by Melissa Miles McCarter

Created on: March 02, 2010

10 rules for stain removal

The worse thing in the world if you have pets or small children is having to constantly remove stains on your favorite furniture or clothes.  These ten rules for stain removal can make your life a little easier:

Act Fast.  This means getting to the stain before it has a chance to set.

Figure out what caused the stain.  This is easy when you actually see what caused the stain and often occurs because you are acting fast.   Different causes of stains needed to be treated differently.

Know the material or what type of surface has been stained.  If it is cotton, linen, leather or some other type of material, you will treat the stain differently.  So the more information you have the better you are.

Remove the stain-causing stuff before using any product.  You don’t want to push the stain causing agent into the material, especially if it has dried or crusted over.  If you need to, use warm water to gently remove this stain causing “stuff” in order to have a smooth surface to work with. 

If the stain is caused by liquid, blot the liquid off with a dishrag before you try to remove the stain.  Sometimes if you act quickly to remove liquid, you can avoid the stain setting in the first place.

Test your stain removal product on a sample or corner of the fabric, especially if you haven’t even used the product before.  Even if you have, it might interact differently with the particular material you are trying to clean.

Read the directions—on the material if there is any, and on the stain removal product.  It might say what sort of material it will clean and sometimes the material will say if it is protected or unprotected by Scotchguard or some other type of chemical.

Don’t rub the stain, dab or blot it gently.  This will help prevent rings and keep the stain from bleeding into the fabric or material.  Sometimes this means coming back to the stain after you let the product sit on the stain and then blotting it carefully.

Repeat the process a few times before you turn to another cleaning product.  Some cleaning products will interact with each other and cause the stain to set even more.  

Be patient.  You might have to work on a stain, especially if it has been sitting there for a long time.   

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