Posted by Kate Owen
Friday, 26 Feb 2010
I’ve always wondered why they don’t teach clothes stain removal in school. Ok, as a teenager you probably wouldn’t have found it very interesting but as the main laundry-doer in the house I now find I am often faced with tough clothes stain removal tasks. Which I am barely ever up to. This prompted me to look up some stain removing tips, and I would like to share them with you.
Contrary to popular belief, all clothes stains can’t be removed by just water and detergent so sometimes you need to treat them prior to washing. But how you treat them depends upon the clothes stain itself. So, here are some stain removing tips for those which I’ve found the most common and most problematic.
Clothes stain removing tips
Red wine: before washing, soak in water and detergent, rinse, then treat the stained area with citric or acetic acid. If any stains remain treat with bleach.
Ink stains: dampen the fabric with acetone, then acetic acid, treat with bleach and thoroughly rinse.
Grass: for white garments and fast coloureds only, soap lightly then treat with bleach
Lipstick: moisten with acetone then treat stains with methylated spirits. Bleach any marks which still remain.
Blood: for fresh stains, simply use cold water but for dried stains, soak overnight in water with detergent, then rub in soap and water.
Dried grease stains (my personal nemesis): moisten the garment with turpentine and lay it out on a soft surface. Dab the stain with your fingertips and a cotton cloth.
To ensure your clothes are cared for properly, wash your garment on the most suitable cycle in your machine after clothes stain removal. Baby programmes like this one on the Hotpoint Aquarius WML540P Washing Machine are particularly useful for keeping children’s clothes at their best. And let’s face it, kids clothes can get very messy, very quickly.
If you have any other stain removing tips for the school of clothes stains removal, please feel free to share them in the comment box below.