If you’ve searched for stain-removal tips online, chances are you’ve come across OxiClean. The American cleaner has developed a cult following, with people swearing it can tackle everything from grass stains to grimy grout. There’s just one problem: Australians can’t buy it at the supermarket. And while it is available through Amazon, a 1kg tub will set you back around $81.
So is OxiClean really worth the hype, or are there cheaper Australian products that do the same thing? To find out, I tracked down OxiClean’s ingredient list and compared it with the stain removers already sitting on Australian supermarket shelves. What I discovered surprised me.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- OxiClean is mostly washing soda + sodium percarbonate
- Cheapest equivalent: Di-San Pro Oxy
- Closest supermarket match: Vanish Gold
What is OxiClean, actually?
OxiClean is an oxygen-based bleach, with sodium percarbonate as the key oxygen-bleaching ingredient.
After a surprisingly difficult search that involved contacting both OxiClean’s US and Australian teams, I finally got the ingredient list. And according to OxiClean’s versatile stain remover safety data sheet, the product is made up mainly of sodium carbonate (57–71%), with sodium percarbonate (15–40%) — the ingredient responsible for oxygen-based bleaching.
While the exact formula varies, OxiClean contains:
- Sodium carbonate (washing soda): 57–71%
- Sodium percarbonate: 15–40%
- Surfactants: Less than 3.15% each
- Also includes: Sodium chloride, fragrance and colourant
Although sodium percarbonate does the heavy lifting, OxiClean is, by composition, mostly washing soda (sodium carbonate).
The good news? You can buy washing soda at most Australian supermarkets. It will set you back around $5 for a 1-kilogram bag.
Which Australian alternative is best?
- Best overall match: The Pink Stuff Miracle Oxi Powder Whites (>30% sodium percarbonate)
- Best value: Di-San Pro Oxy (32% sodium percarbonate, $3.49)
- Best supermarket option: Vanish Gold
- Simplest formula: Pure sodium percarbonate.
Pure sodium percarbonate
Not everyone thinks branded oxygen bleaches are worth buying.
For Nicole Gibson, also known as the Laundry Queen from Soka Australia, the laundry aisle isn’t even the right place to start looking for an alternative. Instead, she prefers to use 100% sodium percarbonate for tough stains.
Sharing a video on her Instagram, Nicole shows her followers just how well using 100% sodium percarbonate works on dirt and grease stains on a pair of shorts, and the results speak for themselves.
“I use 100% sodium percarbonate,” says Nicole, adding, “The store-bought oxy cleaners are cheap and nasty with chemicals. The last time I phoned a hotline to get the ingredients, it was about 35–40% sodium percarbonate; the rest is fillers.”
Nicole says one of the reasons she prefers pure sodium percarbonate is that it avoids the fragrances, optical brighteners and additional ingredients commonly found in some branded products.
“I have used it [sodium percarbonate] to clean so many things — I love it,” she says.
The best Australian alternatives to OxiClean
With the OxiClean ingredient mystery solved, let’s look at the Australian alternatives that offer similar oxygen-bleach cleaning power.
Contains 32% sodium percarbonate. At just $3.49 a tub, it’s also the best-value option on this list.
The Pink Stuff miracle oxi powder whites
Contains more than 30% sodium percarbonate. Just be aware that the “colours” version and spray products contain significantly less, so the “whites” powder is the closest match if you’re looking for an OxiClean alternative.
Vanish gold stain remover
Contains 25.7% sodium percarbonate, putting it comfortably within OxiClean’s reported range of 15–40%. The exact amount can vary between batches. The tub I have at home lists 257g/kg, while the Woolworths website currently lists 330g/kg. It’s worth checking the label on your pack.
Clean laundry soaker
Woolworths’ home-brand soaker contains 25.7% sodium percarbonate and offers a straightforward, no-frills formula.
Contains 20% sodium percarbonate, the lowest percentage of the products we looked at. Interestingly, it’s still rated highly by CHOICE, suggesting that stain-removal performance depends on more than just sodium percarbonate content.
Want a simpler formula?
If you’re looking for a simpler formula with fewer additives and more transparent ingredient lists, these products are worth considering:
Australian-made and based on sodium carbonate and sodium percarbonate. It’s free from phosphorus and petrochemicals, greywater-safe, and widely available at Woolworths.
This product lists sodium percarbonate as the main ingredient, followed by sodium carbonate, biodegradable surfactants, a mineral-based corrosion inhibitor and a water softener.
Australian-made and formulated with sodium carbonate and sodium percarbonate in similar proportions to OxiClean, without additional fragrances or brighteners.
The closest Australian equivalents are oxygen-based laundry soakers: Vanish Gold Stain Remover, Di-San Pro Oxy (ALDI), and Sard Super Power Soaker, because they contain sodium percarbonate, the same oxygen-bleach ingredient used in OxiClean.
OxiClean is available on Amazon Australia, but expect to pay a premium compared to comparable Australian products.
Both are oxygen bleaches, but Napisan Oxi Action also contains TAED and enzymes, which can improve stain removal, particularly in cooler washes.
No. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, a mild alkaline compound commonly used to deodorise and help remove light stains. OxiClean’s key stain-fighting ingredient is sodium percarbonate, which releases hydrogen peroxide when dissolved in water, making it a much stronger cleaning and stain-removal agent.
