An ode to the $7.90 stain-beating pen that goes with me everywhere
As an adult you'd think, by now, I'd have mastered eating without spilling food down my front. If it's red and saucy, bet your house deposit it will somehow end up on me. If I'm wearing white, double it because it will not stay white. I'm a dry cleaner's dream and my own worst nightmare.
Short of wearing a bib, there's one thing that's saved my clothes (and me the embarrassment of seeing out most days with an unfortunately placed stain) and it's a $7.90 stain-beating pen.
Once relatively hard to find – unless you had a trip to the States locked in with a Walmart detour planned to buy the wonder pen in bulk – the pen that has extended the life of my most precious clothes is the Tide to Go Instant Stain Removing Pen. Found on Amazon, you can buy it here...
And this is why it's a must-have for every bag owned by the accident-prone.
The stain:
One of many, this particular mess was a mixture of coffee and chocolate on the thigh of my light-wash Levi's as I was about to head out the door.
Enter: Tide to Go, and a few dabs of the pen later it looked... better.
By the time I got to the office, the stain was gone, and the solution from the pen was all dried up. Jeans saved!
How the Tide to Go pen works:
Depending on the stain, and please note this won't work on everything, you'll get the best results if you can carefully remove any excess before getting at it with the pen. So, if it's a chunky Bolognese you've dropped (guilty!), get rid of the chunks before you get to the actual stain.
Once you're left with the (devastating) mark press the pen tip on the stain and let it release the stain-beating solution – for the curious, the solution doesn't contain bleach, making it safe to use on most fabrics. Press up and down as many times as you feel necessary while gently rubbing the stain.
This won't work for all materials, the more delicate the fabric the best of luck to you. But that's the gamble you take when you wear anything that's not cotton or poly-cotton, right?!
The main aim of the pen is to dilute the stain, lifting most of it out so it can be completely erased in the wash.
What type of stains does the Tide to Go pen "beat"?
For me, coffee, chocolate, balsamic vinegar, foundation, and most shades of pasta sauce have been erased when attacked quickly with the pen. Any stain residue left post-use has then completely disappeared when followed by a wash in the washing machine.
The pen boasts it can help remove "coffee, tea, wine, spaghetti sauce, BBQ sauce, ketchup, salsa, grape juice, and more!" – lucky for grape juice drinkers.
However, don't rely on the pen to get you out of a grease, blood or ink stain.
The only downside to this pen is that it runs out, so don't get too tappy with the solution – you'll miss it when it's gone.
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