It’s happened to all of us. We pick up the kids’ dirty laundry only to find days old stains. We begin to launder our spouse’s tie but find tomato sauce stains that weren’t in the original pattern. We know that if we launder these, the stains will set. We’ll then have to buy new clothes. What to do? Here are a few stain removal hacks we thought you could use.
A Word About Fabrics
Delicate fabrics like silk, linen, and synthetic blends require a deft touch for stain removal. Cotton can take hot water, but wool can’t. Test a small area with your stain removal formulation before treating the stain to make sure the fabric can handle it.
Dish Soap And Hydrogen Peroxide
Lots of stains have grease or oil as the base. That’s where the Dawn comes in. Hydrogen peroxide is basically bleach. Drop a couple of drops of dish soap on the stain and scrub with a toothbrush. Drop a few drops of peroxide on the stain and scrub. Let sit for 20 minutes. Wash as usual. Use this stain removal combo on coffee stains, tomato sauce stains, chocolate, red wine, and more.
Sweat stains on shirts, blouses, and tees are sometimes impossible to clean. Mix one teaspoon of dish soap, two teaspoons of hydrogen peroxide, and one teaspoon of baking soda. Scrub the mixture into the stain with a toothbrush. Let sit for an hour. Wash as usual.
Did you know grass stains come out of clothing with dish soap, peroxide, and cold water? Mix two teaspoons peroxide with one teaspoon dish soap and one cup of cold water. Place the stained portion of cloth in the mixture and let sit for 20 minutes. Launder as usual.
Every mom knows about bloody scraped knees or deep scratches on the playground. By the time we find the stain, it’s dry and set in. Not to worry. Just wet the stain with cold water. Now drop a few drops of peroxide onto the stain along with one drop of dish soap. Now add a little more cold water to the stain. If the stain doesn’t come out, repeat until it does.
Milk
If you have an ink stain on your favorite shirt, soak it in milk overnight. Launder the next day as usual. Hairspray does the same job. Just spray the stain and launder as usual.
Bread
Delicate fabrics splashed with stains might not be able to handle peroxide or vinegar. However, you can take the crust off a piece of white bread, fold it up, and blot the stain. The stain should come out, but if not, keep blotting until it does. Wash as usual.
Salt
Salad dressing stains, pizza stains, red wine, all should be sprinkled liberally with salt to soak up the oils. Once this is done, brush off the salt, or it will leave a white spot as if the cloth had been bleached. Wash as usual.
Life is fun, but sometimes it can leave us with stained clothing. Stain removal doesn’t necessarily require special chemical formulations. Sometimes what’s in the kitchen pantry will do the same job just as well. The key is to getting to the stain immediately, blot it – don’t rub it, treat it, wash, and let the garment air dry. Dryers set stains, so you want to avoid that.