by Erin Kinter

Created on: August 29, 2007   Last Updated: September 07, 2010

Coffee stains don't need to be the first sign of an impending bad day, leave that to busted alarm clocks and cold showers. Stains created from coffee beans are easier to take care of than you probably thought and utilize products you can find easily in public and in private.

The fist rule of coffee stain removal is timing! As with all stains the amount of time it is allowed to "set", or thoroughly soak through the fabric clinging to all the fabric throughout is the true gauge of successful removal. If you are at home immediately remove the article and turn it inside out. In the kitchen grab a cereal box and some seltzer or tonic water (Sprite and 7Up will also work in a pinch). If you lack any clear carbonated drinks in the house hydrogen peroxide from the bathroom will work as well.

Slide the cereal box inside the stained article of clothing underneath the stain.Pour either your clear fizzy drink or the peroxide by the capful onto the stain and firmly blot the area. You may even want to use a soft bristle toothbrush to gently rub the stain. Repeat this several times until the entire area is completely soaked with solution. Allow it to sit for no more than a minute then run stain under cold tap for several minutes. This should have solved your problem when dealing with most fabrics, but if your stain is particularly stubborn or it took you an few extra minutes to find your peroxide there is still hope. Replace the cereal box inside the clothing and apply a generous amount of color safe detergents to the stained area, use a soft bristle toothbrush to rub the stain for several minutes. Allow the detergent to sit for about thirty minutes, then either rinse thoroughly in a cold water tap or run through a cold cycle of your wash.

When coffee stains strike at work it is impossible to take off our clothing and rinse it under a tap, but stain removal isn't out of reach. Simple grab some peroxide from your office's first aid kit as well as cotton balls if the kit contains them. If you can't locate cottonballs then a large fistful of toilet paper or paper towels will work just fine. Grab a bottle water if you have one and head to the bathroom. Take a large portion of your paper and apply it firmly to the top of the stain. Press the peroxide bottle against the inside of the clothing and tilt the bottle to dowse the stain thoroughly, you want to push the stain out the way it came not further through the fabric. Allow peroxide to sit for a minute then repeat the process with the bottled water to rinse. If you don't have a bottle of water to rinse with, use some of your paper towels to blot the inside of the stain thoroughly. When you're finished use your remaining paper to blot dry. This process may not fool the eye up close but it will save the article of clothing from permanent destruction. Washing through a cold cycle at home after allowing the stain to sit with a concentrated color safe detergent soak for about 1-2 hours should restore your clothing completely.

There is a plethora of new "stain sticks" and "stain pens" on the market and keeping one at work won't hurt. They shouldn't be used as a sole resource for coffee stain removal, but after finishing the peroxide technique it doesn't hurt to finish off with it once the water has dried. These stains don't have to haunt us the entire day, nor should they rack up our dry cleaning bills or force us to part with our favorite pieces of clothing. Now that you have the knowledge to defeat coffee stains, use it and don't be afraid to enjoy a cup!

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