A Review of My Favourite Stain Remover: Stain Devils by Carbona

  Well I'm back on Ken's computer again! My computer shut itself off. It took days to get it on and now that I have, it will only let me see my pictures, but not get online. I'm really fed up with it.
   I don't know if I've mentioned that I have a thing about old bedding. I only sleep on old sheets and pillow cases. Like, really old ones. Let's say, pre-1960's. I love them. They are cool in the summer, cozy in the winter, and nice and soft. I love it when I find some that have been starched and are still stiff after all these years. With use and washing, they still stay stiff for a long time. Not scratchy, uncomfortable stiff. Just stiff enough to not get limp and wrinkley. I think it stems from my childhood. Mom always used to starch and iron the sheets. She dissolved the starch in a white enamel sauce pan, on the stove. Anyway, today Ivy and I went to an estate sale, and I found a set of vintage sheets, and pink pillow cases. I got some yellow ones for Ken, because he ruins all the pillow cases sweating on them. He's not allowed to use my nice ones! I also found three sets of hand embroidered ones for $2! (That was for the whole bag!)

  Ivy bought a couple of vintage wool coats, and a Wedgewood plate, and we split a stuffed bag full of vintage hankies(me),scarves(her), and gloves,(Ivy), and Fuzz got the suede and leather gloves).
  Well, I leave for Georgia on Monday. I'll be gone for about a week. While I'm gone there will be at least one review post. Today's post is something a little different, but the subject is something that doll collectors can definitely use.
  If you're a regular reader of the blog, you've undoubtedly  seen me mention Stain Devils. I mention it a lot. That's because I use it a lot. I discovered it years ago. It's an amazing stain remover. I joke all the time that I should do a commercial for them, because I'm always touting their products. I've been thinking about doing a review of Stain Devils for years. (In fact, some of this post has been in my drafts for 3 years, and some of the pictures have been on the computer even longer than that!) Anyway,  after saying that for so long, and having in the back of my mind that I should contact Carbona, the company that produces Stain Devils and Color Run Remover, and ask them if they would be interested in providing some products for review, I finally did it. I contacted Carbona and told them how much I use and love Stain Devils, and they did indeed want to provide some goodies for review! Carbona sent me this box full of Stain Devils.

    I am  thrilled, because I go through a  lot of the stuff! I'm also happy because Stain Devils is a product I really believe in. I've saved many pieces of doll clothing, as well as our own clothes, using it. I can't eat Indian food very often any more because of my LPR, but we love it and used to eat Indian food very often when I still could. It's delicious, but the spices can really stain clothing. I also can't eat tomatoes any more, but when I could, I ate loads of them, and things made from tomatoes, and they also stain. Add to that that Ken and I are both slobs, and you can see why I keep Stain Devils around.

  Stain Devils comes in numbered versions, each removing different stains. They are numbered 1 through 9.

The backs of the bottles carry a list of the stains removed by that particular number. The current bottles list the numbers, and a few of the types of stains it removes.

For example, number 1 removes, amongst other things, nail polish, glue, and candle wax. (Those things constitute most of Ivy's stains.) Number 2 removes chocolate, ketchup, tomato based foods, and spices. (Those used to be most of my stains, pre-LPR.) Number 3 works on ink, marker, crayon, chalk, and pencil. (Where was this stuff when I markered that brand new green sweater shirt?) Number 4 removes blood, dairy, baby formula, and eggs. I never used baby formula, but it sure is handy for the other stuff. Number 5 is for is for all sorts of fats and grease, including cooking oil, lard, butter, margarine, and mayonnaise. Number 6: grass, dirt, and make-up, including lip stick and mascara. (Ivy is loaning some of her stains for this review!),Number 7: motor oil, lubricants like machine grease, tar, lotion, tree sap, shoe polish, ash and soot, and floor wax. Number 8: coffee, tea, wine cola, baby food, fruits and vegetables, jelly and jam, mold and mildew, urine, and nicotine. With Fuzz in the house, having a stain remover that works on coffee is good to have. I'll detail some of my uses of this one below. And finally, there is number 9, which removes rust, perspiration, and the opposite of perspiration, (?), deodorant.
  I preferred the older bottles. They had a super long list of all the stains, in alphabetical order, followed by the number of Stain Devils that will remove it.

I keep an older bottle around just for the list. The alphabetical order of the stains makes it easier to find what you need, and the list of stains covered by the Stain Devils is more thorough. I really wish the company would go back to the old list.
  Some of the numbers are liquid, and are applied to dry cloth. Some are in powder form, which is mixed with hot water, and used to soak the stain.  

  As I have said, I have used Stain Devils to rescue a lot of things. I've used it on our clothes, doll clothes, including vintage Barbie clothes, and even entire dolls. To start with, let's look at this vintage Barbie outfit called Caribbean Cruise, which I rescued with Stain Devils number 3

  If you remember, number 3 works on ink and marker. It's a liquid, so I was supposed to use a piece of white cloth under the fabric. I just used a folded paper towel though. So sue me.

  The stain was on the outfit when I bought it, so I can't swear to what it is. It looks like marker though.

I put the paper towel under the fabric and squirted the Stain Devils number three on it. The directions say to work the Stain Devils in with your finger until the stain disappears.

The stain was smaller right away, but there was still a little left.

I squirted a little more Satin Devils number 3 on the stain and worked it in. In no time the stain had completely disappeared.

After this the directions say to rinse the fabric, or wash it as you normally wash your laundry.

   I saved these pictures of Caribbean Cruise several years ago, thinking even then I should do a review of Stain Devils. There are loads of things I should have saved for this review, but didn't. One example is the before picture of the Dolly Darlings doll you may have seen HERE. 

This is the 'after'.

I didn't take any 'befores'. 'Before' she and her clothes were very browned. I suppose some of it was from age, but I'm guessing that at some point she had lived in a smoking home. I soaked her---doll, clothes, and all---in Stain Devils number 8, for nicotine. Both the doll and the clothes were improved. The clothes were pretty much perfect, and the doll pinked up a lot. I wouldn't recommend soaking actual dolls in Stain Devils unless they are past all saving otherwise. I don't know what the result would be. 

   I  have  used Satin Devils to get out stains on lots of vintage doll clothes, with only one problem, which was really my fault. I have a vintage Skipper dress called Let's Play House. 

    

You may have seen the post with this doll wearing the Let's Play House I'm talking about, HERE.

  When I got it it was very browned from nicotine or something. It improved after a soak in Stain Devils number 8, but to get it completely bright again I had to soakit longer than was recommended. My mistake was leaving it in way longer than the recommended time. It was just so browned that I just kept checking it and deciding to leave it in longer. As it turned out, I left it so long that somehow the Stain Devils had reacted with the snaps. The fabric began to bleach out around the snaps. But keep in mind that I left the dress in for ages longer than directed. Luckily I had been checking on it periodically while it was soaking, I caught it when the fabric had just started to fade white rings around the snaps.

  I have actually saved another entire doll with Stain Devils. She was an Ivy Cottage Ruby Buttons doll. I got her at a thrift store. People are always leaving comments on my Ivy Cottage post, saying they are desperate to find a Ruby Buttons, or her friend Violet Pickles. So even though when I found Ruby she was totally browned from nicotine, I thought she was worth saving. (She has a vinyl head, but the rest of her is soft fabric.)  I washed her in laundry soap, and then had to soak her in Stain Devils number 8. A lot of brown water rinsed out of her right away, but she was still very browned. I was worried about her red yarn hair starting to bleed, but she was just awful with the browning, so I decided to go against the Stain Devils directions and take a chance: I soaked her overnight! I was worried that by morning she might have no colour at all, or her vinyl might be affected. But in the morning I rinsed her, and she looked great! She came out perfect. Her white areas were sparkling white, her clothes were clean and bright, her vinyl was fine, and her hair was still red. Ruby went on to another home, or I would show her to you. She's one of my best success stories with Stain Devils. Once again, I wouldn't recommend leaving anything soaking in Stain Devils longer than recommended,(especially as long as I did with Ruby!), unless it's a total loss otherwise anyway.
  Besides tomatoes and spices, some of our most frequent stains around here are from grease. Just last week Ivy dropped bean curd homestyle on her shirt. It left a grease stain. I told her to do something about it before putting it in the laundry, but she didn't. When I was about to hang the shirt on the line I found the stain. So I took it inside and got out the Stain Devils. Here's what the stain looked like before I worked on it.

It added up to three separate grease stains. Ivy is efficient.

I got the stains out quickly with Stain Devils number 5. It's the liquid kind that you work in with your finger. I then rinsed the shirt, and left it in the kitchen sink because it was soaking wet. Of course, then later Fuzzy came along and made coffee. Fuzz gets coffee grounds EVERYWHERE when making coffee. That shirt must have been cursed, because what is the combination of a wet cloth and coffee grounds? Another stain! There were two coffee stain spots on the nice clean shirt. Naturally I didn't see them until the shirt had gone out to hang on the line again! So I pulled out Stain Devils number 8. Number 8 is the dry kind of Stain Devils. I dissolved two teaspoons of it in hot water. (I admit that I didn't measure the Stain Devils, or the water. I just eyeballed it.) It was supposed to soak for a half an hour. I confess to not timing it exactly either. In any case, the stains came out. Ivy's shirt was back to normal. I can't show you because Ivy took it to her room and put it away,and she's not feeling well at the moment. She can't go get it for me. But trust me.The stains came out.
  You know how tough blood stains are. Ken manages to bleed on everything at some point. Don't ask. He's just good at it...unfortunately. He got some blood spots on our new white comforter.

Number 4 is one that has to be used on dry fabric, and worked in with your finger. You're supposed to put an absorbent cloth under the fabric, but this is a comforter. It's thick. So I did my best. Then the spot had to be rinsed with warm water.

The tiny spots completely disappeared. The big one is now faint. I have to run the comforter through a wash now, and see if the rest comes out.
  I said I have been thinking about doing a Stain Devils review for years. Some proof of that is the date on the following pictures. I found them on Ken's computer. They're dated 2014! They are of the American Girl Kirsten I bought at a flea market. You might have seen the post where I showed her in my flea market finds of the day.  She had a few spots on her clothes, and her body. So what did I do? I pulled out the Stain Devils, of course!

On her bonnet.

 

 I made a guess at what the stain was. I think I went with chocolate. It's been six years, so cut me some slack. Whatever it was, I used one of the Stain Devils that is a liquid, that is just squirted on and worked in with the fingers.

She also had some spots on her bloomers.

Apparently I used a Stain Devils that requires soaking the stain in it.

The first guess on the bonnet stain must not have worked. I appear to have soaked them together.

Here's the bonnet now.

And here are the bloomers. They still have a faint stain,

Her body also had spots.

Whatever the stain was, I decided to use Stain Devils #8, which is for wine,tea coffee, and juice,amongst other things.

It's dry, and has to be dissolved in warm water. I put it in a plastic container in the sink.

I added the water and stirred to dissolve the powder.

And in she went!

This is after a preliminary soak. Looks like there's one faint spot left.

This is after a little longer in the  Stain Devils bath. All the stains are gone!

And here's her body today.

Sorry about the upside down thing.

  Yes, I still have her, in spite of saying I was going to get rid of her. She was good to use as a size comparison doll for various things I was going to sell, (Furniture and accessories), because she was an appropriate era for the stuff.
  I have used Stain Devils to get rid of black mildew spots too,like the ones on the Lee Middleton doll I showed you HERE, who now lives with Ragingmoon1987, over at Confessions of a Dolly Lover. I could have gotten his spots out, because it works great. I just couldn't be bothered and need to downsize.
  Ivy has lots of nail polish stains. She loaned me the one on her blanket with the giant picture of our cat Mow.

Yes, this is an eye. The nail polish stain is yellow/green.

This is the after picture.

I used Stain Devils #1. The directions said to soak the stain in the #1, but all I did was put it on the blanket and rub it in! Then rinsed the spot. There' s a reason I love this stuff!
  I forgot to mention the Betsy McCall wedding dress that had rust stains, which I removed with Stain Devils. You can see that beautiful white dress HERE.
  So there you go. Watch for a doll review in the coming days.