Heart For Home Thursday~ The Great Stain Fighting War!!!

I'm a sucker for commercials.  We don't have TV hooked up, but back during the '06 Olympics, we pulled out our bunny ears and watched.  By the end of that season I couldn't believe how brainwashed I had become.  Suddenly I knew which shampoo I had to try because the of the silk like hair of the woman in the Pantene commercial (regardless of how Pantene has ALWAYS left my hair in the past!).  That new lotion I knew would instantly transform my dull skin, and that miracle stain remover would transform my laundry forever. 

I like to think I've grown in wisdom slightly since then, (although I wouldn't trust myself too much!), but it's good for me sometimes to buckle down and figure out WHAT REALLY WORKS!!!  I decided to start with my stain removers.  I've soaked, sprayed and rubbed through the years but always with doubt of which would work better, so I decided to put it to a final test. 

Obviously this is not an exhaustive list, it just covers what I happened to have on hand (plus one borrowed from my mom).  I started with six contestants......

And two formidable foes....

Tomato Sauce........  

and grass stains!!!

Numbers 3-6 I treated by spraying or rubbing in, while numbers 1 and 2 soaked for 30 minutes.

While I would love to say the results were simple and clear, I would be lying.  (The results also did not photograph well so bear with me!). 

The grass stains varied from no stain left at all......

To hardly noticing it had been washed.

Cleanest to dirtiest it went~

Shout

PreSpot

OxiClean Gel Stick

Fels Naptha

Borax

Washing Soda

The tomato sauce differences were not as stark.  They all faded significantly, but some still clearly showed a stain, while others faded almost entirely.  I inverted these photos because it helped them show up better!

Here is the clean one with no stain left.....

The order for the best tomato sauce cleaner went~

PreSpot

OxiClean Gel stick

Washing Soda

Borax

Fels Naptha

Shout

Overall,  I think I would stick with PreSpot which is a natural and non-toxic cleaner.  I'm definitely NOT soaking for grass stains as that did not work at all.  And I guess I'll have stop trusting Shout for my food stains.  Maybe this study wasn't completely conclusive, but I will feel more confidant in my stain fighting choices from here on out!

Don't forget!!!  Boiling water for berry stains and jello.  Cold water for blood!!!