Banana stains can be enough to drive a person, well, bananas. Especially once they set in, they can be notoriously stubborn. Whether they've been mashed into your carpet or ground into your clothing, you can beat banana stains by acting quickly.

Mix a solution of hot water and either powdered laundry detergent or a healthy dose of a bottled domestic carpet cleaner.

Apply the solution to the banana stains. Saturate every single fiber of carpet that may be affected. Pour the solution on, getting the carpet very damp.

Use paper towels to blot (not scrub) the banana stains. Simply fold the paper towel up and press it directly into the banana stains. Do not agitate the carpet fibers in any way.

Get some lukewarm water. Pour it onto the banana stains and then blot dry. Again, avoid agitating the carpet fibers.

Repeat until you cannot improve upon the amount of banana still ground into the rug. Soak up as much of the water in the carpet as possible using your paper towels.

Let the spot dry. This will probably take several hours to overnight to complete.

Buy a carpet stain removing solution from a hardware or grocery store. Following the directions on the label, spray it onto the banana-stained carpet.

Vacuum the spot. The banana stains should be gone. If they remain, go back to soaking the stain with a detergent solution and repeat the process again.

Take fabrics like silk, velvet and rayon to a dry cleaner. Don't try anything to remove the banana stains yourself, as you may ruin the article of clothing.

Soak machine-washable fabrics with banana stains in hot water with some enzyme pre-wash stain remover mixed in. Leave it for about half an hour.

Put the clothing through the hottest wash temperature it can handle. Consult the garment label for details.

Wash it again using a little mild bleach if the stain persists. This may be necessary in cases where the banana stains you want to remove are old and set in.