Treating the Stain Correctly
For best success, treat all stains within 24 hours. Older stains are more difficult to remove.
If your items can only be drycleaned, take them to the cleaners promptly and explain the type of stain. Some items must be drycleaned because they include various components and are not all compatible with laundry processes.
Protein Stains:
Protein stains include: Baby food, Milk, Baby formula, Cheese sauce, Mud, Cream, Pudding, Egg, Gelatin, White glue, Ice cream.
Soak in cold water to soften and loosen protein. (Hot water cooks the stain into the fibers.)
Launder with regular detergent and warm water.
Tannin Stains:
Tannin stains include: Alcoholic beverages, Beer, Berries (cranberries, raspberries, strawberries), Coffee, Cologne, Felt-tip water color pen or washable ink, Fruit juice (apple, grape, orange), Soft drinks, Tea, Tomato juice.
Do not pretreat with bar soap. Soap sets tannin stains.
Launder with detergent and warm/hot water.
If trace remains, soak in all-fabric bleach solution for five minutes. (Or, use all-fabric bleach in wash, if stain is not fresh.)
Oil stains:
Oil stains include: Automotive oil, Hair oil, Bacon fat, Hand lotion, Butter/margarine, Lard, Mayonnaise, Salad dressing, Cooking fats and oils.
Spray with aerosol pretreatment spray or rub with liquid detergent, then wash promptly in hot water with detergent.
An oil stain that sets more than a day in nylon, or polyester or their blends will be hard to remove.
Dye stains:
Dye stains include: Cherry, blueberry, Color bleeding in wash (dye transfer), Felt-tip pen (permanent ink-may not come out), India ink, Kool-Aid, Mercurochrome, Mustard, Tempera paint.
Wash with detergent and hot water; bleach, using the type that is safe for the fabric. Follow bleach bottle/package directions. All fabric bleaches usually can be used on colored fabrics. Liquid chlorine bleach in dilute solution is more powerful and effective for whites.
Combination stains:
Treat protein portion of stain first.
Treat oily portion of stain as for oil stains.
Finally bleach as for dye stains.
Hard-to-Remove Combination Stains
Candle wax:
Let harden; scrape off solid wax with dull knife.
Crack and remove as much residue as possible in dry state.
Pretreat with aerosol pretreatment spray.
Scrub by hand using hot water and liquid laundry detergent.
If color remains, bleach as safe for fabric.
Launder. Repeat from 3 as needed.
Note: Many stain removal guides suggest ironing wax stains with absorbent paper towels to transfer and absorb the wax. This forces the part of the stain that doesn't transfer farther into the yarns and fibers; it will leave an oily looking permanent spot.
Soot, smoke:
If excess, shake off outdoors.
Launder in washer using heavy-duty detergent, water conditioner, and all fabric bleach.
Air dry; inspect for smoke odor.
Repeat as necessary.
Soot carbon particles get mechanically stuck between fibers; bleaching as a last resort may not help much.
Tips on spot treatment of stains of delicate fabrics
The aim is to confine the stain to as small a spot as possible. To do this you need a supply of white paper towels or clean rags and one of these 3 things: a drycleaning solvent, spot remover, or pretreatment spray.
Pad the working surface with clean rags or towels that can be stained as you work.
Turn the stained area or spot on the garment face down over the padded surface.
Dampen a small white cloth with solvent.
Use the damp cloth to rub the stain from the wrong side.
Feather the edges of the stain working from the outside edges toward the center to confine the stain to a small area.
As the stain transfers into the absorbent material underneath, move it to a different place so it has a clean spot to exit into.
Repeat this procedure until all traces of the stain are gone.
Launder to remove any ring that might be left by the solvent.
Concentrated stain removers and stain sticks may work the same, as well as heavy-duty liquid detergents, but are more convenient to use because of packaging sizes.
Common Remedies to Avoid
Dishwasher detergent: Although sometimes suggested for food stains, these detergents are intended for use in closed dishwashers with very hot water. They are so highly alkaline they can irritate your skin if you use them in stain removal. They also may fade colors or damage wool, silk, or nylon fibers.
Hair spray on ball-point ink: Certain hair sprays are effective on ballpoint stains, but they may deposit a gummy residue and perfume that then have to be removed along with the ink. Hair spray also may affect color in some fabrics. Alcohol is a hair spray ingredient that is useful for removal of the oily part of the ball-point stain.
Ironing candle wax: Ironing candle wax between blotting paper will only drive the stain deeper into the fabric. This process is widely used, but it's not recommended because it will make any color from the dye of the candle more permanently set and the wax more inaccessible for the detergent or solvent to reach to carry the stain away.
Milk on washable ink: This doesn't remove the ink and gives you an additional protein stain.
Salt to make dyes colorfast: Today's dyes cannot be increased in colorfastness by soaking in salt water. If bleeding of a particular dye in cotton, rayon, or ramie fabric is decreased with a salt water soak, the effect will not be permanent, When the fabric is wet again, unless there is salt in the solution, the dye will be free to leave the fabric. Salt cannot affect colorfastness of synthetic fiber fabrics or their blends because they are dyed with dyes that have chemical structures not affected by salt.
Shampoo: Clear gel-like shampoos are sometimes suggested for stain removal. While they are usually not harmful to fabrics and may work on light oil stains, laundry detergents are just as effective and less expensive to use. Additionally, colored, opaque; or milky-looking shampoos may contain ingredients that will stain fabrics or foam so much that they are difficult to rinse out.
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