# Cleaning product



## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

When I lived in Spain I was able to buy an excellent stain remover from Mercadona I believe. It was a round, white block about 8 cms in diameter and 4 cms thick. You dampen the stain with cold water and then rub over it with the block before washing in the normal way. It was the best strain remover I have ever used and even removed turmeric stains. 

Since moving to Portugal I did manage to buy another but cannot find it in the shops here anymore.

Does anyone recognise the product I have described, can give me a name for it and say if it is still available please?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

JohnBoy said:


> When I lived in Spain I was able to buy an excellent stain remover from Mercadona I believe. It was a round, white block about 8 cms in diameter and 4 cms thick. You dampen the stain with cold water and then rub over it with the block before washing in the normal way. It was the best strain remover I have ever used and even removed turmeric stains.
> 
> Since moving to Portugal I did manage to buy another but cannot find it in the shops here anymore.
> 
> Does anyone recognise the product I have described, can give me a name for it and say if it is still available please?


How long ago was this? It sounds wonderful! I've never seen it in Mercadona though. I use Vanish Gold but even that struggles with beetroot or blackberry stains.


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> How long ago was this? It sounds wonderful! I've never seen it in Mercadona though. I use Vanish Gold but even that struggles with beetroot or blackberry stains.


I was buying it in Mercadona in Coín up to 2006 but have bought it in Portugal maybe 6 years ago. Age is getting the better of me and I'm darned if I can remember the name, but think it might have started with a 'C'. It would have cleaned those fruit stains of yours easily.


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## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

John. Try asking Mercadona
https://info.mercadona.es/en/customer-service


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## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

Juan C said:


> John. Try asking Mercadona
> https://info.mercadona.es/en/customer-service


PS. My wife is Asian. She uses bar soap to remove stains. She even was able to remove a large ‘biro’ ink stain on my favourite white shirt using it. With your description you could have been describing a ‘bar of soap’ !!!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Try asking in one of those little neighbourhood "ultramarino" shops that haven't changed their stock in 20 years.


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## anh12 (Apr 17, 2019)

I don't remember ever seeing a round block of soap as a stain remover, but could it have been a type of soap like jabon Lagarta? I've been using Lagarta since the early 1980s for stains and washing clothes by hand, and it's close to miraculous. Back then it was something only the abuelitas would use, but being close to penniless, I gave it a try as it was dirt cheap and haven't looked back. Even during the years I didn't live in Spain, I'd stock up and bring it with me. It's wonderful when you travel and don't have access to a washing machine. Back then you could find it only in the little old shops, but now I see it everywhere. It's always been in rather large rectangular blocks. (I would cut mine into smaller blocks for travel.) It used to be dark green, but now it's whiter. 

But maybe what you had was called Capricho? I found this online: "Hasta hace poco podíamos encontrar en la sección de detergentes, el jabón en Pastilla Capricho, que también era de color blanco. Ahora sin embargo, *Mercadona* ha decidido lanzar *su propia versión bajo su marca blanca Bosque Verde* pero ¿quien fabrica este nuevo jabón en pastilla de Mercadona? Pues *el mismo fabricante que antes*, Jabones Pardo S.A (Madrid) ESPAÑA."

In Mercadona it's called Jabon Sabao Natural. I haven't tried it, but it looks like Lagarta to me - a good thing in my books!


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