This is a pen like object that is designed to get rid of stains immediately and relatively easily. Sadly it does not live up to my expectations of a product like this.

What it is not
It is not a pre-treater.
It will not replace your washing machine.
It is not a perfect stain fighter.
It does not work well on very large stains.

How to use it
1. Remove excess residue from the stain.
2. Press the tip onto the stain several times to release some stain remover solution onto the stain.
3. Rub tip gently across the stain to remove it. When necessary, add more liquid and continue rubbing gently.
4. If treated area will be exposed to direct sunlight, wipe with a damp cloth or napkin to remove excess solution left on fabric.
(directions are from the documentation I received with the product.)

My first tests to see what it is.
I went ahead and took a paper towel that had blood stains (ya I know… gross) and I dripped some of the solution on the paper towel. I instantly saw some foaming action that I do not see when I just drip the solution on a non-soiled product. What this tells me is the product is working off of some sort of chemical reaction.
I then grabbed a yellow paper and wanted to see if the ink would come off. The yellow ink did come off a little when mixed with the solution, but not very much. I also applied to one of the printed pieces of paperwork that came with the packaging I received (see disclaimer on bottom). It took off the lettering and damaged the paper in the process. So it does decompose some weaker pigments, now on to the real tests.
real tests
I then started the real tests. I went ahead and used the product on Bush’s baked beans liquid stain and ketchup stains on my daughter’s “one-z”. The product worked for the most part but was unable to completely get rid of the stain on white shirt or her white tie strap. I would say it got rid of 90% of the stain but it was still noticeable. A run though the wash should get rid of the rest of it…I hope.
I went ahead and made a big coffee stain on my white cloth. It just moved the stain around a little but did very little to lighten the whole stain.
I then tried some dark grape juice and applied the product. This time my wife told me I was supposed to apply the product, leave it, and wash it later. I told her it was stain remover, not a pre-treater. She proceeded to go to the documentation I received and read it again and realized she read something wrong. She came to the conclusion that the pen should have gotten rid of the grape juice stain.
So Far I can’t recommend this for anything.
The final test that really told me what was going on
I grabbed a little soy sauce (one of the products it recommends) and applied the cleaning solution to the white cloth. I followed the directions again and after 30 seconds of rubbing it lightened about 50%. I gripped to my wife about what a pathetic product it was. She proceeded to criticize my scientific investigation (rightfully so) and began rub it for another 2 minutes and got it to about 95% clear. I went ahead and rubbed it for another minute with even more solution and found that the stain was getting clearer but there was residue still visible. I am not sure how much of the residue was the pen and how much was the lightened soy sauce but there was noticeable residue. So even though it got rid of a dark stain, there was visible residue left on the cloth. I would still be a little embarrassed if I had to wear the shirt in this condition. And just drying the shirt did not seem to get rid of that look.

My problems with the tests
Some of my stains were too big for the pen. For example, a coffee stain the size of a coffee cup would use up over half of the solution in the pen and take you 10 minutes (or more) to get rid of the stain. When I made the stains smaller I noticed that the pen worked much better, but still not perfectly. I also did not spend enough time working on the stains for my first tests. You need at least 2 minutes for the smallest of stains and much more time for the larger stains.
My other issue is that colored clothes would work better but I choose white so that I could see clearly what happened.

Number of real world uses.
I dripped the rest of the liquid in a graduated cylinder and found that I had 1.3 ml left in the bottle. Not much. I think the pen is only meant for 5-10 full uses, depending on the size of the stain. I think you are better off just washing your clothes and having a spare shirt handy.

PH tests and observations of chemical change.
I first placed some on my finger before I started the tests and found that it had a slight slippery feel to it. My guess from the feel was that the liquid was slightly basic, which a lot of cleaning solutions are. I then went ahead and did a test with PH paper and found that the paper was 6. This meant that the solution was slightly acidic, not slightly basic as I thought. But still very close to the PH of water (which is 7). So the PH isn’t strong enough to do any major damage to clothing and most dyes. I rechecked the solution with litmus paper and PH paper from a different source just to make sure my results were accurate, and I found out that they were. The solution is a very mild acid.
As I mentioned before, it foamed on the blood so I believe this product is also working by chemical reactions. So I believe they are using chemicals and friction are the major elements in the design of this product, not relying on the ions.
I also smelled it and there was a very slight pleasant fragrance. I believe this is added to the product to mask some odors, but that is merely a guess. In either case, the smell is not very strong at all.

My summary of it’s effectiveness in my test and the real world.
If you have 5 minutes to work on a stain then you can get rid of almost all of the stain. It will not look perfectly clean because there is residual chemicals that still reside in the cloth.
I feel this product is ideal for mid range tones and colors. The solution is not strong enough to damage these colors and the colored cloth will mask the remains of the stain better when compared to a white cloth. But if it were my shirt, I would definitely be going to the store for a white shirt before the boardroom meeting.

Why the rating
If I were to rate it on how well it worked as advertised I would give it a 3. It worked on most products but not perfectly. But this is such a narrow scope and I rate based on my opinion on it’s usefulness and value in everyday life. I just do not see that with this product so I am rating it a 1 and not recommending this product. I will never buy this product. It is a great idea but it just does not work as well as it needs to. If I got ketchup on a white shirt at work I would still need to change my white shirt. Even though this product works slightly better than a damp towel, it still does not work well enough…meaning it does not get rid of the total stain.
What I would recommend to P&G is for them to make a series of pens, one for white shirts that would probably have a higher ph (this would be strong enough to damage the dye on some fabrics but would be fine for white shirts) and another series of pens like this (but more testing) that could work on colored shirts.

Disclaimer
This product was received from Cindy Pino and was given freely. It was arranged through Pogomom. My opinion was not influenced in any way by receiving this as a free gift (which should be obvious).

Summary
While it is a good idea, it does not meet my expectations. It is not 100% effective and it only effective for small stains. A damp towel works almost as well and is a lot cheaper. If their chemists are able to tweak this product in the future I can see this type of product being effective, but not in the condition it currently is in. And I just do not see it being widely used in real world applications. For that reason I cannot recommend this product.

Other reviews you might be interested in.
Clorox bathtub and shower cleaning system.
Mr. Clean Car wash system.
Ionic Breeze air purifier.


Recommended: No