How to Remove Stains from Clothes
When doing the laundry, one of the big problems is how to remove stains from clothes. You encounter all sorts of stains and you can’t just give up on your favorite shirt or jeans. Most stains can’t simply be removed by soap and water alone. We all know bleach removes just about every kind of stain but it will also remove the color of your shirt so in most cases, bleach is the last resort. There are color-safe bleaches out there too but using bleach on clothing isn’t so good because it affects the fabric.
Most important thing to remember on how to remove stains from clothes is the sooner you get to the stain, the better chance of getting it off without damaging the clothes. Allowing the stain to sit on your clothing means allowing it to hold on to the fabric. That’s why you should attend to it immediately. Soak the garment in cold water, or dab the stained area with a cloth wet with cold water. Dab and not rub. Rubbing will only spread the stain.
The most common kind of stain is the ones from food and most of these stains can be removed by squeezing a few drops of lemon followed by washing with soap and water. If this does not work, ketchup and barbeque sauce can be removed by soaking the stained area with 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide with 1 cup water or dab the stains with isopropyl alcohol.
The hydrogen peroxide mixture will also work well with coffee and tea stains.
Before treating any kind of stain, it is also important to know the kind of fabric the clothing is made of. There are more delicate ones that can easily be damaged, like silk or satin. These may need to be brought to the cleaners. They will know how to remove stains from clothes that you can not remove.