Customer Reviews

Tide to Go Instant Stain Remover, .338-Ounce Sticks (Pack of 6)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

When these first came out, I thought they were great. In fact, I couldn't believe how well they got stains out. I was very impressed. I always carried one in my purse as I spill stuff on my shirt DAILY. Yes, daily. I'm that messy.

However, not too long into their production cycle, I noticed they changed the material of the tips of these pens. Initially, they were a kind of felt material. A tad absorbent. Now they are hard plastic and I feel this is the reason these no longer work for me. Ever since they changed the tip material, I have been really disappointed with how these pens perform. What I'm left with now every time I try and get a stain out is a two-tiered stain; the larger stain where the Tide liquid expanded to and the original stain itself. Hard to know which is worse - my now larger-in-size and faded two-tiered stain or the original stain itself. Think about it: when you get a stain on something, using something absorbent really helps blot out the stain. With this plastic tip, all you're doing is spreading the stain out to a larger area. I remember when I first used these, the tip would get slightly off-colored...it was absorbing the stain.

Until they switch back to a felt tip, I'm done with these. They are a huge waste of money and succeed only in lightening the stain a little and creating a larger, off-colored surrounding stain.

I really, really wanted this to work great, since I am both a klutz who spills stuff on herself and a mom. So far I've used it on:

1. Tomato sauce - works perfectly if you catch it right away, so-so after the stain has started to set (5-10 minutes)

2. Chocolate icing - lightened the stain, but was still clearly there.

3. Baby spit-up - totally gone, but that's an easy one.

4. Soda - worked perfectly

5. Red food coloring - smaller dots totally gone, larger dot got smeared and became a nice big light pink spot, instead of a dark red medium spot :) but food coloring's always bad

I'm pretty happy with this, it works very well as long as you get to the stain immediately (meaning you notice it when you spill it!) and I will keep one in my purse and one in the diaper bag.

I am a skeptic by nature. As someone with a degree in business I expect marketers to stretch the truth, at a minimum. I purchased this product thinking if it didn't work it was only few dollars. The guys at work were as skeptical as I was until the first coffee spill. This little pen even removed a coffee stain that was 4 hours old. We were all absolutely amazed!

I have used this product on the following stains and it removed them completely:
1. fresh coffee stain
2. 4 hour old coffee stain
3. balsamic vinegar
4. make up (foundation)
5. marinara sauce
6. olive oil
7. soy sauce

If you or your significant other are spill prone, pick one of these up right away. I have one in desk and another one in my purse. I knew Tide had a winner when the guys at work began purchasing their own Tide to go pens after using mine.

I can not recommend this product highly enough. It is actually one of those products that does everything that it claims.

My scenario: I'm traveling down the road, eating a sandwich, and, suddenly, I drop a bit of mustard on my favorite "knock about" shirt. After uttering an expletive or two, I recall the television ad that I had seen about Tide's "pen." I immediately pulled into the local Wal****, zoomed to the cleaning supplies section, and found the product in question.

Did it work as it had on the commercial???

I'm wearing the spotless shirt as I type this recommendation!

And to liberally borrow from another company, "I don't leave home without it!"

This product saved me from having to leave work with an embarassing excuse. During some specific times of the month, certain unexpected things can happen if you know what I mean. ANYWAY - although the manufacturer claims it doesn't remove those kinds of stains that well; it worked VERY well. Keep one in your desks ladies...it really works.

Oh - and I've used it on coffee stains, spaghetti sauce, soda...the usual "oops" kind of stuff. Works great!

I love this product. I find it takes out almost any fresh food stain. It's already saved several favorite items of clothing from the trash bin. It does take a bit of rubbing with the absorbent tip to remove tomato based stains, but remove them it does. I think those folks who have been disatisfied don't get that the tip is the key.

that's the rule of thumb! As they advertise, if you apply this on fresh stains, it removes most of them. I love whites, especially in summer, but have been scared of wearing them since I'm a bit on the clumsy side. But with Tide to Go, I risk wearing whites, and guess what, I don't regret it. The types of stains (read fresh stains) it has helped me with so far include:
coffee stains (have to use it a bit more so that it doesn't spread)
pizza sauce stains (don't ask me how)
soda stains (specifically cola)
oily food stains

The reason why I've given it 4 stars is because sometimes, especially if it's an oily food stain, rubbing over and over doesn't necessarily remove it, only makes it lighter. Thus, not 100% on those kinds of stains. But overall, it's the best one available in the market so far.

This easy-to-use stick has become my security blanket at work. I am an admitted klutz when it comes to eating anything with high splatter potential, and with unfortunate irony, I add insult to injury by ordering high-risk dishes just before presenting at some meeting in front of senior management. That's why I have one at my desk at work to address the out-of-nowhere splatter from a spoonful of tomato soup, the inadvertent coffee drip from the not-tight-enough plastic lid, and the telltale grease spot from an aggressive mouthful of the pad thai noodles. It's not completely foolproof, but it does an effective job in removing most of the residue from non-white shirts.

I often think the stronger benefit of this product is psychological, the mere fact that you are doing something proactive to eradicate your sins. However, I wouldn't bother applying it if the stain has been on your clothing for more than an hour. It is likely a foregone conclusion at that point. With the feel of a magic marker, it offers the additional virtue of convenience, especially since you need not run to the restroom to moisten a paper towel anymore. Just like a pilfered pen from the office, a Tide-to-Go stick can be found in my jacket pocket, in my dresser at home and even in the glove compartment in the car. I am honest enough with myself to know I need 24/7 protection from myself. The Tide to Go is definitely worth purchasing in multi-packs.

I was 5 minutes early getting out of the house to go to work one morning so I decided I could stop by a coffee shop and get a mocha. On my way back to my car the mocha "splooshed" out of the sipping hole in the to-go lid and got all over my sweater...naturally, that day it was a white silk knit sweater. So I had these large dark brown coffee/chocolate stains, and a decision to make about whether to make myself extremely late to work by going home to change.

The cafe was next to a supermarket so I decided to go buy a Tide to Go pen and give it a try. I applied it as directed to the stain and immediately the stain lightened noticeably. I was a bit worried because after treatment there were still light tan stains visible, but after blotting the excess liquid and letting the sweater dry while wearing for about half an hour, there was no hint that any mocha had ever touched my sweater.

The cleansing agent also gets points for not damaging my silk sweater, despite the fact I was rubbing the product in fairly vigorously (out of desperation...I was going to be late for work!)

I'm not sure how it would work on other stains but I will keep one in my purse from now on. On the packaging it does identify which sorts of stains it works best on, and which it will be less effective on. From other reviews this will not work so well on some common food stains, so that's why I'm giving 4 stars and not 5.

Another minor concern is the warning about blotting the fluid if fabric will come into contact with direct sunlight. It doesn't say what will happen if you allow saturated fabric to see sunlight. Perhaps there is the potential for color/fabric damage?

It gets rid of most stains!

Ketchup, soup, blood, cake, etc.

It fits GREAT in your purse.