I'm with Charmypoo. Tearstaining is a reality most of us face.
Sylphide tearstains. Sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's good. The only way I could completely remove it was to us the Milk of Magnesia-Peroxide-Corn Starch mix, but that dried up and frizzled her face hair. So I stopped.
I refuse to use one of the antibiotics based treatments that removes tearstaining but could weaken her immune system. She might need antibiotics for an infection or serious illness one day.
My solution now: I use a stylique pen shaped clipper to gently and carefully shave the tearstained areas off, leaving all of her long facial hair, but catching the worst of the tearstained area. You can't tell it's shaved, and this really works! You won't be able to do this on a puppy, because it requires absolute grooming stillness. I didn't start doing this until Sylphide was over one year old.
Until then, daily facewashings with a warm facecloth and a dab of puppy shampoo has been the best. It doesn't remove all the stain, but keeps the face fresh and clean. Now I combine an occasional clipping (evey 3-4 weeks) with daily washings.
Shrek, on the other hand, has virtually no tearstaining. His mom was from a non-tearstaining bred strand and her face was absolutely pristine white. His dad had stains, though. Shrek gets the occasional dab at the corner of the eye.
Oh, and just so you know, most photos of Maltese that look so very perfect in advertising, magazines, books, and on websites, etc. have been touched up using digital imaging software such as Adobe Photoshop. There a few tools in the program that turn tearstained areas white at the touch of a button.
