Just before my first trip back to France in a decade, I upgraded my go-to travel top from my beloved (but worn-out) New Balance pullover to a new Tentree TreeWaffle half zip, thrilled to be markedly more presentable, yet just as comfy, en route to Paris. My first order of business was reuniting with the steak frites I’d longed for from Le Relais de L’entrecôte—but a few bites in, I found myself with a quarter-sized oil stain on said new shirt.
A quick dab of a Wet Ones antibacterial wipe did nothing. Neither did that night’s scrub with soap in the ironically named Hotel Fabric. Hopeful it wasn’t that bad, I slipped on the shirt again as I continued on to Bordeaux—but after running into colleagues earlier than expected, I splurged on hotel laundry service, pointing out the spot to the lovely staff at Villas Foch. I returned that night to a neatly pressed, but still stained, top—and a 13є bill.
The shirt stayed rolled up in my suitcase the rest of the trip. When I got home, I followed an online suggestion to use baking soda on pesky oil stains. With an old toothbrush, I scrubbed the spot with Arm & Hammer and threw it into the wash. But when I opened the machine door, the powder had turned a huge patch from tan to pink, making the shirt completely discolored.
I couldn’t help thinking that the travel disaster was preventable, had I simply brought along on-the-go stain removers. Despite being an overprepared, paranoid packer, I had given up after a history of ruined fabrics.
After this incident, I decided it was time to find a brand I could trust. And who better to test the products with me than good ol’ mom—despite being a klutzy kid who left every dim sum meal with a shirt full of sauce stains, all I remember is perfectly pristine clothes thanks to a little magic touch from my mom.
Read on for the best stain remover for clothes to keep on hand while you travel, plus more great back-up options.
How we tested these out
When it comes to packable stain removers, Shout Wipe & Go (formerly called Shout Wipes) and Tide to Go Stain Remover Pens have been the biggest names since they came onto the market in the late 1990s and mid 2000s, respectively. But for due diligence, I scoured the internet for any kind of self-proclaimed stain remover that promised to remove stains on the go.
Over the holidays, I took an old T-shirt—one that was 100 percent cotton, as my mom felt the fabric was one of the tougher ones to get stains out of—and caked it with substances travelers might come upon when looking sharp matters (think business trips, destination weddings, or a celebratory getaway). I doused it with mud, chocolate, soy sauce, salsa, red wine, olive oil, and lipstick.