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You certainly can’t say we don’t cover everything at the List Universe! Here are 10 top tips for stain removal. Always test an inconspicuous area of the stained article before applying these tips.
1. Blood
Dry or wet, you can remove blood with Hydrogen Peroxide. Pour a little on to the stain and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Rinse, repeat, and it should be gone. Incidentally, this will not remove forensic evidence of blood, just the stain.
2. Pen Ink
Spray hairspray on to the stain (use a lot) and let it dry. Wash as normal. Another tip for removing ink is to soak the stained article in milk overnight, then wash.
3. Red Wine
If the spill is small, pour white wine on to a cloth and dab the red wine – it works like magic. If the stain is larger, pour salt on it. Both of these tips only work if the wine is wet.
4. Nicotine
Lemon juice should remove nicotine stains. If the stains are on your fingers, use lemon juice and pumice stone.
5. Melted Wax
Lay brown paper over the garment and iron – moving the paper often. The paper will absorb the wax.
6. Rust
Rub with lemon juice and salt and leave in the sun. Then wash as usual.
7. Grease
To remove grease, dab the stain with eucalyptus oil then put through a hot wash. You may need to repeat the process. Another useful tip is to rub butter in to your hands if they are stained with grease. Then rinse with soapy water.
8. Black marks on the floor
Sometimes you get black marks on the floor from the soles of shoes. A great way to remove these is to pour a little lighter fluid on to a cloth and wipe.
9. Crayon on Walls
Use baking soda on a damp cloth to rub crayon stains off smooth surfaces. A more risky way is to use white spirit.
10. Grass
Grass stains can be removed by wiping the article over with methylated spirits. Repeat until the stain is gone and wash.
September 19th, 2007 at 12:49 am
this really awoke the housewife in me, thanks jfrater
September 19th, 2007 at 12:57 am
Reea: I hope that is a good thing
September 19th, 2007 at 7:27 am
I just got spaghetti sauce all over my clothes! Do you have any way to get that out, o keeper of ancient, stain-removal secrets?
September 19th, 2007 at 8:22 am
ryanh: rinse thoroughly – try rubbing dish detergent in to the stain and rinse again. If that doesn’t work, and the garment is colorfast, try using white vinegar
September 19th, 2007 at 10:22 am
No sweatstains?
September 19th, 2007 at 11:26 am
Won’t hyrdogen peroxide bealch the fabric it is being used on?
September 19th, 2007 at 11:27 am
does peroxide work if you already washed the clothes that have blood on them?
September 19th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
My favorite way of removing an ink stain caused by a leaky pen/marker in the breast pocket was invented by the dry jokester extaordinaire and maker of “Moron Movies”, Len Cella. He simply sribbles another stain with pen/marker on the other breast pocket, thereby creating a symetrical fashion statement instead of a blunder!
September 19th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
kristin: I think that washing may set the stain – but it may be worth trying if you have no other choice.
Kelsi: yes – only use it on color fast fabrics – or test on a small spot first just in case.
September 19th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
To remove deodorant stains use another end of the shirt and rub that end on the piece that has the deodorant on it. The fabric against fabric will quickly remove the deodorant stain. (Works great on black too!)
September 20th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Heiho,
about #8, marks left on the floor (or other hard surfaces) are easily removable with an india rubber / eraser. The kind you generally use when writing with a pencil (… if, given the kind of nerdness we’re all subject to here, somebody remembers pencils …).
You find them often with a softer and a stiffer part, stiffer ist better, because of the abrasive ‘force’ at work.
Only if you really put lots of force into it (or use pumice-like stuff instead ^^ ) you may damage the floor itself. But you may damage some kinds of floor for certain with chemicals like lighter fluid, even if applied cautiously.
September 26th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
For grease stains on clothing sprinkle on baby powder and wash as usual. Hair spray also works on blood stains.
September 26th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Hannah, Librarian, m: Thanks for the extra tips – this article is becoming a very useful resource
September 29th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Thanks so much. This is sooooooo helpful:) You’re heaven sent
October 1st, 2007 at 8:56 pm
How do you get the odor of cat urine out of garments or towels? Without giving the cat away. Help!!
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:55 am
Lisa, I found this comment on a site which may help – remember though, peroxide bleaches, so make sure you are using this on something colorfast:
Someone else said that they used baking soda on a rug and left it for two weeks before vacuuming and that it worked. That may not be an option in your case though.
October 19th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
The absolute easiest way to remove crayon from walls (or pretty much any non-porous surface)is WD-40.
Spray on, wipe off… that simple
October 28th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
#8: yes, I suppose it comes off by rubbing with an eraser, but I’ve always found they come off simply by RUBBING them, like with your fingertips.
December 4th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
The most notable thing I find left off this list is sweat stains. If you dissolve a few aspirin pills in warm water then use the mixture on the affected area it will remove the stain. Yellow armpits are so uncool.
December 10th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Not sure if this was mentioned…I got lazy reading the comments…but if you rub a tennis ball against black marks on the floor, they come off really easily. Our principal in high school cut one open and jammed it onto the end of an old floor-hockey stick. He looked ridiculous carrying the stick around all the time, but the floors were spotless!
December 13th, 2007 at 8:21 am
how about enamel paint on cloth that has been there for weeks???
December 16th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
My mum is really good at removing stains, especially blood. I wonder why she needs to be good at that? Ha. But seriously, she can get any stain out of anything.
On ABC local radio, there is this woman who comes on sometimes, and she has written an entire book about stain removal. She is a freaking stain bandit, people ring up with the most bizarre stains and she just whips out these answers. I don’t know how she does it.
April 13th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
If the blood stain is still fresh, try running the clothing through some really cold water, works a charm.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
the best way to remove a blood stain
(although albeit is better if its small)
cotton with your own saliva, or the saliva of whoever blood it is will remove it on the spot
q-tips or cotton thread balled up both work great for this!
May 13th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I’m suprised Windex isn’t on here. One time I spilt grape jice on the white carpet in our family room, and sprayed it with Windex (it was all I could find) and the stain was gone, I didn’t have to rub it or anything. It was so cool I spilt more grape juice on the rug and did it again, to see if it would work again, and it did! It was awesome
June 18th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Scrubbing Bubbles cleans carpets very well.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:07 am
i have a solution to number 4…
DONT SMOKE!
July 26th, 2008 at 2:10 am
Arrrggh… how about a list of Supaglue removal tips? That’s what I need right now!
August 31st, 2008 at 2:02 am
Blood removal – Rinse as much as you can out with cold water, then use shampoo on the stain and rub hard until you can no longer see the stain. Put the item in the washing machine as normal.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I used to work in a Motel 6 doing laundry. We had a variety of chemicals to remove all types of stains. Everything from blood and urine to gravy and ink. I had to use them all every night to clean some of the most disgusting and sometimes unrecognizable stains on sheets and towels you can imagine.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:05 am
grease removalon clothes: unless its white just b4 puttin it in the wash put some washing up liquid on the grease mark then put it straight in the washin machine
September 18th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
it is effecttve!!! Love it..? haha
October 23rd, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Lol, this has to be like, the LEAST commented list ever.
Thank you, random button.
October 24th, 2008 at 9:58 am
how about deodorant stain… do you have any ideas?
October 24th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I’ve used just plain old soap and water on period blood and then run it through the wash with the rest of my clothes. Maybe that was too much info:P But it works!
December 2nd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I washed a beige denim jacket with a red sweet wrapper in the pocket! ( yes, I know – always check pockets!!!) any advice on how to turn my partly pink jacket back to beige??
December 5th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Acetone dissolves Superglue, it’s in nail polish remover.
January 1st, 2009 at 4:53 pm
@ #28 Tempyra:
I recommend Super Glue Remover. Works like a charm.
Link: http://www.amazon.com/80844-25oz-SUPER-GLUE-REMOVER/dp/B000S0YWJM
February 8th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
does anybody know how to get nail polish (namely dry) out of fabrics aka clothing?
April 19th, 2009 at 4:27 am
“Incidentally, this will not remove forensic evidence of blood, just the stain.”
Was the ammonia in Boondock Saints for serious?
October 16th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
I got a trick from my Nana for bloodstains, even ones that have been through the wash. Just soak the stain in pure ammonia for a few minutes, maybe poke it with a stick a few times and then throw it wet in the wash, you won’t even know the blood was ever there.
October 16th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
@Rachel F (41):
I do that
October 20th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Another good way to get blood out of clothing (particularly cotton) is by using liquid dish soap. It works better if the blood is still wet. Use warm water, and creat a lather with the garment using another section of the garment itself.
To get deodorant off your shirt, use a piece of the same material – cotton on cotton, silk on silk, to rub the stain off. Don’t get it wet, it works better when everything’s dry.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
The pen ink one’s really going to help, thanks!