How to Remove Food Stains From Clothing

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By Mia Carter
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How do I remove stains from fabric? How to I get rid of food and drink stains from clothes? Are there any stain removal tips for clothing?

Whether you're an adult or a child, clothing stains from food and drink accidents will happen from time to time. Maybe you're eating something messy, like pasta or spaghetti. Or maybe your toddler is a very messy eater. And what adult hasn't dripped a bit of wine or juice on their shirt, pants or that favorite skirt? No one is immune to stains; but removing stains can be difficult. Learn how to remove most food and drink stains from clothing!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Cold, Running Water
Soap
A Stain Stick
Clothes Washer and Dryer
Stained Clothing!

Step 1

REMOVE AS MUCH OF THE SPILLED FOOD OR DRINK AS POSSIBLE: When you (or your child) spills food or a drink on your clothing, you'll first want to start by blotting the stain to remove as much excess fluid or food as possible. DO NOT RUB THE STAIN! This will only make it worse! Instead, blot the stain. If you've got a real messy stain like pasta sauce, turn the fabric upside down above a napkin and blot it like this - use gravity to your advantage!
Step 2

GET TO THE BATHROOM OR KITCHEN ASAP: The next step involves rinsing the stain. The sooner you can remove the drink or food stain, the better your chances are that you'll successfully remove the stain from the clothing. DO NOT let the stain dry on your clothing! This will really hurt your chances of stain removal. Get to the bathroom, kitchen or other water source as soon as possible.
Step 3

RINSE THE STAIN WITH COLD WATER: Using cold water, rinse the stained fabric thoroughly. A sink works best, but even some bottled water will do the trick. Once the liquid or food is removed from the stained fabric, you may just have a wet spot. If this is the case, skip step 4 and go directly to step 5. If there's still some fabric staining, we'll need to move on to the next step.
Step 4

ADD A LITTLE BIT OF SOAP: Laundry detergent is ideal, but in a restaurant or on a picnic, you're not going to have the proper stain removal products. Even some hand soap can do the trick to remove a stain from clothing in a pinch. Rub some hand soap onto the stain, fold the stained fabric and rub the fabric together to gently "scrub" the stained fabric fibers. If you don't have any soap, fold the fabric and gently rub to scrub the stain from the fibers. Rinse and repeat a couple times.
Step 5

WHEN YOU GET HOME, USE A STAIN STICK: Every person should own a stain stick. Apply the stain stick to the stained clothing and then launder as usual. If you don't own a stain stick (which you should!) use a little bit of laundry detergent and apply this to the stain; let it sit for about 15 minutes and then rinse.
Step 6

LAUNDER THE CLOTHING: Launder the clothing as usual. A color-safe bleach like Clorox Color Safe Bleach, used with laundry detergent, will bring the best results when it comes to removing stains from fabrics. Sometimes, you may need to run the stained clothing item through the wash several times to completely remove tough stains like tomato sauce, wine or grape juice.