I've got a pretty vast "laundry bag" of tricks (Liquid Era has been my go-to stain remover for years), but sometimes those tricks don't work.

Last week olive oil spattered onto my pants while I was sauteing onions. Even though I was away from home (and away from my stash of supplies) I did have Resolve Stain Stick, so I used that.

And when I washed the pants the next day, the greasy stain was gone.

Unfortunately, some of the color was gone from the pants, too.

I took another look at the Resolve package. And there, in print so small that I could barely make it out even with a magnifying glass, was the following warning: "Not recommended for use on khaki, fluorescent clothing or washable silk."

I'm pretty sure none of my clothes are made of washable silk. I am positive I don't have any fluorescent clothing.

But khaki - yes, I've got that. And that's what the pants I'd washed were made of.

I called Reckitt Benckiser, which makes Resolve, and a representative told me that khaki is considered unstable - surprising, considering what a workhorse fabric it is. "It's very sensitive to the application of most laundry products," the rep said.

I surveyed my other laundry supplies. Shout has a similar warning about khaki. Tide to Go, though, had no such warning. I checked with a Tide PR person, who told me, "All of our stain removal products are safe to use on khaki fabrics."

Why the difference? Laundry product manufacturers are understandably proprietary about ingredients, but the website goodguide.com has some clues (GoodGuide analyzes all sorts of consumer products in terms of their impact on society, the environment and health.)

There I learned that Resolve uses sulfuric acid, and Tide to Go uses ethyl alcohol. Shout's ingredients weren't listed. While federal law requires disclosure of the ingredients in personal care products, laundry products aren't covered, and Shout didn't share with GoodGuide, apparently.