Common Household Stain Removal Agents

Cold Water

You won’t need a professional Arlington cleaning service crew to come to the rescue of your favorite dress, just some water. For many seemingly disastrous & stubborn stains, it’s as easy as mixing a bit of cold water with the following common DIY homemade stain remover products and rid your clothing of stains. Many stains can set when introduced to warm water. For blood stains, promptly rub the area with hand soap and rinse out with cold water. For tough grease stains, rub in dish-washing soap into the clothing stains until you can feel a change in the grease’s texture, then simply rinse out with cold water. For peanut butter stains, acetone or nail polish remover has proven to work well.

White Vinegar

Thankfully for your clothing stains, red colored foods and vinegar do not mix. Pouring white vinegar onto red wine clothing stains will decrease the pigment with each pour until the stain has dissipated. For other red foods like cherries, strawberries, tomatoes and watermelon – delicious in the summer time but not attractive to be worn – create a DIY stain remover by mixing glycerine with vinegar, hang the item out in the sun to dry and let the natural light bleach out the stain for you. For ketchup stains, armpit stains, etc., hydrogen peroxide is proven to work well when applied correctly. First, scrape stains with something like a butter knife. Next, soak the stain in cold water and apply laundry detergent to the spot. Lastly, apply a sponge with hydrogen peroxide to the affected area.

Baking Soda

From oven scrubbing, scouring a ceramic stovetop, to shining up stainless steel, deodorizing your front load washer and clean toilets – Baking soda can pretty much clean your entire house. The best part? Baking soda can be found in almost every household. Here are additional things you can clean with baking soda:

• Use baking soda to scrub nasty grout. Mix baking soda with bleach in warm water and you have everything you need to remove stains on tile floors and walls.
• Remove carpet stains. If you see any unsightly spots on your carpet, use baking soda to  wick out moisture and then give it a few minutes before vacuuming the stains out.
• Wipe down outdoor furniture.
• Scour a slow cooker by filling the pot with water, and 1/4 of baking soda. After few hours any crusty residue will soften away and become 10 times easier to clean.

Lemon Juice

Acidic lemon juice is another easy homemade stain remover. It can help remove abrasive clothing stains caused by grass, coffee, tea and clingy substances such as glue, residue left behind from sticky items and tape. Squeeze the juice on to the clothing stains, allow for saturation and put in the washing machine or hand-wash. For permanent ink stains, use the oil solvent followed by the laundry detergent solution, blotting in between, and rinse with a clean cloth. 

Stain Removal & Washing Techniques

Keep Time on Your Side

Once the deed has been done, timeliness is one of the most effective tools when dealing with tough clothing stains. The last thing you want to happen is to have the clothing stains set into the fabric. Once they’ve settled in, they can easily become tough stains and there’s not much wiggle room for them to go anywhere. If you are not at home or in close proximity to any cleaning solvents, remove any attire immediately that has clothing stains and either saturate or soak with water. For tough stains, you can also use a carpet cleaning solution.

Keep Cool

Similar to the rules of the kitchen, keep away from the heat if you don’t want the clothing stains to make a permanent home in your new jacket or blouse. Avoid hot water when dealing with clothing stains. Heat seals stains in. Using hot water can lead to stiff or rough-feeling fabrics, dingy whites (including those yellow underarm stains).

Keep it Light

Apply gentle pressure when dabbing water or any stain removal solvents into the clothing item. The fabric needs time to soak instead of harshly being scrubbed, which could damage the fabric or cause the stained area to look different than the rest of the untreated garment.

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