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Laundry: 9 Common Stains and How to Remove Them

Laundry Stains: How to Remove 9 Most Common.

It's Murphy's Law. If something can spill, drip, ooze, or run, it will do so all over your child's lucky shirt or favorite dress.

Fortunately, once you know how to treat these troublesome stains, you can save your family's beloved clothes from ending up in the rag pile.

1. Blood.

Rinse or pre-soak the garment in cold water, then wash in cold water with your usual detergent. Don't use chlorine bleach - it can make the stain even worse.

Common laundry stains and how to remove them.

2. Chewing gum.

Rub the gummy spot with ice to harden it.

Scrape away as much of the gum as possible with a dull knife.

Saturate what remains with a pre-wash stain remover, rinse, and wash as usual.

3. Chocolate.

Pre-treat or pre-wash chocolate-stained clothes in warm water with a cleaning product that contains enzymes.

Wash as usual. (If it's on upholstery - here's how to remove it.)

4. Coffee.

Sponge a coffee-stain with, or soak in, cold water. Apply a pre-treating product on the stain.

Wash as usual and air-dry; repeat if stain remains.

5. Cosmetics.

Pre-treat cosmetics stains with a pre-wash stain remover or a liquid laundry detergent.

Wash the garment in the water temperature recommended for the fabric.

6. Crayon.

Scrape off surface crayon wax with a dull knife. Soak the fabric in a product containing enzymes or oxygen bleach in the hottest water safe for the fabric.

Launder using the hottest water the shirt or pants fabric can withstand.

7. Grass.

Pre-soak or pre-wash the grass-stained clothes in warm water in a bucket or your washing machine, with a detergent containing enzymes.

Launder as usual with chlorine bleach if it's safe for the fabric. If not, use oxygen bleach instead.

8. Mildew.

Douse a mildewed clothing item with chlorine bleach diluted with water. Launder as recommended.

For mildewed leather, brush on an antiseptic mouthwash.

9. Perspiration, deodorants, antiperspirants.

Use a pre-wash stain remover; if the stains are old, apply white vinegar undiluted.

Rinse, then launder using oxygen bleach in the hottest water that's safe for the fabric.

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About the Author

Tara Aronson is a native Californian. Having grown up in San Diego, she studied journalism and Spanish to pursue a career in newspaper writing. Tara, whose three children - Chris, Lyndsay, and Payne - are the light of her life, now lives and writes in Los Angeles. She also regularly appears on television news programs throughout the U.S.

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