Imagine this: You are feeling the Monday morning rush on the way to work, with your favorite coffee on hand to boost your mood. Suddenly, someone bumped you! Your favorite work clothes are a mess– aside from your favorite coffee is wasted, your clothes will have a coffee stain.
How about this: You went on a dinner date with the woman you like, and you dropped a sauce-covered fork right on your new shorts. Now, that’s a mood wrecker!
Whether it is your favorite work clothes or brand new shorts, do not get frustrated quickly. According to Liox, there are simple yet effective methods that can help you get rid of the stains efficiently.
Emergency Spot Remover
Unfortunate moments happen to us. If you spill something on your favorite clothes while you are out, do not panic! The steps are simple to get rid of the stain. Do not rub the spilled food or liquid. Instead, use a white cloth or tissue paper and dab carefully on the stained area.
If it’s an oil-based stain, you can handle it easily with the tableside condiments. Sprinkle some salt and make it sit for a bit. After a while, brush the salt from the garment. It should have absorbed the oil.
After doing the preventive measures, there are still minimal stains left on your clothes. In this case, you have to address the stain with a spot remover or a stain pen. However, if the stain pen is not available at the moment, use this little spot remover trick. Club soda or plain water will work well. Damp the napkin’s corners with the soda or water and gently dab on the stain to blot it until it is completely gone.
But, if you had the food stain at home, you can simply use the powerful natural spot remover—a combination of lemon juice and cream of tartar. Wash the stained cloth in your laundry machine with the natural sport remover. Wash it in the usual method, and you will be surprised by the results.
Collar Stains
You might be bothered by the collar stains on your work shirt or Sunday best. Removing this type of stain is relatively easy, that you do not need a special stain remover. You can remove the stain easily by using something available in your bathroom– shampoo.
When doing laundry with your work clothes or favorite Sunday wear and it has a collar stain. Grab your shampoo and pour a little amount on the collar. Rub the collar together and soak the clothes for about 15 to 30 minutes. After the said minutes, rinse the items thoroughly. However, that’s not yet the end. You need to continue and do a follow-up launder on your clothes to ensure it’s not only visually clean but also hygienically clean.
Although any shampoo can remove the collar stains, some laundry experts recommend using a shampoo brand with a formula for oily hair. The formula’s effect breaks down body oils and grits transfers from the skin to the collar, resulting in stains.
Grass Stains
If you are fond of gardening, playing sports in a grass field, or your child is fond of running around the yard, you will most likely have to put up with grass stains.
You can easily remove grass stains with another toiletry product that’s undoubtedly available anytime in your home– toothpaste. Ensure you are using a paste and not a gel, there’s a difference between the two, and you might get a different result if you do not use the right one. Use an old toothbrush and white toothpaste to remove the grass stains.
Apply a small amount of toothpaste onto the stain, dip and wet the toothbrush with clean water, use the brush to scrub the stain. After the stain is treated or removed, rinse the stained area and launder the clothing.
Tea and Coffee Stains
If your favorite work clothes have tea or coffee stains, do not worry. As long as you did not hurt or burn yourself during the spill, there’s nothing to worry about. As soon as the coffee or tea is spilled, rinse the stain with cold water.
Do not run the water over the top of the stains. Run the water on the back of the stain to help it come out rather than pushing it through the fabric. Use a liquid dishwashing detergent, apply and rub it onto the stain. Let the detergent sit for a minimum of five minutes. Rinse the detergent and launder normally.
There’s another trick to treat wet coffee or tea stain. Apply a generous amount of baking soda into the stained area. The baking soda powder will pull out the color of the clothing and launder your clothes naturally.
If you treat a dried coffee or tea stain, apply a generous amount of liquid dishwashing detergent on the stained area. Soak your clothes for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rinse the stain and launder normally.
Stubborn Stains? Dry Cleaning Experts Can Help
If the pretreatment and cleaning process did not work on the stain, you could ask for help from dry cleaning experts. When you bring your clothes to the experts, tell them what caused the stain to determine the best stain removal process.
Dry cleaning uses a water-free chemical solvent that removes the settled stains on the fabric. However, not all type of stains is removed effectively by the machine dry cleaning. Thus, dry cleaning experts post spot the remaining stains. They will treat the stains with steam, water, or vacuum for the best results.
Final Thoughts
Stains on your favorite clothes are a mood wrecker, but you can pretreat them as quickly and as soon as possible to avoid it from settling on your cloth’s fabric. Before you follow the efficient methods of getting rid of stains, you need to read your clothes’ labels. Ensure you are doing it the right way, or else the damage will be worse than stains.
