I Tried the Bestselling Carpet Stain Remover on Amazon

For someone who lives with two kids and two animals, I make some risky design choices. (What can I say? I’m drawn to light colors!) When it comes to removing stains from my gray couch and predominantly off-white rug, I usually rely on white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda — or, for the big jobs, my BISSELL Little Green Machine. I haven’t had any impossible stains yet (knock on wood), but I’m always on the hunt for a trusty product to keep on hand just in case my son spills juice or my dog, um, does his business on the carpet.

As serendipity would have it, a friend recently posted about Folex Instant Carpet Spot Remover on her Instagram Stories. Of course, I trust my friend’s rave review, but what really made me a believer were the thousands of Amazon buyers who said the same thing: Folex is awesome. The product has more than 8,000 Amazon reviews, and 82 percent of those have five-star ratings. It’s the bestselling carpet stain remover on all of Amazon and shoppers say the stuff works on pretty much every kind of mess. I read reviews about Folex effectively removing soda, coffee, and wine from carpet, for example, and one reviewer says it can get (ideally fresh) pet stains out of light carpet and rugs. One person even claimed it got old rust stains out of his carpet (and he tested it after with a UV blacklight!).

I tried Folex first on a set-in brown spot (likely mud from my kids’ shoes) on a black-and-white striped living room rug. The instructions are simple — spray generously, blot with an absorbent cloth, and the spot will disappear INSTANTLY. It totally worked! All I had to do was very, very lightly blot the sprayed-on area, and the brown wasn’t visible. At all! I can’t wait to try it when I inevitably spill red wine on the rug.

I read that you can use the spray on upholstery too, which I figured would be a major life-saver for me. We have two pups who hang out on our furniture — great for cuddles but not so great when they come in with muddy paws. I set out to try that next. I’m so used to using multiple tools and products and a whole lot of elbow grease to remove stains, so I was a little skeptical that a bit of spray and scrubbing action could do the job — especially on a light gray couch.

But reader, it worked! I just followed the instructions on the side of the bottle: Spot test on a discrete area, spray directly and generously on the surface, then agitate with your fingers or a cloth and wait for the spot to go away. I couldn’t believe how quickly all evidence of my dog’s little paws disappeared! The couch smelled a tiny bit after the fact — I can’t put my finger on what Folex smells like — but that went away after a few hours. Overall, totally worth it. 

I’ve since “gotten the chance” to use it to clean up a tea stain (lucky me, right?) from the carpet and I’m happy to report that, once again, I saw impressive results!

The texture and results reminds me a lot of Amodex, another one of my favorite stain removers. Amodex comes in a much smaller bottle, and it’s a much thicker liquid, so it’s better for smaller spots. Folex’s spray mechanism, on the other hand, makes it ideal for getting rid of bigger spots or splatter-type stains on carpets, rugs, on upholstery. I’ll be keeping both on hand from here on out!