Stain Removal Secrets

[chromedome]

How about those guys that flick their ties over their shoulder when eating lunch or dinner...   I would rather splatter my Armani ties with grease and pay the $7.00 to get it dry-cleaned than look like a complete goofus while eating lunch in a restaurant...

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I used to do that...but invariably the tie would come sliding back down at an inopportune moment and go splat! into my food.

[maremosso]

In Italy we pour white wine on red wine stains. Works very well.

Drench ink stains with milk, then wash in machine as usual.

Some say lemon juice will work just as well - haven't tried it.

Grease spots will be greatly reduced if immediately treated with salt grains, which will absorb most of the fat - but not useful on delicate fabrics, or synthetics.

Liquid and powder detergent paste works best as a pre-wash treatment, unfortunately not all fabrics can take it.

Oxyclean is great in TV ads, but it eats up the fibers as well as destroys colors.

[deltadoc]

My wife has two different stain removers. I don't remember the one, but the other one is SHOUT.

doc

[slbunge]

We use Carbona Stain Devils (click). There are 10 formulations in small yellow bottles. For example, there is one for 'Fat, Grease and Oil' and one for 'Ketchup and Sauce' and one for 'Fruit and Red Wine' etc. They work wonders.

[jsolomon]

For ink stains (I have a collection of fountain pens in varying stages of overuse), I use Amodex.

As for food or other stains on my clothes? Unless they're my interview clothes, the stains are worn with pride. I have bike chain marks on almost all of my pants (grease, and sprocket teeth cuts), biological stains on all of my lab coats, coffee stains on most of my shirts, and lipstick, wine, and beer stains on many others.

But, check this link from the Food Network on cleaning.

[Bernaise]

Someone suggested dish washing liquid. I have to agree. Many a dinner party has been salvaged with a squirt of Dawn or Palmolive applied undiluted to the stain in the first 30 minutes. Toss the the item in the wash the next day and voila- clean and unstained and the greasy/tomato-y blob just a bad memory!

Plus unlike all the other things it's always available even in a restaurant.

PS a shout sheet did the trick once too!

[patti]

I carry packets of Shout pre-moistened towelettes in my purse. They have saved the day on more than one occasion, as well as saved the embarrassment of once again returning from lunch wearing evidence of my menu selection on my blouse.

[ellencho]

For grease/sweat stains on whites I recommend oven cleaner. Do not use it for colored fabrics though, because you'll end up with a light spot from where you sprayed. Also, there's a product out in the supermarkets called Carbona. It comes in a little yellow triangular shaped bottle in the laundry section. They have a great de-greaser that you can use on colored clothing, and I've used it on years old oil stains and they came out just fine and didn't mess up my colors.

<edit to add> Carbona also makes other stain removers, for stuff like lipstick, wine, blood, grass stains, etc. All you have to do is choose the stain remover you like :)

Edited January 23, 2005 by ellencho (log)

[rooftop1000]

for those of us who eat at the dashboard diner more than the dining room I have a good one. After passing my toasted bagel with extra butter over my brand new burgundy designer leather purse (85% off) I did a search and tried .....grating blackboard chalk onto the grease spots and let it sit for a day not perfect but acceptable I think I would be the only one to notice it, I hope.

T

[winesonoma]

For grease/sweat stains on whites I recommend oven cleaner.  Do not use it for colored fabrics though, because you'll end up with a light spot from where you sprayed.  Also, there's a product out in the supermarkets called Carbona.  It comes in a little yellow triangular shaped bottle in the laundry section. They have a great de-greaser that you can use on colored clothing, and I've used it on years old oil stains and they came out just fine and didn't mess up my colors. 

<edit to add> Carbona also makes other stain removers, for stuff like lipstick, wine, blood, grass stains, etc.  All you have to do is choose the stain remover you like :)

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My parents had a bottle of that under the sink. However theirs was the origional and contained Carbon Tetrachloride, which was a common cleaning solvent until they declared it a hazard and banned it. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts30.html