Stain, pile or paste — pick one chemistry
Laundry ‘Oxi’ tubs, carpet-washer bottles and pink pastes all promise to lift stains. The SDS names the tool: a solid peroxide adduct, a dilute detergent, or a mild abrasive.
Organic stains on washable fabric → sodium percarbonate soak. A dye that ran in the wash → sodium dithionite (Dr. Beckmann Colour Run Remover) — a reducer, not an Oxi oxidiser, and never mixed with acid or bleach. Wet-extraction of a carpet → low-foam anionic surfactant. Scuffs on a ceramic hob → abrasive paste, then rinse. Black bathroom mould → hypochlorite spray, never mixed with the others. Outdoor deck film is the same percarbonate salt at a stronger 50 g/L patio dose — see the Logco Eco teardown, not a Vanish scoop on sandstone.
Percarbonate — the pink-tub tax
Vanish Oxi Action is sodium percarbonate (CAS 15630-89-4) with soda ash, perfume and a scoop. Technical percarbonate at about 20 g/L is a pre-soak; 30–40 g in the drum is a wash boost. Keep away from acids and hypochlorite bleach. Test colourfastness.
A 5 kg bag is five 1 kg branded tubs without the dye. Store dry — the powder cakes if it takes on moisture.
Carpet washers — SLES, not rose-burst magic
Vax Ultra+ is a few percent anionic surfactant (SLES family, CAS 68585-34-2) plus fragrance. 200 ml of 27% SLES in 800 ml water lands near a 5% tank fill — the same band as typical UK machine solutions. High foam fools dirty-water sensors.
Fairy-style washing-up liquid is the same surfactant class at kitchen strength. Do not pour neat Fairy into a Vax tank. Do not mix SLES with quat biocides (Zoflora) or bleach.
Paste, peroxide and mould are different aisles
The Pink Stuff is a calcium-carbonate abrasive with detergent — hard-surface film, not a laundry oxidiser. Boots 3% hydrogen peroxide is a liquid oxidiser for some stains; it is not a drop-in for percarbonate powder or for IPA hand gel.
Astonish mould-and-mildew spray is ~3.5% hypochlorite. Useful on grout; lethal if mixed with ammonia, vinegar or an Oxi soak in the same bucket. One product, one job, rinse between if you change tack. Calgon 4-in-1 tabs are an every-wash hardness sequesterant (polycarboxylate / citrate), not a percarbonate stain soak and not a Service-it citric drum clean.
Dithionite — colour-run rescue, not Oxi
Dr. Beckmann Colour Run Remover is 15–30% sodium dithionite (CAS 7775-14-6) in a 75 g sachet. It reduces loose dye; it does not replace a percarbonate soak on tea or grass. About 20 g of 85% textile hydrosulphite in 5 L matches the sachet’s active.
Never mix dithionite with acids or hypochlorite — sulphur dioxide risk. See the colour-run teardown, not Vanish.
FAQ
- Is Vax Ultra+ the same as Vanish Oxi?
- No. Vanish Oxi is solid sodium percarbonate for soak bleaching. Vax Ultra+ is a dilute anionic surfactant for wet-extraction machines. Same cupboard aisle, different molecule.
- Can I put percarbonate in a carpet washer?
- Not as a default. Oxygen powder wants a soak and a rinse; machines want low foam. Overdosing oxidiser or surfactant leaves residue that re-soils. Pre-treat, extract with a modest SLES mix, then a clean-water pass.
- Is The Pink Stuff an oxygen bleach?
- No. It is a fine abrasive paste (calcium carbonate family) with surfactant. Useful on hard surfaces you can rinse. It will not replace a percarbonate soak on a tea-stained tea towel.
More household cleaning guides
Household guide
Household acids and alkalis decoded — limescale, rust and never-mix rules
Household guide
Drain and oven cleaners: sulphuric acid vs caustic soda — never swap blindly
Household guide
Disinfectants decoded: bleach, Dettol and hand gel — hypochlorite vs PCMX vs IPA
Household guide
Washing machines and dishwashers: Calgon, salt, citric and colour-run
Related teardowns
Live stacks this guide points at — mix maths and DIY affiliate links on each page.
Household cleaning
Vanish Oxi Action Fabric Stain Remover
Vanish
- Retail pack
- £9.001 kg tub
- Raw active
- Sodium percarbonate (food/technical grade)15630-89-4
Sodium percarbonate is a solid hydrogen-peroxide adduct. The pink tub is perfume, dye and a scoop. Technical-grade percarbonate is the same oxidiser used in bulk laundries.
Household cleaning
Ultra+ Carpet Cleaner Solution
Vax
- Retail pack
- £8.501.5 litres
- Raw active
- SLES 27% liquid (sodium laureth sulphate)68585-34-2
Carpet-washer ‘solution’ is dilute anionic surfactant with perfume. Sodium laureth sulphate (SLES) at a few percent in the tank does the same wet-extraction job without the rose-burst markup.
Household cleaning
Original Washing Up Liquid
Fairy
- Retail pack
- £1.25320 ml bottle
- Raw active
- SLES 70% paste (sodium laureth sulphate)68585-34-2
Fairy is mostly water and SLES — the workhorse anionic surfactant in almost every UK washing-up bottle. A 25 kg drum of SLES 70% paste dilutes to hundreds of litres of 2% working liquor. You are paying for the green bottle and the scent, not a proprietary molecule.
Household cleaning
The Miracle Cleaning Paste
The Pink Stuff (StarDrops)
- Retail pack
- £2.29850 g tub
- Raw active
- Precipitated calcium carbonate (chalk powder) + liquid castile soap471-34-1
Simple fine chalk (calcium carbonate) suspended in vegetable soap and pink dye.
Household cleaning
Hydrogen Peroxide Solution 3%
Boots / first-aid brands
- Retail pack
- £1.80200 millilitres
- Raw active
- Hydrogen peroxide 12% (40-volume cream peroxide / technical)7722-84-1
3% is 10-volume peroxide. Hair-developer 12% (40-volume) diluted 1:3 is the same 3% oxidiser in litres, not 200 ml pharmacy bottles. Do not drink it. Do not use 12% on skin undiluted.
Household cleaning
Original Colour Run Remover
Dr. Beckmann
- Retail pack
- £2.5075 grams
- Raw active
- Sodium dithionite ~85% (textile hydrosulphite)7775-14-6
The 75 g sachet is a reductive bleach: 15–30% sodium dithionite (CAS 7775-14-6), not Vanish percarbonate and not hypochlorite. About 20 g of 85% textile hydrosulphite in a 5 L soak matches the sachet’s active without the laundry-aisle tax. It liberates sulphur dioxide if it meets acid — never mix it with vinegar, descale or bleach.
Household cleaning
4-in-1 Limescale Protection Tablets
Calgon
- Retail pack
- £10.50390 grams (30 tablets)
- Raw active
- Trisodium citrate dihydrate (food grade)6132-04-3
Current Calgon 4-in-1 tabs declare 15–30% polycarboxylates (sodium polyacrylate family, CAS 9003-04-7) plus perfume. Older Express tabs also listed sodium citrate. The everyday hardness job is a teaspoon of food-grade trisodium citrate — not a monthly citric drum descale (that is Service-it).
Household cleaning
Specialist Mould & Mildew Remover
Astonish
- Retail pack
- £2.00750 ml trigger
- Raw active
- Dairy-grade sodium hypochlorite 14% (diluted to 3.5%)7681-52-9
Highly diluted bleach sold with a plastic spray trigger. Diluting bulk hypochlorite costs pennies.
Patio & exterior
Eco Patio & Decking Cleaner
Logco
- Retail pack
- £29.995 kg tub
- Raw active
- Sodium percarbonate (technical oxygen bleach)15630-89-4
Logco’s Eco patio powder is sodium percarbonate (CAS 15630-89-4) — the same solid peroxide adduct as Vanish Oxi, sold as a 5 kg outdoor tub. Fifty grams per litre of warm water is the deck/patio band (about 5 m²/L). It is not BAC, not DDAC and not hypochlorite. A technical 5 kg sack is the same oxidiser without the decking label.
DupeStack provides chemical concentration data and educational mixing guides only. Wellness pages compare food supplements, not medicines or prescribed treatments. Always review the supplier Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and comply with UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and COSHH regulations when handling concentrated substances. Mixing and storage are at your own risk. Some links are affiliate advertisements (Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network, and Awin when those programmes are live). Commissions do not change listed concentrations or calculator output.