I think someone should invent ONE stain remover for ALL stains. Period. Just one little bottle of magic solution that removes blood stain, wine, coffee, oil, grass, or whatever.
Is that too much to ask?
I know. I know. The chemical make up of these pesky stains are all different, ergo, different stains require different removers. Yeah, I get that.
Well, I did some digging into the most common stains that we come across and tried the following methods of removing them.
And guess what the most effective and safest stain removers are? Read the following list and find out.
7 safe stain removers for your common household stains.
1. Chocolate - dishwashing detergent --> totally worked.
2. Sweat Stain - Hydrogen Peroxide --> I added baking soda and made a paste. That worked better than just Hydrogen Peroxide
3. Tomato Sauce - White Vinegar - totally worked but there was a ring where the vinegar was. I probably need to wash the whole garment afterward to prevent that.
4. Wine - Salt, then, boiling water --> did not work 100% although the stain was not as dark, you can still see it.
5. Coffee - lemon Juice - --> did not work as well either. I can still see the brownish spot although it's much less.
6. Grass Stains - nail polish remover -->Surprised about this result but totally worked.
7. Blood - if blood stain is fresh, run the stain under COLD water. If the stain is dried, add salt to cold water and let the stain soak for a couple of hours before washing it in cold water. If the stain is still there, put salt+baking soda paste on the stain for an hour and then wash in cold water and detergent. I've also used Oxy Clean type of whitener with detergent to get the stain out. But the key is washing it in cold water. Never warm water.
Oh, and pet stains? I love Clean + Green (Amazon Affiliate Link) Hands down.
Do you have a secret formula you use for removing stains?
Source for #1-6: Show Me How
Kanelstrand says
Hmm, so it looks like most of the natural methods do not exactly work. Anyway, I agree that the secret to at least partly cleaning a stain is to wash it in cold water! Thank you for the options, I will surely try them next time I am in emergency!
ecokaren says
In all fairness, the only natural methods that didn't work 100% were for wine and coffee stains. I used water based non-toxic nail polish remover that worked totally on grass stains. But all the other natural methods worked.
I usually wash coffee stains immediately with dishwashing detergent (I use plant based enzyme detergent) and it always come out.
soulrole says
great tips!Mahalo 🙂
ps:I figured out the plus one thing!easy!
ecokaren says
Yay! on Google +1!!
Tiffany Norton says
Why, yes. Yes I do. (-: http://www.etsy.com/listing/64180586/naturally-gentle-biodegradable-laundry
Tinted Green says
Hydrogen peroxide and salt has worked for anything spilled on my carpet, including a lot of red wine.
ecokaren says
Really? Then, I must have done something wrong with the wine stain because although it got better, it didn't remove the stain completely. I'll test it again and see what happens. Thanks!