Plop.
That’s the sound of BBQ sauce landing on your brand new
blazer coat as you’re chowing down on some mouthwatering ribs.
Dadgummit. You need to wear that jacket to a business
presentation at the end of the week. What to do?
From sliding into first base to finding a leaky pen in your
pocket, everybody stains their clothing from time to time. But stains aren’t
just common annoyances; if you can’t get them out, they can cut short the life
of otherwise perfectly nice (and sometimes expensive) duds.
The key to preventing yourself from throwing money out the
window along with your stained clothes is to learn how to tackle stains as soon
as possible and in the right way. Today we’re going to show you how to treat
and remove common stains so you can get as much mileage out of your wardrobe as
possible.
Key Steps to Prevent Setting
The most important thing, no matter what kind of stain
you’re dealing with, is to prevent it from setting. “Setting” is an
informal term that refers to the staining material forming a chemical bond with
the fabric. At that point it is effectively permanent. Removing the
discoloration will require removing the discolored fabric itself. Sometimes you
can remove a set stain by scrubbing until the stained fibers are worn off,
leaving unstained ones visible; other times the stain will remain in the fabric
unless you physically cut the stained fabric out and put a patch in its place.
To prevent having to throw away a garment with a permanent stain, follow these
general guidelines:
- Treat
any stain immediately with water, or with the proper solvent if it is
available (different types of solvents are discussed below, but water is
always better than nothing).
- Avoid
direct heat. Heat will speed most types of stains’ bonding. Do
not place stained clothing near radiant heat sources, and try to only use
room temperature or lukewarm solvents.
- Avoid
pressure. Apply solvents gently, dabbing them onto the stain and
letting them soak in rather than scrubbing forcefully.
If the stain occurs at home, you can go straight to treating
it. If you’re out and about, get to a restroom and gently dab water onto the
stained area with tissue paper or paper towels until the stain is thoroughly
saturated. Yes, it may be more visible with water dabbed on it, but it will
prevent the stain from becoming permanent, saving you garment repair or
replacement in the long run.
Detailed Stain Removal
Acting at once to prevent the stain from setting is
necessary, but not sufficient. Most common stains won’t be removed completely
just by dabbing some water on them and going about your business.
There are three basic steps toward effective stain removal,
regardless of the nature of the stain:
- Select
the appropriate solvent.
- Use
the appropriate application method.
- Seek
necessary after-care.
For most household stains this doesn’t require too much
research or investment. Common commercial products (and even some basic food
supplies) will treat a large percentage of stains. It’s simply a matter of
knowing which product to put on the stain, and how to put it there without
damaging the cloth.
Selecting the Appropriate Solvent
Picking the right solvent requires you to know two things:
1) what will dissolve the stain in question, 2) and what is safe to use on the
cloth you’re working with.
What Each Fabric Requires
Use the wrong product and you can end up damaging your cloth
worse than the original stain. Most clothes are made from fairly sturdy
materials, but they all have their strengths and weaknesses.
Always check the label. It’s your best guide in most cases.
If it doesn’t provide any specific instructions, go by fabric type:
Cotton: can endure soaking, drying, and heat
(though you want to avoid the latter for most stains — warm water is fine, but
dry heat just sets the stain). It’s easy to bleach white cotton, but very hard
on the fabric, so use chlorine bleaches as a last resort, and dilute them well.
The best stain treatments for cotton are detergents and light acids (lemon
juice, vinegar, etc.).
Wool: is much more heat-sensitive than cotton,
and needs to be treated gently. You can soak it, but you have to lay it flat as
it dries to prevent distortion. Use only wool-safe detergents and lukewarm (not
hot) water — bleaches and acidic treatments will damage the wool permanently.
Treat with water or a wool detergent as soon as possible, and then get the
garment to the dry cleaner at the first opportunity.
Synthetics: vary depending on the material.
Rayon and polyester can be washed and scrubbed more harshly than cotton, but
will be destroyed by oxidizing bleaches like hydrogen peroxide. It’s usually
best to clean them with a standard laundry detergent, or with dish soap for
grease-heavy stains.
Silk: is exceedingly temperamental. You can
treat stains on silk with water, but rather than letting the wet spot dry on
its own, rinse the whole garment thoroughly — otherwise you’ll get water spotting,
nearly as bad as the original stain. Glycerin stain remover is also effective
and neutral.
No matter what you’re using, test the stain remover on an
inside patch of the cloth or an unobtrusive seam before applying it to the
stain to make sure it doesn’t do anything damaging to the fabric. Water is the
only thing you can automatically apply — and even then make sure it’s the right
temperature.
Types of Solvents (And the Stains They Remove)
Here are the major families of stain removers and solvents,
and the kinds of stains they’re most effective at cleaning:
Water: Universal, safe to use on basically
everything, and cheap. Effective as an immediate treatment to prevent stain
setting. Needs prolonged soaking to have much effect on grease/oil stains, but
reduces the effect of dyes (lipstick, hair dye, bleed from other clothes, etc.)
considerably. Usually not a 100% effective treatment all on its own.
Salt: Cheap and almost everyone has it. Can be
applied on top of a wetted stain to give the chemicals something to leech into.
Effective on sweat/deodorant armpit stains, red wine, and blood stains.
Vinegar/Lemon Juice: Mild acids are great
against coffee and tea, grass stains, and sticky residues like tape and glue.
Vinegar is also effective against mildew — perfect for laundry that sat wet too
long. Remember, though, don’t use on wool.
Detergent: Laundry and dish detergents are
similar enough to use interchangeably in most situations. Dish detergent is
usually harsher, and may make very delicate fabrics worse if you don’t wash it
out thoroughly. Both are particularly effective against grease stains, so use
them on everything from gravy and burger juice to chocolate smears.
Oxidizing Bleaches: Hydrogen peroxide is the
most common example here. They’re effective at removing color, making them
ideal for makeup stains, grass stains, and other pigment-based damage. They’re
less effective against grease, and can damage delicate fabrics. Dilute as
needed for a milder treatment.
Glycerin: A neutral, commercially available
treatment that helps to draw stains out of fabrics. Good on ink and dye stains.
Many commercial “stain sticks” are glycerin, or a combination of glycerin and
detergent.
Mineral Spirits: An intense treatment for very
stubborn greases (asphalt/tar stains, etc.). Too strong for delicate fabrics.
Wash the clothing thoroughly after treatment and air-dry.
Digestants/Enzyme Cleaners: Commercial products
sold under a variety of names. Highly effective on organic stains, and on
stains with an odor (egg yolk, pet urine, blood, sweat, etc.). Cannot be used
on wool or silk — the cleaner feeds on proteins, and both wool and silk are
made from proteins.
Dry Cleaning Solvents: These are sold in a
diluted form for home treatment of stains. Use them with caution — you’re
rarely better off using commercially sold dry cleaning solution than you are
taking the clothes to a professional cleaner.
Chlorine Bleaches: A harsh, last-ditch remedy.
Use with caution. Can damage fabric and discolor non-white cloth. Always test a
small, hidden area first, and only if the tag does not say “No Bleach” or
“Chlorine Free” on it.
Not all stains are going to give way easily to one kind of
treatment. Some will require multiple treatments for multiple problems: many
lipsticks, for example, have both an oil component and a dye component.
In general, treat dyes before oils — chocolate, for example,
is best treated with a lukewarm water soak and then with a bit of detergent
applied directly to the stain.
Getting Rid of the Stain
The right product applied the wrong way can make the stain
set worse.
Most of the time this boils down to a very simple concept: never
apply direct force.
Dab gently or soak indirectly, rather than scrubbing with a
cloth or your fingers.
That said, you can get better results if you use a series of
steps designed specifically to draw the stain out of the fabric and into
something else:
- Soak
the stain with water immediately while you are still wearing it. We’ve
said it before, but it bears repeating. Always dab some room temperature
water onto the stain with a bit of toilet paper or tissue as soon as
possible. Make sure the whole stain gets soaked, and that the water soaks
all the way through the fabric rather than just sitting on the surface.
- When
you remove the garment, re-wet the stain and apply an absorbent. Salt
is the most common and cheapest, but some people use cornstarch or talcum
powder for a similar effect. This works best on smooth fabrics like cotton
knits — applying salt to a wool, tweed jacket is just going to be a pain
to scrape off later. Let the absorbent sit for ten or fifteen minutes,
then scrape the bulk of it off and rinse the rest out with water.
- Apply
your solvent lightly to the back of the garment, underneath the stain. You
want it to be soaking through and driving the stain back toward the
surface, not deeper into the garment. Applying it to the inside also gives
you a little more security in case the solvent ends up discoloring the fabric
(but you checked first on an unobtrusive area like we told you to, right?)
- Lay
the garment face down on a clean paper towel. Like the absorbent,
this gives the chemicals that are actually causing the stain something to
soak into. If you don’t provide that blank medium, all you’re really doing
is spreading the stain out so thin that it’s not immediately visible —
it’s still there in the cloth. The paper towel gives it somewhere else to
go.
- Let
the garment rest face down on the paper towel for an hour or so. Different
solvents have different reaction times, but give it a while. The only real
guideline here is to get back for your final rinse before the solvent
dries completely. Keep an eye on it. If it is allowed to completely dry,
you may just end up with a bigger, lighter-colored stain than before.
- Give
the garment a final water rinse to remove both the stain and the solvent. If
you can, immediately wash it, either in a laundry machine or by taking it
in for dry cleaning.
Some stains can be removed simply by a wash or a dry
cleaning, but it’s best to apply the specific treatment as well. In the case of
delicate wools or silks, that may mean nothing but water.
10 Common Stains and How to Treat Them
To give you a few examples of how to use the knowledge above,
here are ten of the most common stains a man can expect to encounter. These
could affect everything from his grungy work jeans to his best business suit.
Always take the type of fabric into account, and seek
professional cleaning if you’re not sure what you can and can’t apply — it’s a
lot cheaper to pay $10 for a professional’s help than it is to replace a suit
because you used the wrong cleaner on it!
But if you have your heart set on home cleaning, here’s some
general tips how to tackle common stains. The examples can be applied to other
stains as well. Again, remember to adjust according to the directions above
depending on the type of fabric the stain is on.
- Blood: Rinse
immediately with cool water. If possible, immerse in room temperature
water with detergent and let soak for 10-15 minutes. Spot-treat with an
enzyme cleaner if possible, or with household ammonia. Launder in a
separate load.
- Butter/Lard/Cooking
Oil: Treat immediately with lukewarm water. If possible, immerse
in warm water with detergent, using a spray or stick pre-treatment if
available. Remove and gently dab stain with detergent; place face down on
a paper towel and let stand. Repeat as needed. For persistent stains,
carefully apply bleach or dry cleaning solvent from the inside of the
garment and rest face down on paper towels, then wash thoroughly.
- Coffee: Soak
immediately with lukewarm water. Gently dab stain with detergent or with vinegar
diluted in water. Wash in the hottest water recommended for the fabric and
repeat as needed. Avoid bar or powder soap, which can set the stain
permanently.
- Sweat/Armpit
Stains and Collar Yellowing: Wash with hot water and
detergent. If yellowing persists, soak in warm water and let stand with a
dusting of salt, or apply an enzyme cleaner. Bleach can be used to remove
staining on whites as a last-ditch solution.
- Tomato-Based: Remove
excess sauce/paste carefully with a butter knife of spoon. Dab liquid
detergent onto the stain. Rinse with cold water from underneath the stain;
again, you don’t want to push it back into the fabric. Launder normally,
according to the tag.
- Engine
Grease/Machine Oil: Treat immediately with warm water. As soon as
possible, soak in warm water with heavy-duty detergent. Remove, treat
stained area with detergent directly, and lay face-down on paper towels.
Launder separately. Repeat as needed.
- Mud/Dirt: Soak
and agitate (shake around) in lukewarm water to remove as much as
possible. Apply detergent to remaining stains and let soak for 20-30
minutes. Rinse and repeat. Launder normally, and treat any remaining
stains with bleach if possible.
- Wine: Treat
immediately with warm water. Salt stain and let stand if possible. Rinse
salt out, dab gently with detergent or glycerin, and lay face down on a
paper towel. Rinse again and launder normally. Avoid bar or flake soaps,
which can set the stain permanently.
- Urine
and Feces: Remove and rinse immediately in cool water. Avoid
heat, which can set the proteins permanently. Soak and agitate in cool
water with detergent. Drain and soak again, letting stand for 20-30
minutes. Launder immediately. Bleach if necessary, but rewash afterward in
the case of diapers — bleach is too harsh for babies’ skin.
- Odors: Not
all stains are visible. For odors that persist through a normal
laundering, apply calcium carbonate crystals or activated charcoal and let
stand for several hours (or several days, as needed). Shake off and use a
gentle hand vacuum to clean residue. If there is a visible stain along
with the odor, use an enzyme cleaner. Febreze can also work wonders here
Treating Stains on the Go
You can’t always rush home to remove a stain from your
clothes, and if you’re stuck with a big attention-grabbing stain on your
clothes for hours on end without any chance to change, it can be embarrassing.
Consider packing something like the
Tide
to Go Instant Stain Remover stick in your dopp kit and to keep in your
car. It can remove several common food and drink stains from your clothes with
an easy and quick application.
Conclusion: Immediate Action is the Best Product
Nothing treats a stain as well as immediate action. Get some
room temperature water on it right away and you’re doing well. Once you’ve got
the stain thoroughly soaked, you can take the time to look up the appropriate
treatment, or get it to a professional cleaner. Don’t damage expensive clothing
by trying elaborate home remedies when one commercial product or one trip to the
dry cleaner will take care of everything.