Stain Removal Guide: 7 Common Stains and How to Remove Them
The threat of stains is everywhere. Every time we eat, go outdoors, do a DIY project, or even do office work we encounter things that can ruin our clothing in a flash.
Because money can be tight and no one wants to have to toss away clothing, it’s important to know how to approach these stains and effectively treat them.
Take a look below at 7 common stains and how to remove them so you’ll be ready to tackle stains in the future and make sure they don’t get the chance to set in!
Use this stain removal guide to learn how to treat common stains:
1. Grass.
Pretreat the stain using an oxygenated cleaner. (I love Baby OxiClean. It seems to work better than the regular OxiClean!) It will help cut through the grass stain immediately. You’ll then want to use a color safe bleach to wash the stain away, using the hottest water setting in the process. For grass stains, you may need to treat the stain twice to fully remove it.
2. Blood.
One of the best ways to treat blood stains is to pre-treat it with cold water. Soak the garment in cold water to help release the stain. You can then treat with a color safe bleach to help remove what remains of the stain.
3. Grease.
A tried and true way to treat grease stains is the use a grease fighting soap such as Dawn as a pre-treatment. Fill the sink with warm water and grease fighting dish soap and allow for the garment to soak. When you launder, use hot water and an oxygenating cleaner.
4. Chocolate.
Did you get melted chocolate on your clothing? No problem. For chocolate stains you will use a hot/cold method. First you can harden the chocolate with ice, then scrape off what you can. Soak the garment in cold water, but wash the item in hot water using an oxygenated cleanser.
5. Wine.
Immediately blot the stain with a soft cloth soaked in club soda. You want to then soak the garment in cold water. Pretreat the stain with an oxygenated cleaner and then use a color safe bleach when you launder the item. Bleach based stain sticks can help treat the item a second time if the stain persists.
6. Ink.
Have you ever heard that hair spray can help release ink from your clothing? It’s true! Take basic hair spray and spray it onto the ink stain. It will help release the ink. Blot the ink with a paper towel and launder as usual. If you don’t have hair spray, you can use rubbing alcohol.
7. Gum.
When gum becomes stuck to clothing it can become a gooey and sticky mess quickly. The best way to remove gum from clothing is to hold an ice cube to it. The ice will harden the gum, making it easier to pull away from the clothing. Hold an ice cube for a few minutes to the gum, peel it off, and wash as usual.
The next time you encounter a stain, you’ll be prepared when you use this stain removal guide! Keep these tips in mind for removing common stains so when a stain hits, you don’t need to worry about throwing that clothing item into the trash.
Do you have any secrets to share for this stain removal guide? Let us know in the comments below!
Hi, Taya,
The stain I *never* see listed is the white toothpaste. (I used Pronamel or Sensodyne because I have sensitive teeth and gums.) Do you have any suggestions for how to get white toothpaste stains out of (mostly) cotton clothing, please?
Wine stains are the worst! I have tried the club soda method before and it worked. I am a professional house cleaner and I see all kinds of stains everyday. Thanks for this list – bookmarked 🙂