Home Remedies for Stain Removal

Removing tough stains from your clothes can becoming expensive if you rely on all of the stain remover products out there. Before you treat any stain on clothing be sure to remember these rules.

1. Test a small part of the fabric in a inconspicuous place for color fastness with a white cloth. If color rubs off on the cloth, it's not good for stain removing chemicals.

2. The quicker you act on removing the stain, the higher chance of success you will have in actually removing the stain.

3. ALWAYS blot stains when treating it. Rubbing too harshly may damage the fabric. Then work only from the outside of the stain towards the center as to avoid a ring around the stained area.


Now, here are some home remedies:

Lipstick: Vaseline is great for removing lipstick from clothing. If that doesn't work, rub a little shortening in and wash as normal.

Blood: Pour hydrogen peroxide on the stain. It will bubble like it does on your skin. Rub it lightly and rinse with cold water. Another remedy is to sprinkle unseasoned meat tenderizer on the stain. This will digest the protein in the blood and help the stain to fade.

Ball point pen: Spray the stain with hair spray and then blot with a clean, dry cloth.

Chewing Gum: Rub the garment with ice or put the whole thing in the freezer. This will harden the gum and make it easy to scrape off as much as you can. Then, wash as normal.

Coffee: Rinse with cold water as soon as possible. If the stain is already set, mix 1/3 cup white vinegar with 2/3 cup water. Blot with a towel, rinse with water, and blot dry.

Perspiration stains: Do you ever notice that your white shirts start to get a yellow-ish stain in the armpit area? If you don't want to buy bleach, blot a little vinegar on the spot, then rinse with cool water and wash in very hot water (as hot as is safe for the type of fabric).

Deodorant: Take a sock and turn it inside out. Rub the deodorant off of the fabric with the sock. Another quick way is to rub the fabric of the garment where the stain is onto another area of the same garment.

Soiled shirt collars: Rub shampoo on the collar (which is for removing body oils) before washing.

Tomato sauce: Spray WD-40 on the stain, wait a few minutes, then wash as usual.

Wine: Pour club soda on the stain as soon as possible. If the stain is more set, mix dishwashing detergent and water into a paste and rub into the fabric. Wash with the hottest water possible.