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Common Household Stains and How to Remove Them
By
Staff Writer |
April 20th, 2009 |
Category:
Cleaning |
9 comments
Do you have to struggle with removing stains from your clothes and carpets? Have you tried ways to get rid of them, but in vain? Household stains can be caused by various substances such as oil, blood, dye, cold drink and grease. They need to be treated differently for getting rid of them quickly.
Here are some tips and tricks that can do wonders with your household stains. It’s best to go for the household stains as soon as they are observed.
- Food: If it’s a fresh food stain, it is a good idea to hold it under running water. Don’t smudge or try to wipe it off with a tissue or another piece of cloth, it will spread and get worse.
- Blood: If it’s a blood stain, first hold it under running water. Then take a mix of a small quantity of salt in a bowl of water, and soak cloth for half hour or so. You will be able to scrub off the blood stain with a gentle brush.
- Grease: A grease stain will require more effort to be removed. Try dusting the stain with talcum powder (or baby powder if that’s all you have handy) for a few hours then scrub off the grease from the cloth.
- Miscellaneous stains on clothes: If you have a bunch of clothes that have been stained, put them all in a washing machine with your regular washing soap and a can full of Coca Cola (or another brand of cola). Rumor has it that most of the stains will have disappeared by the time the clothes are dried.
- Oil: If it is a stubborn stain, caused by a substance such as oil, then you need to use a strong detergent and a keep brushing the area under running warm water.
- Dye: Some stubborn stains, such as one caused by a dye, will require different treatment. You can use a small quantity of vinegar or soda on the cloth and leave it for a while. Then scrub it off with a brush.
- Liquid on carpet: If someone has spilled a liquid on the carpet, blot the carpet with paper napkins until the most of the liquid has been absorbed. Pour cold water on the carpet and repeat the blotting procedure until the stain has disappeared.
- Wax or gum: If it’s wax or some sort of gum you are trying to get rid of, you will need to place it in the freezer until it hardened, and then peel it off. If the gum is on the carpet, use an ice cube to freeze the area, then chip or peel off.
Has your stain disappeared by performing one of the above tips, but the smell has still remained? Try soaking the cloth in vinegar for some time and then wash it off; usually, that will eliminate the odor.
There are many tips for household stain removal, but these basics should get you started. If you have other great tips for removing stains, let us know in the comments! Check out Kitchen Tip Tuesday and get more Homemaker Mondays at 11th Heaven. Photo by PinkMoose.
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Great tips!! I’ve also found that liquid dish soap put on a grease stain works wonders.
Your tips are great on stains but I couldn’t help but to notice that you forgot one. My DH is always getting ink stains on his clothes from putting pens in his pocket at work. Ink stains are horrible to get out unless you treat them when they are fresh. However, most of the tiome when you notice an ink stain it is pretty well dried and too late to get all out. I have found a great tip on how to get ink out of clothes. Hair spray! Yes, that good old stuff we as women always have around. Now, mind you, it will take 2 or 3 or maybe 4 times at scrubbing and washing but at least you will be able to get it out. Just spray the stain with hairspray, a good amount, and let sit for awhile. Spray again, a good amount, and take an old toothbrush and start scrubbing in circles. Throw the garnment into the wash. repeat until stain is out.
@Sherry: That’s a great tip! The grease-cutting properties in dish soap are spectacular.
Barbi
@TiredMama: Hair spray is an awesome tip- I’ve heard that before but have never tried it! I also am excited to try the Coke laundry tip… who would have thought?!
Barbi
Okay, I know that this is going to sound -completely- counter intuitive, but I swear it works! For really stubborn oil or grease stains, spray on a little bit of WD-40, scrub it in with a brush and let it sit for a few minutes. Then a dab of dishsoap and some water to take the WD-40 out. I have had stains that wouldn’t BUDGE that had gone through the washer and dryer on multiple occasions and this is finally what got them out. I usually try dishsoap first, but if that doesn’t get it up then I use this trick =)
@mub: Wht a great tip! I’ve heard of many different uses for WD-40 that you’d never think would work. It’s a miracle substance!
Barbi
I like to get the stain treated as quickly as possible, and have created a small basket of laundry stain removal supplies that I can grab quickly from my laundry room to do just this.
Removing blood…just pour hydrogen peroxide directly onto the stain before laundering let sit then rinse and redo until it is gone. It will sizzle then rinse away. Nurses use this for white uniforms!
[...] at Homemaker Barbi shared tips for removing common stains from clothing and household [...]