The Laundress - Wash & Stain Bar 2 Oz.

This stain bar has worked really well for sunscreen and other oily stains, but the scent and the way it's packaged make me reluctant to recommend it.The smell is very, very strong. This isn't a huge issue on clothes once they've been thoroughly rinsed, but the bar itself leaves a lingering, nearly overpowering scent anywhere that it's used or stored. When I left it out in my laundry closet, the smell wafted out through the closed door into the hall. In a small hotel-style bathroom, I'm guessing it would overpower the room. As someone who's sensitive to smells, this is a problem.The bar's packaging is also inconvenient. Since a little of this seems to go a long way, I don't actually mind that it's a bit dinky. But a standard travel soap container is much too large for this, which would defeat the convenience of a small, packable stain bar. A travel soap dish may also not be scent-proof enough to keep everything in my suitcase from smelling like the stain remover. The only reasonable storage option I've found so far is a plastic zipper bag, but that means that I either have to leave the bar out to dry and then wrap it, which stinks up the room, or I have to put the bar away wet and replace the bag more often, which feels wasteful.If the company offered a scent-proof storage case for these, it would be an amazing product. But as-is, I feel like I'm choosing between either having that smell always around somewhere or using too much plastic.

Holy Moly! I did not know what to expect. Interestingly, my co-workers and friends all peg me as being a clean freak where everything about it super clean and tidy. Meanwhile, my clothes are often a complete wreck with marks and stains that I just cannot get out. I have thrown lots of clothes out because of one stain: makeup, pit stain, peanut butter, ketchup, or someone dropped their cranberry and vodka/red wine on me (the day I'm wearing white pants). I also heard of the Laundress for years, but I thought why should I pay 2x-3x of what I pay at retail stores to clean my clothes. Well I am now a true believer! The Laundress - Wash & Stain Bar, Vegetable Soap, Borax & Essential Oils, Allergen-Free, 2 oz has me blown away! At first, I had no idea how to use this thing. And of course I thought $10, wasted. But then I remembered I saw a little boar bristle brush suggested as an additional purchase and a technique my cousin showed me. So, I grabbed an old baby toothbrush and got to work on a white collared shirt that I hadn't realized had a collar stain and makeup stains! (Double Whammy!) So, I wet the shirt and the stain bar. Rubbed the stain bar into the stain, wet the toothbrush and got to work rubbing the stains out in concentric circles. I had to work at it, but eventually I could barely see where the stains were! I then put the shirt in the washer with bleach. Like new! The collar has very little to no trace of a stain ever being present.I then used this on a pair of light wash denim shorts my son got mud on. Someone washed them before I could work my stain bar magic. So, they still had mud stains! Grrrr… But then I tried the stain bar again with the toothbrush. When it looked like most of the stain came out I washed the shorts again. Barely any trace of stains! I used this on spaghetti stains, oil stains, etc. Comes out!The only downside is that it looks like fancy castile soap from from a certain colonial historical site I visit every summer in Virginia near Wm & Mary. So, I don't quite know how to keep it so that no one uses it as hand soap or puts it in a place where near water so it just disintegrates. I also cannot wait to get the boar bristle brush to use instead of that old toothbrush! Then I will definitely be trying more of the Laundress products. I am a convert. You need this expensive stain stick because it actually gets the stains out!

If I had read the entire description of this bar, I might not have ordered it after realizing it's only a fraction of the size of an actual bar of soap. That would have been a mistake. I ordered it to use on a white hoodie that's so grungy around the sleeves that it was a last stop before throwing it in the trash, and it made a huge difference. I'm keeping the hoodie, and would definitely recommend this bar!

I wear white caps and no matter how much I try to make sure my forehead is clean before wearing them they get dirty anyway. I don't want to machine wash them and ruin the shape of the visor . I did a quick clean using this soap and it really works without having really get my cap wet. A little damp is okay. Going to do a second cleaning once it has dried completely. I included before and after photos.

Update: Inexpensive luxury. Pulled shirt from closet week later and had fresh "clothes line" smell (few of likely to remember) from my childhood a pleasant reminder.I had men's white dress shirts with persistent collar and cuff stains. I have previously used Oxy MaxForce spray and diluted Oxy crystals to no avail. This Laundress bar is well blogged about but few do any real comparisons, I did and here are my results.I took 8 dress shirts half used the Laundress bar and scrubbed with a nail brush (plus hot water) the other half a splash of Dawn in hot water. I then washed in a front loading machine with Oxy crystals and Persil MaxClean detergent on the 'white' cycle of moderate hot water.The end effect - both did an excellent job of removing the collar stains (mostly skin oils) for the cuff's (both skin oil and dirt) I would give a slight edge to the Laundress which seemed to clean better (but it was slight). Clearly the dirt levels in each shirt was not consistent - but the sample of 8 I felt a fair comparison.Laundress soap bar is a tiny 2 oz, and easy to grip while wet and has a pleasant odor. However bang for the buck, a few cents of Dawn got me 90% of the way there and was the same effort to use.