by Angel Edwards

Created on: January 22, 2011   Last Updated: January 23, 2011

When doing everyday household chores, including cleaning, looking after sticky children and cooking (especially tomato based sauces) it is inevitable that your clothes will get stained. When your beautiful little girl reaches up and smudges chocolate mousse all over your brand new white blouse, it can seem like the end of the world (or at least the end of that blouse). But there are many effecient and undamaging ways to get stains out of your clothing, so that you don't have to throw them away or simply wear them when painting the house. Below are my top four tips for getting stains out of clothing.

Mud Stain
Let the mud dry! I know this does not sound logical for stain removal, however, if you try to get the mud off straight away, you risk spreading the problem area further and pushing the mud deeper into the fabric. Once the mud is dry, scrape or vacuum the mud off the fabric. There is likely to be some dust remaining, so soak the clothing in warm water and rub liquid detergent on the stained area. Then, simply put the garment into the washing machine with the rest of your laundry. There should be no stain left.

Tomato Ketchup stain
Treat this stain as quickly as possible.Take the garment and run cold water on the stained area. Then rub a liquid detergent (hand soap works just as well) into the fabric. This should work pretty quickly. But don't be afraid to be liberal with the amount of soap you use. If the fabric is white or colorfast, white vinegar can also work if the stain is tough. Check that the entire stain is gone before you finish and put it into the washing machine. If it does remain once it has been washed and dried, try these steps again. But unfortunately, once tomato stains have dried, they are extremely difficult to get out.

 Ink Stain
The removal of ink very much depends on the type of ink you are dealing with. For Water Based inks, simply blot the problem area to remove as much wet ink as possible then apply liquid laundry detergent to the stain and leave it for 5 minutes. Wash in quite warm water and repeat the process if the ink remains. For Permanent inks, the stain is significantly more difficult to remove. In white or colorfast fabrics place the stained area over a teacloth, apply rubbing alcohol to the stain and blot the stain on the fabric. The teacloth should take on the stain and so you will need to move the stained area of fabric to a clean area of the towel in order to avoid staining the fabric further. When the stain is gone, rinse all of the rubbing alcohol out of the fabric. If that does not work, try nail varnish remover.

Tea and Coffee Stains
Blot the fabric as soon as the beverage is split, then rinse in cold water. If it remains, rub liquid detergent on the stain. But fortunately (for me especially) tea and coffee stains are relatively easy to remove.

Other Stains
Try rinsing under cold water and rubbing liquid detergent technique, this tends to work extraordinarily well and the rubbing alcohol or white vinegar are for use in extreme cases on colorfast or white fabric.

Good luck, and I wish you a happy and stain free existence.

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