Spring Cleaning with OxiClean #MC

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for OxiClean. I received three product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

I first discovered OxiClean about nine years ago after my first son was born. Until you have a baby for yourself, you don't realized just how much laundry they create! Messy, messy laundry. My son tended to explode out of his diaper more often than not, and regular detergent was not getting those stains out. So I got myself some OxiClean pretreatment spray and a tub of the OxiClean Versatile powder. My daily routine would be to take whatever stained onesies I had, spray the pretreatment on them, then soak them in a bucket of warm water mixed wit OxiClean. And well, I have been using those two products regularly ever since then.
Over the year OxiClean has continued to expand their product lines from stain removers to now laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. Recently I was sent three of their new products to test out to get ready for some Spring cleaning!

OxiClean Laundry Detergent
OxiClean Laundry Detergent works deep into fabrics with three powerful stain-fighters and leaves with clean, fresh smelling clothes. The stain-fighters can lift away many complex stains, like grass, oil, grease and red wine and it is available in both liquid form and in detergent paks. Being that we are in the never-ending Winter over here still, grass stains isn't something I have to contend with right now. You know what my biggest stain issue is currently with four boys? Ketchup and pizza sauce and you mom's know that anything with tomato in it can be a chore to get out. Thankfully with the OxiClean Laundry Detergent, I was able to pour some on to the stains as a pretreatment and then wash them in the regular load and had great results. I also make a point to treat any stains immediately and get them in the wash as soon as possible because I always feel like the longer it sits the harder it is to get out.

OxiClean White Revive Laundry Stain Remover
OxiClean White Revive Laundry Stain Remover offers strong whitening just like bleach but without the damaging effects and dangers of chlorine. It removes the most stubborn stains, and keeps whites looking new. This powder can be added to your wash along with your detergent to help revive dingy whites and maintain brilliant whites. When I started using OxiClean Versatile way back when, I also stopped using chlorine bleaches. Chlorine is a known carcinogen (read: causes cancer!) and it is not something I want near my children or to be polluting our waterways. Since then I have never once missed using chlorine bleach on my whites. The new OxiClean White Revive Laundry Stain Remover takes that powder to a new, stronger level. We don't have a lot of whites in my house, just some of the kids socks and a towel or two every week. But if you compare the whites that I wash with the OxiClean White Revive to the whites my husband washes with just detergent, there is a noticeable difference as his whites are pretty much grey. What is also great is that it is color safe, so you can add it to any load of laundry you want. I like adding it to my towel load or a particularly smelly batch of the boys clothes. Since we are taking about Spring cleaning, I also find that his powder works well outside of the laundry room as well. This is the time of the year when I really start noticing stains in out carpet, so I walk around with a bowl of warm water with the powder dissolved in and work on any stains I can find. They usually come out with a few strong swipes with a towel. Be sure to always test on an inconspicuous area before cleaning, just to be safe with the color.

OxiClean 4x Extreme Power Crystals
OxiClean 4X Extreme Power Crystals is a strong dishwasher detergent that breaks up food on dishes, while leaving your dishwasher smelling fresh. The Power Crystals dissolve cloudy film and spots off of your dishware and glassware and lift away stains, even lipstick! OxiClean 4X Extreme Power Crystals are available in two scents: Fresh Clean and Lemon Clean; and comes in either a bottle or time-saving pak. At our home we have well water which also happens to be extremely hard well water. So finding a dishwasher detergent that works well with our water has always been a challenge. I found that the Power Crystals were good on getting caked off food (especially tomato sauce) off of our dishes and left our glasses almost spot-free. Again with hard water, spots are inevitable but I felt like they were really at a minimum. And yes, it does even get off lipstick! I can't tell you how many times I've run and rerun a glass through the dishwasher only to have a lipstick stain still there. (Because heaven forbid I wash it by hand!)

After trying all of these three products I was extremely happy with how they worked and how clean everything was. I do have one complaint that applies across the board to all three though. It has been 6 years since I stopped using scented detergents. There are two reasons for that:

1. I am sensitive to smells and they can trigger headaches so I try to avoid them when I can
2. With my light green lifestyle, I avoid the chemicals that are generally used to create fragrances in detergents and cleaning products.

That being said, the fragrances for these products were very strong. Now for most people that might not bother them so that's fine, but for me it was an instant headache. I would hate for someone to miss out a on good product over something like the scent so I think it would be beneficial to OxiClean to offer an alternative. I mentioned earlier that I have been using the OxiClean Versatile powder for almost a decade now. I was able to manage the fragrance because it wasn't too strong. When OxiClean started making a Free & Clear version I was thrilled and quickly made the switch. So hopefully that is something we will see down the road for these new OxiClean products.

Connect with OxiClean
Website: www.oxiclean.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OxiClean
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/oxicleanvideos

Do you use OxiClean products in your home? What are some of the most difficult stains it was able to remove for you?