Stains are an unfortunate part of life – even the neatest and most fastidious among us will still fall foul of spills, splashes and general mishaps.
So, unless you exclusively wear army fatigues or you've based your wardrobe around mission brown, you're going to have some stubborn stains gracing your laundry.
Pre-wash stain remover sprays are an easy way to battle these blights on your laundry, pronto. To misquote RuPaul, just spray and sashay away.
Some sprays will have you back on the runway in no time, but others will leave your clothes so stained you'll be serving hobo chic realness when you wear them.
Powders, on the other hand, are a triple threat: they whiten, they brighten and they boost. These versatile laundry queens can go in the wash to amp up your laundry detergent or as a soaker for those times when you've spilled too much tea on your best white frock.
So which ones slay, and which ones are a drag to use?
On this page:
- The stain remover powders that topped our tests
- The stain remover sprays that topped our tests
- The stain remover powders to avoid
- The stain remover sprays to avoid
- The best products for sweat stains
- The best products for grass and mud stains
- The best products for grease and oil stains
How to smash stains and still save money
Many of the top-scoring stain removers in our tests come from the big-name brands: Vanish and Sard. But with big names come big prices.
If you're trying to slash your budget but don't want to settle for stained slacks, we have some good news: you can spend less and still banish blemishes from your clothes.
Our testing revealed several cheaper stain removers that perform as well as the well-known brands – but for less than a sixth of the price!
Our testing revealed several cheaper stain removers that perform as well as the well-known brands – but for less than a sixth of the price!
Aldi Di-San stain removers were among the cheapest products we tested, but they punch well above their weight, scoring the same as – and sometimes even more than – more expensive products.
If you opt for these cheap champions, you'll pay less than a sixth of the price for the same stain-busting power.
When you add up how many loads of stained washing you'll do each year, it can be hard to justify those higher prices, especially in our current cost of living crisis.
The savings can add up when you think about how many loads of washing you'll do each year.
The stain remover powders that topped our tests
We tested the soaking power of 20 different powder stain removers, from brands such as Sard, Vanish, Aldi, The Pink Stuff, Ecostore, Coles, Woolworths and more.
Sard took out all three podium spots (sharing third place with Vanish).
Its Whiter & Brighter Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker topped the charts with a score of 75%.
Grass, mud, tomato, chocolate ice cream and baby food were no match for its stain-removing muscle, though it was less effective on blood and oil.
At $1.10 per 100g, though, it's one of the more expensive powders we tested. Can you still get dazzling whites and brighter brights without spending as much?
Performance at a lower price: Aldi's Di-San Pro Oxy powder.
Coming in at 70%, and still recommended by our experts, Aldi's Di-San Pro Oxy Laundry Soaker & In Wash Booster delivers serious bang for your buck, busting stains on a budget.
The Aldi powder costs just a third of the price of the top scorer – and less than a quarter of the price of other products recommended by our experts.
It was neck and neck with the Sard product on most stains, falling behind on mineral oil and blood. (So maybe not the best product if you're a mechanic by day, serial killer by night.)
However, when we used plain laundry detergent to soak blood stains, it was more effective than every single powder stain remover, so you don't actually need a separate product to manage blood stains.
Sard's stain-busting Whiter & Brighter powder was the highest-scoring powder in our tests.
Here are the top three scorers from our stain remover powder test:
Sard Whiter & Brighter Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 75% (Recommended)
- Price per 100g: $1.10
Sard Power Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 73% (Recommended)
- Price per 100g: $1.10
Vanish NapiSan Oxi Action Crystal White Powder Fabric Stain Remover + Whitener
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 73% (Recommended)
- Price per 100g: $1.15
The cult Aldi stain remover spray that beats the big brands
Aldi has done it once again, delivering a product that kills it in both the price and performance departments.
Aldi's cheap-as-chips stain remover spray-wiped the floor with products costing more than six times the price.
Aldi Di-San Pro Ultra Degreaser with Enzymes scored a dazzling 75% overall, coming second by just one percentage point to Sard Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains which scored 76%.
But at just 29 cents per 100mL, the Aldi spray is less than a sixth of the cost of its rival, and beats products from other big brands such as Vanish and White King.
It's hard to justify spending so much more on the Sard product for such a minuscule difference in performance. The Aldi product actually outperformed Sard in some tests, taking on stains such as tomato, baby food, mineral oil and collar grime more effectively than the more expensive product.
And apparently it doesn't only clean clothes: many people swear by it as a grout cleaner. While we haven't tested it for that purpose, it's only $2.15 a bottle so it won't cost you much to try it for yourself.
The stain remover sprays that topped our tests
Top scoring spray: Sard Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains.
These are the three stain remover sprays that our experts recommend:
Sard Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 76%
- Price per 100mL: $1.90
Aldi Di-San Pro Ultra Degreaser with Enzymes
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 75%
- Price per 100mL: $0.29
Sard Oils and Grime Stain Remover Expert Action
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 71%
- Price per 100mL: $1.90
To see the full list of products, check our stain remover reviews.
The stain remover powders to avoid
Turns out money can't buy you laundry love: the lowest-scoring powder in our tests was one of the most expensive: Vanish NapiSan Oxi Action Gold Multi Power Liquid Laundry Booster. It's $1.60 per 100mL, but the 2L bottle will cost you $32 at the checkout. Ouch!
And other than Aldi, unfortunately buying other supermarket powders won't do much for stains: products from IGA, Coles and Woolworths were among the lowest-scoring products.
High price, low performance: Vanish NapiSan Oxi Action Gold Multi Power Liquid Laundry Booster.
These are the ones to cross off your shopping list:
- Vanish NapiSan Oxi Action Gold Multi Power Liquid Laundry Booster (CHOICE Expert Rating: 64%)
- Community Co Loads Cleaner Oxy Action Multi-Action In-Wash Booster & Soaker (64%)
- Woolworths Clean Boost In-Wash Booster, Soaker & Stain Remover (66%)
- Woolworths Clean Laundry Soaker and In-Wash Booster (67%)
- Coles Laundry Soaker and In-Wash Booster (67%)
The stain remover sprays to avoid
Using a pre-wash stain remover is like bringing in the laundry big guns to show stains who's boss, right? Well, not in the case of three sprays that were unequivocally owned by stains, scoring a grubby 59% overall.
Three sprays were literally no better than not using a stain remover at all
The dirty truth about these sprays will shock you: they were literally no better than not using a stain remover at all.
When we test stain removers, we spray each stain and let it sit for five minutes to do its thing. Then we wash everything using the same detergent. To see if the products are actually effective, we also run a test using no stain remover at all.
You're better off using nothing at all than Sard Wonder Power Fizz Stain Remover.
The most expensive of the three, Sard Wonder Power Fizz, was actually less effective than detergent on just about every single stain. Makes you wonder what you're actually paying for when you buy it!
Here are the sub-par sprays in question, along with their CHOICE Expert Rating:
- Sard Wonder Power Fizz Stain Remover (59%)
- Planet Ark Orange Power Pre-Wash Stain Remover (59%)
- Earth Choice Ultra Power Stain Remover (59%)
- Laundry detergent only (no stain remover) (59%)
Another one worth mentioning is the exxy spray that'll clean out your wallet, but not your laundry.
Costing a wallet-punishing $4.50 per 100mL, StainGo Stain Remover Spot and Prewash scored just 64% overall. That's a huge 15 times more expensive than the Aldi product for far worse performance.
The most common stains
When we asked Australian shoppers what kinds of stains they typically encounter on wash day, the most common culprits were:
- perspiration
- grass and mud
- cooking/food oil
So, which product is best for which stain? And are there other ways to get rid of these common stains?
Hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid can help remove sweat stains.
The best products for sweat stains
Your best bet for sweat is Sard Oils and Grime Stain Remover Expert Action spray. It scored 80% when we used it to remove sweat stains in the wash. It also scored 71% overall and is recommended by our experts.
Ironically, a Sard product that's marketed as being specifically for sweat – Sard Sweat and Deodorant Stain Remover – only scored 54% for removing sweat stains. Just goes to show that you should take manufacturers' claims with a pinch of salt!
In the powder department, Vanish NapiSan Oxi Action Crystal White Powder Fabric Stain Remover + Whitener is the go-to sweat buster. It's also one of the top-scoring powders overall and is recommended by our experts.
If you're after a home recipe, you could try mixing 200mL of hydrogen peroxide and 100mL of dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle and spraying on the stain. In our test, this home recipe scored 63% overall with good results for grass, mud and tomato stains.
DIY stain removers can be quite effective.
The best products for grass and mud stains
Try a home recipe
Not all stains are created equal, and some can actually be easily treated with some staples from your cleaning cupboard. If you're dealing with grass and mud stains, firstly remove any solid bits.
For mud, wait for it to dry and then scrape or brush off as much as you can. Put some liquid laundry detergent on the mud stain and let it sit for 15 minutes, then wash as usual.
Some stains can actually be easily treated with some staples from your cleaning cupboard
If that doesn't work, you can try soaking your clothes in detergent overnight. And if it's a particularly stubborn stain, try soaking it in a solution of water and oxygen bleach (not chlorine bleach) following the label directions, then wash as usual.
You could also try making your own stain removal spray by mixing 200mL of hydrogen peroxide and 100mL of dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle and spraying on the stain. In our test, this home recipe scored 63% overall with good results for grass, mud and tomato stains.
Best store-bought option
While it didn't do much for sweat, Sard's Sweat and Deodorant Stain Remover was good for mud and grass, scoring 80% on this test. However, it was only rated at 62% overall so it's not a great buy.
You're better off going with the Aldi stain remover – it scored 79% for removing grass and mud stains, along with its 75% overall score and cheap price.
If soaking stains is more your style, the top-scoring powder, Sard Whiter & Brighter Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker or Vanish NapiSan Oxi Action Crystal White Powder Fabric Stain Remover + Whitener will sort out those grass and mud stains quick smart.
They both scored 84% for removing grass and mud stains, so they're a better option than the sprays for these particular stains.
Dishwashing liquid is another great stain-busting product.
The best products for grease and oil stains
You don't necessarily need a stain remover to get rid of oil stains – good old-fashioned dishwashing liquid is a great option for removing these greasy marks. Find the best dishwashing liquid from our tests to get the job done.
But if you're doing a pre-wash treatment anyway, our two top-scoring products are the way to go: Sard's Super Power Stain Remover Toughest Stains and Aldi's Di-San Pro Ultra Degreaser with Enzymes gave the best results on olive oil stains in our labs.
The powders we tested were less effective on olive oil, with the highest-scoring soaker coming in at just 70% for this stain.
Sard Power Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker and Sard Whiter & Brighter Stain Remover Major Stain Types Antibacterial Soaker were the hardest-working products, and are both recommended by our experts for their overall performance.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
