Stain Removal Tips and Tricks
Jun 13, 2012
Summer can wreak havoc on your clothes. Dirt, sweat, grass stains and the like can permanently damage our wardrobe. But they don’t have to.
I’m a firm believer that women who love fashion must also love laundry. Separating lights and darks, removing stains and hand washing are a pain, but they’re the only way to keep your clothes looking ship-shape. So I was so grateful to find this stain cheat sheet on Pinterest created by live, laugh, love.
I also found this extremely helpful post on Live Originally detailing what the symbols on laundry care tags really mean and more tips on stain removal. The tips from that post saved a favorite silk blouse after I got blackberry juice on the sleeve. (All I had to do was flush the stain with a bit of white vinegar. Seriously, is there anything vinegar isn’t good for?)
Feel free to share any of your laundry tips in the comments. I always love new tips and tricks for keeping my clothes in optimum condition. And if you want to follow me on Pinterest, please visit my page.
One of my favorite stain removers: equal parts Dawn and hydrogen peroxide will make red wine spills disappear before your eyes. As a regular red wine drinker, I've had to dab this on both sofas and blouses, and I poured it on a white pillowcase. It's like magic.
Another random one, but once I got a Starburst melted onto my favorite pair of jeans (long story). The freezer-gum trick didn't work, but it came out nicely when I poured hot (almost boiling) water over it.
Super hot water from sink and scraping off with my nail worked perfectly for me for melted Starbursts on boxing shorts. Almost had to google how to get Starbursts out from under my nail after that, but worked like a charm.
A little bit of dish detergent and warm water will take out greasy stains (say, if you're eating Italian food and drip olive oil on yourself. Not that I know from experience or anything). Just wash as usual afterward. I also let any stained-and-treated items air dry to make sure that the stain is completely gone before I put it in the dryer (the heat can set in the stains).
Boiling hot water is great to get out red wine or lipstick too! Just hold the fabric taught over the sink and continously pour the boiling water over the stain, voila!
Actually better than the freezer is removing gum with shoe polish and hot water. This works much better on some sensitive materials – especially on leather.
To remove chocolate stains, you can also use club soda. Works like a charm!
I used the white wine on a red wine stain trick one time and it worked like a charm…. until my best friend threw it into the wash with red towels. Will have to try some of these other tricks soon, I'm a serious mess.
Regular shampoo works wonders on blood too.
Baby wipes are great for removing deodorant! They can remove other fresh stains as well.
I'm a fan of Tide To Go sticks, too.
Use make-up remover to get out foundation makeup drips from clothes.
If readers are looking some serious clean advice, The Hairpin has an amazing column called “Ask a Clean Person” (and last month was dedicated to laundry). Check it out here: https://thehairpin.com/tag/ask-a-clean-person/