How to Remove Tough Stains
Life gets messy, and stains are bound to happen – even tough ones. But with these handy tips, you’ll soon learn how to remove stains easily.
The science of stains
When something like red wine, sauce, oil or blood comes into contact with your clothes, it coats the fibres of the fabric. This means that instead of seeing the colour of the material, you see the colour of the substance that caused the stain.
Regardless of what causes a stain on your clothes, try to treat it immediately for the best result in keeping your clothes looking newer for longer.
General Tips for Removing Stains
- For any stain, the best thing is to wash it out using cold water immediately.
- Never iron over stained laundry, as this will leave a permanent stain.
- Prevention is better than cure – using a good laundry detergent helps to eliminate stains, don’t forget to use Sta-soft according to your laundry’s needs.
- If a stain persists, don’t experiment – take your garment to a professional, such as a dry cleaner or laundromat.
Tips for removing tough stains
We’ve all been there — spilt red wine on a favourite skirt, a grease stain on hubby’s pants, or blood on that aspiring soccer star’s sport’s uniform. Follow these stain removal tips to save your clothes from tough stains.
Removing red wine stains
This is a common stain that sends anyone into a panic but removing a red wine stain is actually simple.
- For fresh red wine stains, apply bicarbonate of soda, salt, white vinegar or even soda water to the area. Let this soak up the wine before you wash as normal.
- Get yourself some white wine if you notice a red wine stain after it’s happened. No, really. Spread some white wine on the stain, let it soak into the fabric for a few hours, and then wash as normal.
- You could also soak the stain in cold milk for a few hours before washing your garment as normal.
- Whatever you do, don’t iron over the stain or put the garment into the tumble dryer until it's removed, as this will make the stain even more difficult to get rid of.
Removing oil and grease stains
Oil and grease stains can be tough to get out of clothing as these substances are insoluble. But, with a bit of elbow grease, you can get rid of these tough stains.
- For fresh grease stains, sprinkle them with baby powder or cornstarch and place a piece of paper towel or a few layers of toilet paper over this. Then iron over the paper towel using a low temperature setting. The powder will absorb the grease from the fibres of the fabric.
- Just like your trusted liquid soap gets rid of grease on your knives and forks, it can also take care of older grease stains on clothing. Rub your liquid soap into the area of the stain without any water using your finger.
- Once you’ve done this, wash the item of clothing in the hottest water possible.
Removing blood stains
When it comes to removing blood stains, acting fast is your best bet.
- Soak the piece of clothing in cold water immediately, rubbing your fingers over the area to remove as much of the blood as you can, and then wash as normal.
- Never use hot water to treat blood stains, as this will make the blood set into the fabric’s fibres.
- If you are treating an old or dried blood stain, wash the garment in cold water and ammonia (a household cleaning agent available at supermarkets and specialist cleaning suppliers).
Looking for more handy stain removal tips? Find them here.
The above tips are provided for informational purposes only. Colgate does not accept any liability should the below recommendations have a contrary result to the intended result. Always seek the advice of a qualified professional. Never disregard professional advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read in this article.
