Spot cleaners - our test

We tested 8 products to see how well they cleaned tricky stains:

• red wine and coffee (common household spills)
• shoe polish (oil-based)
• raspberry cordial (dye-based).

We applied the stains to light-coloured carpet (nylon cut-pile and wool sisal loop-pile).

In one test the stains were treated after one minute. A second batch of stains was left for 24 hours before treatment, to simulate a mishap you discover the next day. In both tests we followed the manufacturers' instructions.

The Cavalier Bremworth Carpet Stain Remover wasn't included in the first part of the test, because its manufacturer recommends that you "pre-treat" and then apply the remover (if needed) when the stain has dried (see First aid for stains).

Our lab rated how well the products removed each stain. As well, it checked whether the treated areas were more likely to attract dirt afterwards. This was done by rubbing sieved garden soil into a patch of carpet, part of which had been treated with the stain remover. The soil was vacuumed off, and the treated and untreated areas were compared.

What we found

No product removed all traces of these demanding stains - the best achieved a result of "hardly visible." And no single product performed well on all stains.

Glitz Carpet Stain Remover (pictured) was best overall - it removed most traces of the stains on nylon carpet.

All the products achieved better results on the nylon carpet, possibly because it had been treated with a stain-repellent coating and so kept liquids on the surface of the carpet for longer. These coatings are most effective on a new carpet but wear off with traffic.

The sisal loop pile of the wool carpet may also have affected the results - stains are more apparent on the sides of fibres (as in a loop pile) than the ends (cut pile).

All the products except Cavalier Bremworth caused treated carpet to get dirty faster than untreated carpet. This "resoiling" happens naturally over time, and can be fixed professionally (see Using professional cleaners).

Damage to the carpet pile was mainly a result of the testers' repeated efforts to remove the stain.

An expensive option

We were stunned to find a product costing $25.90. While De-Solv-it Sticky Spot and Stain Remover is a larger size (750ml) than other products in our test, it's by far the most expensive per ml - more than double the price of the top-scoring Glitz and Cavalier Bremworth stain removers.

For full details of the products tested and their performance, see Spot cleaners compared.