How to Remove Hard Stains

Hard stains are the nightmare of every household. No matter how much you try to avoid these stains, they inevitably blemish clothes. Once your favorite clothes are stained badly, without a proper way of dealing with the stain, all you can do is either dispose of them or send them to the laundry for an expensive stain-removal treatment. Fortunately, there are techniques that work and can eliminate these stains.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Talcum powder
• Detergent
• Gentle scrubbing brush
• Scrubbing brush with hard bristles
• Cornstarch
• Vinegar
• Lemon juice

1. Apply talcum powder on the stained area and let it stay on the stain for a while. Then wash off as normal. The talcum powder actually sucks the oil out of the fabric. Stains that have been caused by greasy products can easily be removed by talcum powder.

2. Rub your regular detergent on the stained area and mist it slightly with water. Let it stay for a while in indirect sun and then wash your fabric as usual.

3. Rinse the stained area with some water. This will prevent the stain from getting deep into the cloth. If you are at home or can change the clothing, soak the cloth in a bucket of fresh water for an hour or so. The stain will lose all its rigidness and will come off easily when you wash it with your detergent.

4. Stains that are a combination of greasy and nongreasy elements are the toughest to remove. You will have to treat such stains two times. Salad dressing can cause such a stain. The stain will have to be diluted first by soaking in fresh water or washing with a detergent. Once dried, it will have to be treated for the oil left. Apply talcum powder as mentioned above to get rid of the oil stains.

5. Use alternatives to detergent if you do not have the recommended ingredients. Ingredients available in your kitchen can be more effective at removing stains than professional treatments. These ingredients will not harm the fiber of your cloth. Some of the most useful stain-removal domestic agents are cornstarch, vinegar and lemon juice.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have stained you dress with coffee at the office or in a restaurant, add water and rub any detergent or washing liquid available. Some kind of soap or a hand washing liquid will even do the trick. Rub it slightly and wash it off. The small area will dry off quickly and there will be no evidence of the stain on the dress.
• Try to treat stains as soon as they appear, as these stains will become tougher and more difficult to remove. While misting stains of tea/coffee off your dress, be careful to drop water in the proper direction, or you may spread the stain instead of diluting it. Keep in mind that the oily stains will never come off with just plain water.

References

• Remove Hard Stains
• Clothing Stain Removal
• Cleaning and Stain Removal