KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Tide To Go: "Does It Work?"

Tide To Go: "Does It Work?"

Stains happen. Perhaps that's why so many companies are in the endless pursuit to find the perfect stain remover. The people that make Tide have been one of the more aggressive. In the last couple of years, they've created new pre-treaters, electric brushes for instant removal, even an ultrasonic cleaner. Tide To Go is their latest entry. And this week we put it to the "Does It Work?" test.

On the package it says Tide To Go, "helps eliminate many fresh food & drink stains." Fresh, meaning stains that haven't had a chance to set in. Inside, the directions go even further to let you know how far you can go with Tide To Go. "Tide to go works well on the following stains: Tomato juice, ketchup, BBQ sauce, grape juice, coffee," the directions say. They're up front and tell you it doesn't not work well on: Ink, blood or grease stains.

So we rounded up some ketchup, grape juice and coffee. We took a white cotton shirt and spread it out on a table.

We did two rounds of tests. One where we put coffee, juice and ketchup on the shirt one after another. After all three stains were in place, we wiped off the excess according to instructions and began using Tide's pen like device to remove the stains one at a time.

Tide To Go looks like a highlighter pen. You must press the tip on the stain to release the cleaning solution inside and then rub gently with the pen's tip. Again, on this first round, we worked on each stain one at a time. First the coffee, then the juice, then the ketchup. Point is, while we created and worked on each stain, others were waiting to be removed. Given the amount of time the stains had to set in, the results were not great. The stains broke up, but appeared to just spread out to the edges. In fact, we had a faint circle of stain on each of the affected areas after they dried. The shirt would have been wearable, but the stains were noticeable.

In the second round of tests, we made a stain, wiped off the excess and treated it immediately. Results were very good. The coffee, juice and ketchup was completely erased.

So, "Does It Work?" We had a tough time with this one. Tide To Go is better than nothing, but very limited in what it works on. And keep in mind, the quicker you use it, the better it works. We're feeling generous. Don't expect miracles, but we give it a yes.

We paid $2.99 for Tide To Go. It's available anywhere detergent is sold.

Joe Terrell, reporting. jterrell@kltv.com