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Summer Stains Tips

Summer Stains: How to Remove the 8 Most Common.

Smudges, drips, drops, and smears - no matter what their source, the key to keeping them from ruining your favorite clothes is to take quick action before it gets a chance to dry.

For most fabrics, this means blotting up the excess or rinsing the discolored area with cold water (don't rub; this spreads the spot and grinds it deeper into the fabric), and then pre-treating the spot.

Summer spills are especially tough. Here's how to remove them.

1. 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 prewash spot remover; rinse and launder as usual.

2. Chocolate.

Pretreat or prewash the garment in warm water with a laundry detergent that contains enzymes. Launder as usual.

3. Iced coffee.

Sponge with or soak in cold water.

Apply a pre-treating product on the blight.

Wash as usual and air dry; repeat if spot remains.

4. Cosmetics.

Pretreat the spot with a prewash spot remover or a liquid laundry detergent. Wash the garment in the water temperature recommended for the fabric.

5. Crayon.

Scrape off the surface 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 fabric can withstand.

6. Grass.

Presoak or prewash the garment in warm water in a bucket or your washing machine (using the presoak setting) with a detergent containing enzymes.

Launder as usual with chlorine bleach if it's safe for the fabric. If the cleaning instructions advise against it, use oxygen bleach instead.

7. Juice.

Soak in cold water, apply a pretreating product; launder as the label instructions recommend. Air dry; do not place in the dryer until the blight is gone.

8. Perspiration.

Deodorants, antiperspirants. Use a prewash laundry product; if the discoloration is old, apply white vinegar. Rinse, then launder using oxygen bleach in the hottest water that's safe to use with 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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