How to Remove Tough Stains Without Ruining Your Clothes

Stains come with two golden rules. First: act fast, because a fresh stain almost always comes out and a dry one rarely does. Second: cold water first. Hot water sets many stains, especially protein ones like blood. Keep just these two ideas in mind and half the job is done.

First, the emergency table.

Quick table: what to use on each stain

Stain	What to use	Temperature
Red wine	Salt + hydrogen peroxide	Cold
Grease and oil	Talc + dish soap	Hot (as high as the garment allows)
Blood and period stains	Salt + bar soap	Cold, always
Coffee	Mild soap	Cold
Sweat	Baking soda paste	Cold or lukewarm
Tomato and sauces	Dish soap + sunlight	Cold first
Grass	Rubbing alcohol or vinegar	Lukewarm
Mud	Let it dry + brush	Lukewarm
Ink	Rubbing alcohol	Cold
Make-up	Make-up remover or dish soap	Cold
Chewing gum	Ice	Cold
Mould	Vinegar or oxygen bleach	Hot (60° if the fabric allows it)

Red wine

Cover the stain with plenty of salt or blot it with kitchen paper, without rubbing: you would only spread it. Rinse with cold water from the back of the fabric. If a ring remains, hydrogen peroxide with a few drops of soap, a few minutes’ wait, then wash.

Grease and oil

Grease does not come out with water, it comes out with soap. Sprinkle talc or baking soda to absorb the oil and brush it off after a few minutes. Then a few drops of dish soap on the stain, a gentle rub and a quarter of an hour’s wait. Wash at the highest temperature the garment allows: one of the few stains that likes heat.

Blood

Cold water, never hot: heat cooks the protein and sets it for good. Soak the garment in cold salted water and rub with bar soap. If the stain persists, a few drops of hydrogen peroxide. On colour, test first on a hidden spot.

Period stains on sheets and clothes

Like any blood stain, it comes out with cold water and sets with heat. If it is fresh: rinse from the back with plenty of cold water and rub with plain old soap (a bar of soap works wonders) until it disappears. If it has already dried: soak in cold salted water for an hour, and if a shadow remains, a few drops of hydrogen peroxide straight onto the stain (you will see it fizz), then rinse cold. On light-coloured sheets you can repeat the process without worry; on coloured fabrics, test the hydrogen peroxide on a corner first. And remember: no tumble dryer until you are sure it is completely gone.

Coffee

Rinse straight away with cold water from the back and rub with mild soap. If the stain has already dried, soak it for half an hour in cold water with a splash of white vinegar before washing. On tablecloths and white shirts you can finish with hydrogen peroxide. Coffee with milk contains protein: always treat it cold.

Sweat and deodorant

Those yellow rings are a mix of sweat and deodorant. Make a paste of baking soda and water, spread it over the area, leave it for 30 minutes and wash. If the ring is deeply set, soak first in equal parts water and white vinegar. And no chlorine bleach: it reacts with sweat and turns them yellower still.

Tomato and sauces

Scrape off the excess with a spoon, rinse cold from the back and apply a few drops of dish soap. If an orange trace remains, hang the garment in the sun: light breaks down the pigment naturally. No dryer while a shadow remains.

Grass

Grass green is a plant dye and grips the fibre. Dampen the area with rubbing alcohol or white vinegar, leave it for ten minutes and rub with soap before washing lukewarm. Dried grass is among the most stubborn: do not leave it for tomorrow.

Mud

Mud is the exception to the act-fast rule: let it dry completely. Once dry, brush off the dirt, rinse from the back and rub with soap before washing. If you rub it while wet, you only push it deeper into the fibre.

Ink and ballpoint pen

Place a clean cloth underneath and dab the stain with a cotton pad soaked in rubbing alcohol: the ink will transfer to the cloth. Change the pad as it picks up colour and do not rub in circles. Then soap and a cold wash. With permanent marker, lower your expectations: it sometimes fades, it rarely disappears.

Make-up and lipstick

Foundation and lipstick are grease plus pigment. Remove the excess without spreading it, apply biphasic make-up remover or a few drops of dish soap and let it work for a few minutes. Rinse cold and wash. Mascara comes out the same way; with waterproof formulas you will have to repeat.

Chewing gum

Cold is your friend: an hour in the freezer inside a bag, or ice straight onto the gum until it hardens. Once rigid, it peels off almost whole with a blunt knife. The rest comes out with a little alcohol and a normal wash.

Mould on towels

Those black dots on towels that stayed damp call for serious measures: an hour’s soak in hot water with white vinegar or oxygen bleach, then a wash at 60° if the fabric allows it. Chlorine bleach only on pure white. And to prevent it: never leave damp towels in a pile.

What never to do

• Hot water on protein stains (blood, egg, milk): it cooks them in place.
• Chlorine bleach on coloured clothes: it removes the stain and the colour too.
• Rubbing a fresh stain hard: you spread it and push it into the fibre.
• Tumble drying without checking: the heat sets whatever is left.

Stains on large items

A duvet with coffee, a rug that caught a glass of wine or family-lunch table linen will not fit in a home washing machine. That is what the XL machines at Safareig in L’Escala are for: up to 30 kg per load, detergent included, open 365 days a year from 8 am to 10 pm. Treat the stain at home and finish with a full wash at the temperature the fabric needs. Here is the step-by-step guide to washing duvets and washing rugs.

Quick recap

1. Act fast: a fresh stain almost always comes out.
2. Cold water first; heat only for grease and mould.
3. Every stain has its trick: check the table.
4. Never bleach on colour or hot water on blood.
5. Make sure the stain is gone before using the dryer.

Photo: MartinMerinsky · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons