The Thanksgiving Tablecloth Stain Guide

Every Thanksgiving tablecloth starts the day looking like a magazine cover. By the time the pie comes out, it looks like a crime scene.

A gravy river by Uncle Ed's plate. A cranberry splat where the kids sat. A red wine puddle from the cousin who talks with his hands. And a drip of candle wax right in the middle, because you just had to light the pretty tapers.

Don't panic, and definitely don't toss it in the dryer. Almost every Thanksgiving stain comes out if you treat it the right way, and most of them come out even if you wait until the guests go home.

Here's exactly how to get gravy, cranberry, red wine and candle wax out of your tablecloth and napkins, plus the leftovers: pie, butter and coffee.

The One Rule: Keep It Out of the Dryer

Heat sets stains. Once a stain goes through a hot dryer, it can become permanent. So after you wash your tablecloth, check every stain before it goes in the dryer. Still see a shadow? Treat it again and rewash. Or hang it to dry and check it in daylight.

Thanksgiving Stains at a Glance

Build a Thanksgiving Stain Kit

Put these in a basket before the doorbell rings, and stash it somewhere handy:

• Clean white cloths or paper towels for blotting
• A dull knife or spoon for scraping
• Cornstarch or baking soda
• Clear dish soap
• 3% hydrogen peroxide
• Oxygen bleach powder
• A laundry stain remover spray
• A plastic bag of ice cubes in the freezer, for wax

Before you start on any stain, test the cleaner on a hidden spot, like a hem or the corner that hangs under the table. And always blot. Never rub. Rubbing pushes the stain deeper and spreads it.

How to Get Gravy Out of a Tablecloth

Gravy is a double threat: grease plus meat juices and flour. Go after the grease first.

1. Scrape off as much gravy as you can with a dull knife or spoon.
2. Sprinkle the spot generously with cornstarch or baking soda. Let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes to soak up the grease, then brush it off.
3. Work a few drops of clear dish soap into the stain with your fingers. Dish soap is made to cut grease, and it's gentle on fabric.
4. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then rinse.
5. Wash in the warmest water the care label allows.

Older gravy stain from last year's dinner? See how to remove grease stains.

How to Get Cranberry Sauce Out of a Tablecloth

Cranberries are basically fabric dye with a side of sugar. Move fast, and keep it cold.

1. Scrape off the sauce. Don't smear it.
2. Hold the stain face down under cold running water, so the water pushes the stain back out the way it came in.
3. Rub in a little liquid laundry detergent and let it sit for 15 minutes.
4. Soak the tablecloth in cool water and oxygen bleach, following the package directions, for at least a few hours or overnight.
5. Wash in cold or warm water as the label allows, and check the stain before drying.

Skip hot water and bar soap. Both can set a fruit stain for good.

How to Get Red Wine Out of a Tablecloth

Red wine is the stain everyone panics about. You can stop panicking.

1. Blot, don't rub. Press a clean cloth on the spill to soak up as much wine as you can.
2. Flush it with cold water from the back of the fabric.
3. For white and colorfast fabric: Mix one part dish soap with two parts 3% hydrogen peroxide. Dab it on the stain, let it sit for 30 minutes, then rinse. Test a hidden spot first, because peroxide can lighten colors.
4. For colored fabric: Soak it in cool water and oxygen bleach for a few hours or overnight.
5. Wash, and check the stain before drying.

The boiling water trick for white cotton and linen: Stretch the stained part over a bowl, secure it with a rubber band, and carefully pour boiling water through the stain from about a foot above. Use it on white cotton or linen only. Never use it on colored fabric, synthetics or anything delicate.

About the white wine trick: Pouring white wine on red wine only dilutes it. Cold water does the same job, and you get to keep the white wine.

How to Get Candle Wax Off a Tablecloth

Good news: wax is the easiest Thanksgiving stain of all. It just takes a little patience.

1. Freeze it. Hold a bag of ice on the wax for a few minutes until it's rock hard.
2. Scrape it. Lift off as much wax as you can with a dull knife or the edge of an old credit card. It'll pop right off.
3. Iron out the rest. Put a brown paper bag or a few paper towels on top of the wax and another under the fabric. Press with a warm iron (no steam). The wax melts into the paper. Keep moving to a clean section of paper until no more wax comes up.
4. Treat the color. Colored candles can leave a dye shadow. Dab it with rubbing alcohol on a white cloth (test first), or use a stain remover, then wash.

Wax drip on the rug, too? Here's how to remove wax from carpet.

The Rest of the Thanksgiving Mess

• Butter: Treat it like gravy. Cornstarch to absorb the grease, then dish soap, then wash.
• Pumpkin and sweet potato pie: Scrape, rinse with cold water, and work in dish soap. Any orange shadow left behind often fades if you hang the clean, damp cloth in the sun.
  
• Whipped cream: Rinse with cold water, then pretreat with laundry detergent. Hot water cooks the dairy into the fibers.
  
• Coffee: Rinse with cold water as soon as you can, pretreat with liquid detergent and wash. A cream-and-sugar coffee stain needs the dish soap treatment, too.
  
• Mystery stains: Can't tell what it is? Here's how to remove unknown stains.
  

The After-Dinner Plan

You don't have to leave the table to treat every drip. Here's how to handle it all after the guests go home:

1. Shake the crumbs outside, then scrape off anything solid.
2. Pretreat the visible stains using the methods above.
3. Soak the whole batch overnight. Fill a tub or the washer with cool water and oxygen bleach, and drop in the tablecloth and all the napkins. Most of the stains will be gone by morning.
4. Wash on the hottest setting the care label allows.
5. Check before drying, every single time.

Special Care for Heirloom and Vintage Linens

Grandma's hand-embroidered tablecloth deserves extra care. Skip chlorine bleach, which weakens old fibers and can yellow them. Use the gentlest method first, and test everything on a hidden spot. For lace, very old linens or anything you'd be heartbroken to ruin, take it to a dry cleaner who specializes in heirloom textiles, and point out each stain.

Store Your Tablecloth So It's Ready for Next Year

• Make sure it's completely clean before you put it away. Stains you can't see now, like sugar and grease, turn yellow or brown in storage.
• Skip the starch for storage. It attracts bugs.
• Roll it around a cardboard tube, or fold it loosely, to avoid permanent creases.
• Store it in a cotton bag or pillowcase, not plastic, so it can breathe.

Thanksgiving Stains: Quick Answers

How do you get red wine out of a tablecloth?

Blot it, flush it with cold water from the back, then treat it with a mix of dish soap and hydrogen peroxide (on white or colorfast fabric) or soak it in oxygen bleach. Check that it's gone before drying.

How do you remove candle wax from a tablecloth?

Freeze the wax with ice, scrape it off, then press the rest into a paper bag with a warm iron. Treat any leftover color with rubbing alcohol or stain remover and wash.

Can old stains come out of a tablecloth?

Often, yes. Soak the tablecloth overnight in oxygen bleach and cool water, then wash. Stains that went through a hot dryer are harder to remove, but an oxygen bleach soak is still worth a try.

How do you get gravy out of a tablecloth?

Scrape it, cover it with cornstarch to soak up the grease, then work in dish soap and wash in the warmest water the label allows.

Keep Going

Clean up after the big day the easy way with these related guides:

• Laundry Stain Removal Guide: How to remove 16 common stains.
• How to Remove Grease Stains: 5 ways that work.
• Homemade Laundry Stain Removers: DIY recipes that actually work.
• Remove Wax From Carpet: Get candle drips out of rugs.
• How to Remove Carpet Stains: For the spills that miss the table.
• After-Holiday Cleaning: An easy green cleanup guide.
• The Pre-Thanksgiving Fridge Purge: Make room for the turkey.
• Clean Your Oven Now, Not Thanksgiving Eve: A no-drama guide.