4 spot removers take the stain test

When the women of my family dine out together, we often wonder whether the waiter will ask us, “Would you like this to go or to wear?” because our lack of hand-mouth coordination is so painful -- and apparent. On a cruise, for which you’ve packed lightly and allocated your daily spending to everything but the dry cleaner, this can lead to significant sartorial distress. We sacrificed a pair of khaki slacks (60% cotton, 40% polyester) to test four spot lifters. Using an eye dropper, we dribbled two drops of coffee on one pant leg and two drops of fat-free raspberry pecan salad dressing (tinted with red dye No. 40) on the other. We blotted and then attacked the evil glop. Results? You’ll be OK if you miss your mouth with your cuppa Joe, but you just might want to order your salad undressed.

SPRAY AND WASHOUT

First look: Oxi- Clean Spray-a-Way comes in a .47-fluid ounce spray-on container, so you can carry it through airport security in the quart-size plastic bag.

Likes and yikes: Directions are easy: You blot the stain, spray it and then blot again. It left an oily-looking ring around the coffee stain and didn’t begin to get the color out of the dressing.

The 411: $4.99; available at grocery and drugstores; www.oxiclean.com.

DIRT DEVILISH

First look: StainEraser, made in Sweden, comes in a tube with a cap and contains about a half-ounce of stain-fighting liquid. You remove the cap, squeeze out a drop or two and use the tip of the tube to rub out the stain.

Likes and yikes: This one didn’t perform quite as well on the salad dressing; pink still showed through, and there was still a ring around the original spot. But it eliminated the coffee without even a sign of a ring. And in a separate, off-the-cuff test, it worked very well on set-in dirt (mostly newspaper ink and the body’s natural oils) on the arm of an upholstered chair.

The 411: $5.85; Magellan’s Travel Supplies; (800) 962-4943, www.magellans.com.

MR. CLEAN

First look: Tide to Go comes in a pen-like applicator. (The label emphasizes that it is not a laundry pre-treater.) Remove the cap and “scribble” the solution onto the fabric.

Likes and yikes: This ranks as the best overall: It is .338 fluid ounces of slob control. Of the four liquid removers tested, it came closest to getting the dressing out (a slight pink glow remained), and it showed nothing where the coffee had been. One drawback: You may break off the tip after a particularly vigorous stain-busting session.

The 411: $2.99; available at grocery and drugstores; www.tidetogo.com.

SANKA SINKER

First look: Janie Dry Spot Cleaner is a solid stick that comes in a square tube about the size of a lipstick. It goes on dry, and it’s really designed for oily and greasy stains, so I expected it to shine on the oil.

Likes and yikes: Cleaning up the salad dressing should have been its strong suit, but the red dye in the dressing was too much for it. It left a pink glob on the slacks. The little brush in the lid couldn’t touch it. The coffee, however, was rendered invisible.

The 411: $3.85; Magellan’s Travel Supplies; (800) 962-4943, www.magellans.com or www.lawsonscleaning.co.uk