We tried it: Does natural stain remover spray really work?

Stains happen in any busy household, and they always seem to occur on a brand-new piece of clothing or an absolute staple in your wardrobe. In my home, we have three active kids that love to put my laundry skills to the test, and one of those kiddos is very sensitive to artificial fragrances and chemicals in laundry detergent.

Thus, my seemingly endless search for the be-all, end-all stain remover that can tackle anything from chocolate to grass stains is never ending.

I have been trying to slowly weed out as many chemicals and artificial ingredients as possible in our home and make the switch to natural products — but I still need my laundry detergents, stain removers, and other laundry products to work.

So here’s my real-life test run of Grove’s Stain Remover Spray — and all the dirty details about how it worked.

Over the course of two weeks, I tested out this stain remover on three stubborn stains — including on my son’s white baseball uniform.

The kiddos left a not-so-sweet chocolate stain all over a white and blue striped, 60% cotton/40% polyester tablecloth that I kinda like. So I sprayed the stain thoroughly and allowed the stain remover to do its thing for about 10 minutes before washing the tablecloth as usual.

After the wash cycle was complete, I checked the stain, which was diminished by about 50 percent — so I applied the stain remover a second time and repeated the wash cycle.

After a second application, the stain was almost completely gone, with just the most subtle of hints that something nefarious had happened.

With an avid baseball player and softball player in the house, grass stains aren’t an occasional occurrence around here — they’re an everyday way of life. I’ve always kept my eye out for a magical remedy that will keep his head-to-toe white uniform looking sharp at the plate, so I put the Grove Stain Remover Spray to the test.

I attacked the stains with the remover, and let it sit a little longer than the recommended 10 minutes, since this stain was a beast. After one wash, the stains were significantly better but not completely gone. I didn’t try to give the uniform a second go. While it didn’t remove all the stains, it did just as well as any other stain remover I tried, and it was game time!

Ode to my beloved, everyday bathrobe, that soft, comforting part of my morning routine that inevitably gets slimed with an onslaught of hair products and makeup. I wondered how those makeup stains would fare against Grove’s Stain Remover Spray, so I sprayed the robe and let the remover do its thing for about 10 minutes.

After one wash, the stain was much better, but remnants of my daily war paint still remained, so I gave it a second round of product and another washing. While not flawless, I was happy with the results, considering I had to put in very little effort.

Some stains are tougher than others to get out, and we’ll probably always be on the search for that one miracle stain remover that’s color-safe and 100% effective on every type of stain there is. Is that really too much to ask?

While Grove Stain Remover Spray isn’t the miracle we’re all searching for, it’s a solid, stand-up, nontoxic, natural stain remover that works just as well as the conventional stain removers I’ve been squirting on clothes for the last however-many-odd years.

So, did I find the holy grail of stain removers? Not quite. But will I keep using the Grove Stain Remover Spray? Absolutely!

I found that this stain remover is as effective as any I’ve used, and I love that it’s healthier for my children and a great way to green up my laundry habits—so far, I’ve switched to natural laundry detergent and dryer balls, and now I have natural stain remover too.

It feels good to make better choices for the environment, and when it comes to run-of-the-mill light stains that happen literally every day in my household, Grove has shown itself up to the task.