The Untold Truth Of OxiClean

Oh, man. When it comes to peddling products, Billy Mays is one of the hardest verbal hitting pitchmen on the market. The guy does everything short of yelling at customers to buy OxiClean. Who are we kidding, he yells too. You can tell that Mays believes you believe he really believes in his product. That sentence may have been confusing, but it's no more confusing than the OxiClean commercials, with Mays screaming about how his product is "magic," how it uses the "oxygen you and I breathe" and "the water that you and I drink." Like, come on, Mays. It's detergent. There's no way that's going in our drinking water.

Regardless, Mays touts how OxiClean won't damage your clothes like bleach and how it even makes whites whiter. You can scrub your tile with it, mix it into your laundry, and if you buy now, he'll cut the price in half! In half, I tell you! To be fair, Mays isn't lying. He's just a little too enthusiastic over a product that uses a less-than-new technology.

There are three primary types of stains, according to the Director of R&D for OxiClean's parent company, Elena Petrovicova: enzymatic sensitive, pH sensitive, and oxidative sensitive. And, Popular Science claims that OxiClean doesn't work any better than regular detergent on the enzymatic sensitive variety, but works well on the other two. Cool, it's actually useful, but that doesn't mean it's unique.

See, OxiClean's primary cleaning chemical, the one that makes it work, is sodium percarbonate, which breaks down into a mix of washing soda (sodium carbonate) and hydrogen peroxide, according to LiveStrong. Basically, you could make this stuff yourself if you absolutely don't want to buy OxiClean, but you don't have to. These types of cleaners, known as "oxygen cleaners," have been regularly marketed since the '70s. OxiClean is nothing new. Well, the brand was first introduced in 1997, but sodium percarbonate has been around for over 100 years. Take that, Mays! ...But seriously, rest in peace, OxiClean guy (1958-2009).