The Best Stain Removers for Your Clothes

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Composite of stain removers — Photo:
Courtesy of Charlie's Soaps, Amazon, Method Products

Club soda, vinegar, and baking soda can each go a long way toward keeping your laundry bright or white, but sometimes you need to call on stronger stuff—like the stain remover sprays, bars, liquids, and sticks on this list. Whether you're tackling set-in grass marks, just-spilled pasta sauce, or unidentifiable blotches on your baby's outfit, these products can dissolve and wash away a variety of stains. Some are designed to use before washing, while others promise to get out even dried, old blemishes. Keep one (or more) in your laundry room to keep your favorite frocks, sports uniforms, toddler t-shirts, and dress shirts looking like new.

01 of 10

OxiClean Max Force Spray

Oxi Clean Max Force Stain Remover — Courtesy of Target

With a combination of five different stain-fighting ingredients, this treatment targets grease, oil, food stains, dirt, grass, and blood. Pre-treat your clothes up to a week before washing them for extra power (or because life doesn't always allow you to turn laundry into an emergency task).

Price at time of publish: $4

Buy on Target

02 of 10

Method Stain Remover

This dye-free and perfume-free stain treatment uses plant-based ingredients to lift out food and dirt stains. Instead of a stick or spray format, the bottle is topped with a scrub brush that makes it easy to work the product into deep-set marks.

Price at time of publish: from $4

Buy on Methodproducts.com

Buy on Amazon

03 of 10

Shout Grease Busting Foam

Shout Advanced Grease Busting Foam — Courtesy of Amazon

This favorite foam-format stain product promises to lift out grease-based stains of all kinds: the ones left when your kid uses his shirt as a napkin after eating French fries, the ones on your good chinos after an emergency tire change, and the ones splattered onto your favorite shirt when you drop your dressing-covered salad fork.

Price at time of publish: $4

Buy on Amazon

04 of 10

Fels-Naptha Laundry Soap Bar

Fels Naptha Dial Soap — Courtesy of Amazon

This simple bar, invented in 1894, has been lifting out oil, sweat, and grease for more than a century. Grate it to use as a detergent, or wet the bar and rub directly onto stains to pre-treat.

Price at time of publish: $5

Buy on Amazon

05 of 10

Clorox 2 for Colors 3-in-1

Clorox 2 For Colors Stain Remover — Courtesy of Target

This color-safe liquid can remove stains and freshen your clothes when used alongside your regular detergent, but you can also use it to pre-treat small stains in about 10 minutes (or larger ones with a longer soak time).

Price at time of publish: $16

Buy on Target

06 of 10

Carbona Pro Care Laundry Stain Scrubber

Carbona Laundry Scrubber — Courtesy of Amazon

Carbona offers specific stain-fighting treatments for a variety of spills—nail polish, coffee, marker, blood—but this do-it-all enzyme formula, safe for whites and colors, promises to remove the results of more than 100 different mishaps.

Price at time of publish: $19 for three

Buy on Amazon

07 of 10

Ethique Flash! Multi-Purpose Stain Remover Bar

Ethique Stain Remover Bar — Courtesy of Ethique

Biodegradable ingredients, like lavender and peppermint oils, and white kaolin clay make this bar a dirt and stain remover that's safe for delicate silk and wool (and, in a pinch, your carpet). It's also grey-water safe, vegan, and wrapped in compostable packaging.

Price at time of publish: $6

Buy on Ethique.com

08 of 10

Seventh Generation Laundry Stain Remover Spray

This pre-treating product can be sprayed onto spills days in advance, allowing it to work at releasing dirt, tomato, and wine spills while you tackle other chores. More than 95 percent of the ingredients are renewable and plant-based, and the spray is made without dyes or fragrance.

Price at time of publish: $5

Buy on Grove.co

09 of 10

Charlie's Soap Laundry Pre-Spray Stain Remover

Charlie's Soaps Laundry Spray — Courtesy of Charlie's Soaps

Spray this biodegradable stain remover onto your fabrics and you can see it working, as the stain spreads and loosens from the fibers. Environmentally-friendly, color-safe ingredients and multiple formats (from pen-sized sprayers to large refills) make this a fit for all your laundry needs.

Price at time of publish: $12

Buy on Charliesoap.com

10 of 10

Grandma’s Secret Spot Remover

Grandma's Spot Remover — Courtesy of Amazon

A bleach-free, toxin-free formula means this spot treater should be safe for all your fabrics. It promises to remove common stains—food, coffee, and grass—and the less typical (latex paint, candle wax, and shoe polish) when used on clothes washed in any water temperature setting.

Price at time of publish: $7

Buy on Amazon

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