Product Review: Joe Campanelli's Stain Remover

Carpet stains. We all get them from time to time. Children spill their drinks. Guests drop their food. Fido couldn't quite wait to get outside. Accidents happen all of the time, leaving behind a mess that has to be cleaned up.

Some us may be lucky enough to own one those handy dandy carpet cleaners. Even the smaller, portable ones work pretty good these days. But a lot of us don't have that machine at our fingertips. Others of us have to work fast to prevent the offending stain from setting in. We don't have time to get out the machine and load it. And we certainly can drop everything in the middle of a party to clean the rug.

A lot of carpet cleaners in the store claim that they can get out carpet stains. Some of them actually live up to at least part of their claims. But there are certain kinds of stains - - wine, chocolate, grease or oil, nail polish, etc. - - that are much more difficult to manage. Then, of course, there are the set in stains; the ones you don't notice right away and have consequently had time to work their way into the deepest fibers of the carpet. Most grocery store cleaners are simply not made for those products.

I have a toddler around the house regularly, so my carpets are constantly being bombarded with everything from orange juice to spaghetti. Consequently, I've gained a lot of experience in what does and doesn't work for those colorful stains. I also own a pet that rarely has an accident, but when she does it is usually a doozy!

I've tried just about every carpet cleaner known to man: Woolite, Resolve, and dozens more. Some of them work but many of them are, in fact, ineffective. So when I saw Joe Campanelli's Stain Remover demonstrated on QVC, I decided to give it a try. After all, what did I have to lose? QVC has an unconditional 30-day money back guarantee.

I kept the packaging when the product arrived because I was certain I'd be returning it. I was wrong! The same day that the cleaner arrived in the mail, my adorable grandson had one of his little accidents that splattered cherry Kool Aid not only on my carpet, but on my husband's recliner as well.

Having watched the product's presentation on television, I knew that it claimed to work on virtually any type of fabric. I sprayed the foam onto the stains in the chair and used the spray on the rug. I was amazed to watch as the foam dissipated the red dye of the juice, rendering it virtually impossible to see on the chair. The same thing happened with the carpet stain.

Assuming it was some kind of trick, I got out some of my cleaning towels and pressed them against the area where the stains had been. Very little red dye came off on the towel no matter how hard I blotted or rubbed. As promised, the cleaner had apparently "eaten" the stain.

Still suspicious, I waited for the product to dry; betting myself that it would leave embarrassing spots where I had applied it or showing some remnant of the stains. It didn't. I even watched the areas to make certain that they weren't going to become some kind of dirt magnet for new stains. Nothing happened. All that was left behind was beautifully cleaned carpet and fabric.

Joe Campanelli's Stain Remover claims that it is perfect for pet stains, soft drinks, dirt, cosmetics, oil, coffee, lipstick, wine, grass stains, fruit drinks and more. I'm not going to stretch the truth and say that I have tried on all of those various stains. I haven't. However, I have used on pet stains, soft drinks, dirt, cosmetics, and fruit drinks. It performed beautifully, just as promised.

I can't imagine what I did before I had this product and I honestly can't imagine living without it now. My grandson calls it "Nana's magic cleaner" because of an incident that happened with his beloved teddy.

Teddy, it seems, can be a little mischievous and get into things that he shouldn't in the garage. He did that one evening and ended up with a leg covered in foul smelling goo. My grandson, through tears, begged his mother to call Nana to bring over some magic cleaner to "save" Teddy. As a doting grandmother, of course I complied.

Teddy got a partial bath in the magic cleaner and then had to take a full bath in the sink with some Woolite detergent. However, he came out looking and smelling just like new. Although we bandaged his damaged leg for a couple of days, which my grandson insisted was necessary, he came out of the ordeal with flying colors.

Voted the best stain remover for 2006, Joe Campanelli's Stain Remover is available for purchase in several different ways. The spray and foam duo generally retails for $19.99. Larger packages are available for about $26.95 on line. It is obviously a little more expensive, but less than the cost of hiring someone to come in and do the cleaning for you.

This one gets five out of five stars with me.