Move and go away! Ways to get rid of stains the gentle way

© Utopia

A post by Anne Henneken, editor for Utopia, a German platform for “strategic consumption”. She´s also a columnist for jetzt.de which is a part of the “Sueddeutsche Zeitung” network.

D: Nice shirt!
U: Thanks. Can you hand me over the juice, please?
D: Here you go.
U: Thanks… ahh, sh**. Who makes up these stupid openings? That will never come out again…

In all of us, there´s a latent juice-on-the-pants-tilter, red-wine-spiller and coffee-fiddler. Creating stains is something everybody can do easily, fast and in almost every situation. People like Jackson Pollock even make art from it - but usually the spiller causes only anger and sometimes even insurance cases.

What are stains? Cleaning pros divide stains based on the elements which cause them. For example fat (Nutella, butter, shoe creme), proteins (blood, milk, garlic gravy) or pigments (juice). The hardest to remove stain are those which are made from a combination of these elements. A cacao-stain, therefore is a stain for semi-pros as it contains protein alongside dark color pigments and fat.

You can find a whole arsenal of stain removers in any given drug store. However, from an eco perspective, these aren´t very “clean”, as they often contain aggressive chemicals for bleaching and dissolving. These not only attack the fabrics but also pollute the environment. At the same time, there´s a fabric- and eco-friendly instrument to remove almost every stain out there. And it doesn´t hurt to know some of them:

The seven stain-fighting basics:

1. Act quickly and immediately. That´s the most important aspect when removing stains and helps not to waste excess water, energy and washing powder. The fresher the stain, the easier it is to remove.
2. Start on the outside and work your way to the centre. Thereby the stain doesn´t expand.
3. Dab, don´t rub.
4. Take off surplus material. Liquids can be dabbed off with a kitchen roll, not so liquidy stuff can be removed using e.g. the blunt side of a knife.
5. Offer spongey materials. Ideally put a white cloth beneath the stain which can absorb the stain’s substance.
6. Hide traces. You can avoid leaving borders behind by putting a kind of “liquid ring” around the stain.
7. Be careful with hot or boiling water. Especially protein-based stains will become permanent instead of getting removed.

Our favourite tee is especially attractive for the following stuff:

• chocolate ice cream– immediately apply sparkling mineral water and put the piece in the washing machine
• beer – work it out with a mix of denatured alcohol and water or a mix of hot water and vinegar (1:8). Wash it out with cold water afterwards.
• grass – treat the stain with denatured alcohol or enzyme containing soap. Let it sit for a few hours and then wash it. Soak old stains with citron juice.
• ink – mix denatured alcohol and vinegar (1:1) (add citrus juice for white clothes). Wash out the rest with ox-gall soap.
• salad dressing – dab with kitchen roll and put talcum powder on it.
• coffee – dab with washing up liquid or glycerin, let it soak for about 30 minutes and wash it out with cold water.
• ketchup – wash out with cold water, soak with washing up liquid (minimum of 30 minutes) and put it into the washing machine.
• blood – immediately soak in cold water, add a handful of salt, and wash out out thoroughly after 15 to 20 minutes
• puke – pull off all “lumps” with a kitchen roll, rub the piece with the stain under cold water, apply an eco-stain remover and put it into the washing machine.

For almost every stain it´s useful to have an eco stain remover as well. e.g. from Ecover.

Btw: in case your favourite cap got a little too dirty, here´s a small but effective special trick for washing it: Put it in the dish washer. For best results, put it on a colander and in the upper shelf. Let it dry on the colendar as well :-).