When it comes to dirt and stains, we're an intolerant lot. If something says it'll remove stains, then that's what we expect it to do.

But for the most stubborn of splotches, which stain removers really work?

More than half the clothes we wash at home are made of cotton fabric.

More stories from Today Tonight

• Washing wonder world
• Washing machine wreckers
• Consumer products of the year

Testing cotton t-shirts with the most common, toughest of stains, red wine, coffee, tomato ketchup were left to set overnight, before being treated with stain removers. Normal laundry washing detergents were also tested, to see if they got the stains out.

Cleanliness expert, Julie Finch-Scally of The Duster Dollies cleaning franchises, judged the stain removal and soaker tests.

“You have chosen the top three as far as I'm concerned. Red wine is always very difficult to remove; tomato ketchup - the red stain in that is really difficult to get out; and coffee soaks into the material,” Finch-Scally said.

Following the user instructions, seven well-known clothing stain removers and pre-wash soakers were put to work on the spills.

• Coles Ultra Pre-wash Plus 500ml - $1.49
• Napisan OxiAction pre-treatment 1kg - $8.29
• Vanish Preen Original 440ml - $8.89
• Bio Zet Attack Ecosmart 380ml - $8.39
• Sards Wonder pre-wash stick 100gm - $4.49
• Exit stick 50gm - $4.50
• Dylon Ultra Whitener OxiStain Removal 180gm - $9.95

Finch-Scally assessed the results with an eagle eye.

More stories from reporter Helen Wellings

“The one that got out all the stains was Napisan. The next is Coles Ultra - there is hardly any red wine, and only a bit of coffee left on that one.”

Most removers work most effectively when left overnight, while some work only with immediate treatment of the stain.

Scientific tests were also used to work out how well normal clothes washing machine detergents removed stains, with no pre-treatments or soaking.

A spectrometer measured how much stain was removed.

The tests were done at the largest detergent research facility in the world - Unilever's massive global stain-removing testing laboratory at Vlaardingen in the Netherlands.

That R and D gives Omo, made by Unilever, the edge on its competitors in laundry detergent stain removal, as independent tests, like Choice's, keep proving.

“What we compared was Omo Ultimate versus a top-selling product in Australia. We stained them with some very common Australian stains - tomato sauce and barbeque sauce, and we put them under the dryer for two days,” Omo's marketing manager Lana Taylor said.

“On the competitor shirt, you can see it hasn't fared very well. The barbeque sauce and chocolate custard can still be seen, and even the gravy and the chocolate milk. Overall we would give this a rating of 75 per cent stain removal, and 100 per cent stain removal for Omo.”

Finch-Scally stresses that for most reliable results when it comes to stain removal - act quickly.

“Do it very soon. Don’t leave it in the wash basket for a week, because it doesn't work then. It's got to be done as soon as it happens. If it is very expensive don’t do it yourself - take it to the drycleaner as quickly as possible,” she concluded.

Contact details

• Duster Dollies - www.dusterdollies.com.au
• 'The Third Oldest Profession: The A-Z of House Cleaning' by Julie Finch-Scally - www.juliefinchscally.com.au
• Omo - www.omo.com.au