Ideas for Stained Shirts
A stain on your favorite shirt can ruin your day, but there are a variety of methods to remove even the toughest stains from clothing. Before you try to scrub the stain away from the clothing or toss it in the wash, assess the damage. Depending on the kind of stain, there are certain techniques that can either help remove the substance from your clothing or make the spot worse. Does this Spark an idea?
-
Types of Stains
-
There are endless materials that could potentially stain your clothing, but they fall into several common categories. Protein-based stains could include items like blood, vomit, mud, baby formula and white glue, while tannin stains could include alcoholic beverages, berries, soft drinks and coffee. Oil-based stains include things like salad dressing, butter, automotive oils and mayonnaise. Dye stains are frequently caused by mustard, India ink, in-wash color transfer, Kool-Aid and grass. These different categories have distinctive chemical compositions, and as a result, must be handled using methods that correspond accordingly.
Common Methods of Treatment
-
For protein-based stains, the spot must typically be soaked in cold water prior to laundering. Using hot water on a protein-based stain causes the protein to coagulate the fibers of the fabric, which makes the stain much more difficult to remove. Bleach could be necessary to remove a colored protein-based stain. For tannin stains, it's important to avoid soap in bar or flake form and instead use detergent to wash the stain in hot water; this should remove most spots. Remove oil-based stains by working a heavy-duty detergent into the fabric and then washing in hot water. Dye stains can be very difficult to remove; pre-treat the shirt with heavy-duty detergent, rinse and then soak the item in a diluted solution of all-fabric powdered bleach.
-
More Obscure Methods
-
There are some kinds of stains that require special treatments for removal. For instance, ice must be applied to a chewing gum stain before pre-treatment to crack or scrape off any excess particles. For a lead pencil stain, you can lightly rub a gum eraser over the spot to remove the mark. Rust stains can be especially difficult to remove, and they may require a special rust removal product. You can also try a mixture of salt and lemon juice for a more readily-available solution, but the effectiveness of this remedy is not guaranteed.
Stain Prevention
-
When it comes down to it, the best way to remedy a stain is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Clearly there are unavoidable accidents, but there are some areas you can be especially cautious of to avoid unfortunate accidents. For instance, if you use products containing benzoyl peroxide, a common ingredient in acne medicines, you should be careful to avoid contact with clothing as it acts as bleach and can be very difficult to remove. Certain fabric softeners can also create greasy-looking stains in the dryer, so avoid this problem by adding a softener to the final rinse.
-
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Pixland/Getty Images
