from the fabric, as well as water, which activates the surfactants and helps them swoosh off spots. What this means is that even though OxiClean is an oxygen-based stain remover and should work best on stains caused by coffee and wine (tannins), it successfully broke down dyes and the complex chocolate spread stain with protein and oil, as well. The other products we tested were of different stain-treating compounds and popular brands. These included Clorox – OxyMagic, Grandma’s Secret, Resolve Max (now more commonly sold as Spray N’ Wash Max), Shout Advanced, Tide to Go Instant Liquid Stain Remover, and Zout – Triple Enzyme Formula. Our research told us these would be the most effective, reliable products and ranked comparably to OxiClean.Powerful solution breaks stains down; microfiber pad lifts and absorbs them. Works well on tomato juice, ketchup, BBQ sauce, grape juice, coffee, wine, tea, chocolate syrup, and more. By comparison, OxiClean suggests that you don’t leave it on a garment for more than six hours, because it can start to damage the fabric. One should still be careful not to use the product on dry-clean-only clothing, but if you’re doing laundry late at night, leaving Shout on a stain overnight is a risk-free treatment. Other products we tested Since Tide To Go doesn’t contain bleach, it is safe to use on white and colored clothing. The manufacturer says the pen is safe to use on most fabrics, even some dry clean only items. If you’re unsure about using it on certain fabrics, test it on an inseam for colorfastness. Though cleaning products don’t have to list all of the ingredients on the bottle, a little research gave us the following information about the chemical makeup of stain removers: