How to effectively remove stains?
Contamination on various surfaces can occur for a variety of reasons. Stains of absolutely any origin can ruin a thing forever. Most of the problems are caused by old dirt. It is important for every housewife to know how to effectively wash a variety of stains without damaging the fabric.
Cleaning features
Features of the removal of a particular contamination depend on its origin, as well as the material on which the stain formed.
It is not possible to use the same product to clean all types of fabrics. Delicate materials are more sensitive to aggressive chemicals.
To effectively remove dirt without damaging the fabric, some recommendations will help:
- If possible, read the label before handling the item. Pay attention to the type of fabric, as well as the temperature of the water at which the product can be washed.
- Fresh stains are much easier to remove than stubborn stains. A freshly soiled item should be immediately soaked in warm water. Fresh traces of fruits and berries can often be removed with a regular powder.
- Stain remover is a fairly aggressive tool in the fight against stains.It is not recommended to use this composition on colored clothes.
At home, you can remove almost any pollution, if you know a number of rules. When choosing a product and method of cleaning the product, use the following tips:
- Do not expose rayon items to acids, solvents, and hydrogen peroxide without first testing a small area of the fabric for a reaction with these substances.
- Leatherette is sensitive to aggressive substances (solvents, technical alcohol, gasoline). It is advisable to wipe stains from artificial leather only with a soapy solution.
- Traces of fruit can be easily removed with a solution of vodka and glycerin in a one to one ratio.
- Old contaminants of unknown origin are removed with butter and gasoline. The stain is smeared with oil or margarine and after a while wiped with a rag soaked in gasoline. After this treatment, the clothes must be washed.
- Boiled milk will help remove traces of red wine from cotton fabric.
- Lipstick marks on woolen and silk items can be wiped off with rubbing alcohol.
- Clothes stained with hair dye mixture can be cleaned with sodium hydrosulfite solution. To prepare the solution, one teaspoon of sodium hydrosulfite must be mixed with a glass of water. The mixture must be heated to sixty degrees and treated with a contaminated surface.
- Traces of potassium permanganate will completely disappear if the contaminated area is soaked with whey and left for four hours for better absorption. After that, the thing must be washed.
What to use?
To remove stains, you can use both special household chemicals and folk cleaning methods.
When choosing the right stain removal method, consider the type of stained fabric and the type of stain itself.
Consider the most common tools that are used to remove contaminants on various materials:
- Vinegar essence. It is rarely used to remove stains in its pure form. Most often it is a component of specially prepared solutions for removing contaminants.
- Lemon juice or citric acid.
- Food salt.
- Laundry detergent can deal with simple and fresh stains. Also, the powder is needed during the final wash after treatment with special compounds.
- Laundry soap is a gentle stain remover. This soap cleans fresh stains from berries and fruits well. It can also be used for soaking things before further cleaning.
- Soap and stain removers in the form of powder or gel "Antipyatin". This tool is best used for processing things made from natural durable fabrics. For colored clothes, Antipyatin should be used with extreme caution.
- Hydrogen peroxide is suitable for removing stains from white fabrics.
- Ammonia can be used as an alternative to hydrogen peroxide. The disadvantage of ammonia is a characteristic pungent odor.
Baking soda is a universal remedy for most types of stains. Sodium bicarbonate is safe for health and can cope with both fresh and old pollution. Soda can be added when washing in its pure form, or special solutions can be made from the substance.
If you add three tablespoons of sodium bicarbonate when washing in a washing machine, you can get rid of yellow, gray and greasy stains on clothes.
Soda ash more effectively copes with various types of pollution. From sodium carbonate, you can make a gel for washing clothes with your own hands, which will not be inferior in quality to household chemicals. To prepare a cleaning agent, you will need laundry soap (0.2 kg), sodium carbonate (0.2 kg) and two and a half liters of water. The process of making the gel is as follows:
- Soap must be rubbed on a fine grater. Soap shavings must be mixed with water (one and a half liters) and put a container with a solution on a gas stove. It is not necessary to bring the mixture to a boil. When heated, the solution must be constantly stirred.
- After the soap shavings are completely dissolved, one liter of water must be added to the heated mixture.
- Continuing to heat the soap solution over low heat, you need to gradually pour in sodium carbonate, stirring the mixture thoroughly.
- After the mixture becomes homogeneous, the fire must be turned off. The solution is left to cool for a day, after which the composition can be poured into a plastic container with a wide neck.
How to wash at home?
It is not always possible to effectively remove stains using dry cleaning services. There are many effective ways to clean dirt at home. The final result will depend on the choice of stain removal method. Therefore, before washing, it is important to consider the type of fabric, the cause of the stains, as well as the degree of soiling.
fresh spots
Fresh stains are much easier to remove than old stains.In certain cases, it will be enough to soak the item in a soapy solution, and then wash it in a washing machine. However, certain contaminants require the use of special means.
Fresh dirt from the resin must first be processed mechanically. Using a knife or other sharp object, the resin must be removed from clothing, after which you can proceed to other methods of treating pollution. The stain can be treated with refined gasoline, alcohol or nail polish remover and left for twenty minutes.
A newly appeared beet stain can be removed with a mixture of medical alcohol (one glass) and citric acid (a teaspoon). Soak the item in the resulting solution for thirty minutes, then rinse in cool water. Well absorbs such pollution and simple table salt. Sprinkle the beet stain generously with salt and leave for fifteen minutes. If the stain does not disappear, then the procedure must be repeated.
If the beetroot mark remains on the sofa, then the surface must be immediately treated with soapy water. If it was not possible to remove the stain in this way, then it is better to resort to special cleaning products for upholstered furniture.
When cleaning the sofa from various kinds of dirt, it is worth remembering that the procedure is carried out in the direction of the pile, otherwise the stain may spread.
Spilled tea on clothes instantly stains the fabric. It is necessary to get rid of this kind of pollution as quickly as possible so that the drink does not have time to penetrate deeply into the tissue structure. The easiest way is to rub the contaminated area with laundry soap and rinse the problem area under cool water.However, this method can only help in the fight against a tea stain that has just appeared.
Clothes on which tea has been spilled can be soaked in a solution of vinegar and water (in a ratio of one to one). After twenty minutes, the item must be rinsed. The stain should completely disappear.
Grass stains are a fairly common stain on children's clothing. You can get rid of traces of plants on the fabric with wine vinegar, a solution of edible salt or ammonia. To obtain a salt mixture, you need to mix a tablespoon of table salt and one hundred milliliters of water. The mixture is treated with pollution, after which the thing is washed in a washing machine.
To prepare an ammonia solution, you need to take a tablespoon of ammonia and two glasses of water at room temperature. The contaminated surface is treated with the resulting composition, after which the stain is rubbed with laundry soap and left for one hour. The item processed in this way must be washed in the end in any convenient way.
Fruits and berries
Food stains are one of the most common types of stains on clothing or furniture. Parents of young children are especially faced with this problem. The sources of pollution are mainly fruits, sugary drinks, chocolate and berries. Even the seemingly colorless flesh of a banana can leave unpleasant marks on any fabric.
Banana stains should preferably be removed within a few hours of their appearance. Old pollution will be much more difficult to remove.
When choosing a cleaning method, consider the type of soiled fabric. Great care must be taken with delicate materials.
Banana stains on light-colored fabrics can be reduced with lemon.The contaminated surface must first be moistened with water at room temperature, and then treated with half a lemon, leaving for thirty minutes for better absorption. After that, the thing must be washed with ordinary powder.
Hydrogen peroxide helps to deal with banana stains no less effectively. However, this tool is not suitable for all types of fabrics. It is not recommended to use this cleaning method on delicate fabrics.
The contaminated area must be rubbed with a cotton pad dipped in hydrogen peroxide. After that, under the stain and on it you need to put one cotton pad in a three percent peroxide solution. After thirty minutes, the item can be washed in the usual way.
You can wash cherry juice from light-colored clothes made of natural fabric with boiling water. The thing must be stretched over the sink or bath. Pour boiling water through the cherry stain in a small stream, and fresh contamination will completely disappear.
To remove cherry and blueberry stains from light fabrics, use lemon juice (one tablespoon) and vinegar (one tablespoon). You can clean jeans from fresh berry and fruit stains with salt. Apply a thick layer of table salt to the contaminated area and leave for five minutes. After that, the thing must be washed in a washing machine.
Traces of apricot fruit or juice can permanently ruin a thing if such contamination is not removed promptly. First of all, it is necessary to clean the apricot pulp from the fabric by removing it with a knife. To prevent the stain from spreading, it is advisable to blot the contaminated area with a clean cloth.
Soak clothes with apricot stains only in cool water.Hot water will only contribute to the coloring of the fibers of the fabric with the coloring pigments that are contained in the fruits.
Fresh stains can be removed with a stain remover. However, this tool is not suitable for all fabrics.
Pomegranate juice is a natural dye and is extremely difficult to remove from clothes. You can try to remove stubborn stains from pomegranate only with special stain removers. Improvised means will also help to cope with fresh traces.
A piece of fabric contaminated with pomegranate can be treated with a soda solution. To do this, one teaspoon of soda must be diluted in a glass of warm water. Rub the stain with the resulting mixture and leave until the pomegranate trace disappears completely.
Mold
In addition to food stains, more nasty stains can appear on clothes. Under the influence of dampness, the thing may become moldy. However, the presence of such contamination on the fabric does not mean that the item should be thrown away immediately. There are many effective ways to deal with fungal formations on clothes.
There are both universal methods for removing mold, and special ones for a certain type of fabric. Consider some cleaning methods that are suitable for most things:
- It is necessary to prepare a solution of water (one liter), edible salt (two tablespoons) and ammonia (five drops). All components are thoroughly mixed, after which the resulting mixture must be boiled for half an hour. The solution is applied to the areas affected by the fungus for a quarter of an hour, after which the treated surface must be cleaned using a brush.
- Sodium thiosulfate (one tablespoon) must be mixed in one glass of water at room temperature.The resulting solution is applied to tissue areas affected by the fungus. After fifteen minutes, the spots should completely disappear.
- Mold stains can be treated with denatured alcohol.
- You can remove fungal formations on white fabric using "Whiteness".
Sweat and deodorant marks
Underarm stains in the form of white deodorant marks or yellow sweat stains are difficult to remove. Antiperspirants contain special components that leave stubborn white stains on the fabric. Sweat secretions can penetrate deeply into the fibers of the material, and deodorant only increases the degree of pollution.
Antiperspirant white marks turn yellow over time and become even more difficult to remove. For this reason, such spots should be dealt with immediately after they appear. Do not soak things in hot water - high temperature will only exacerbate such pollution. Apply cleaner to antiperspirant stains from the very edges, gradually moving into the center.
When removing yellow marks from white fabrics, do not use solutions that contain chlorine. Such products will not help get rid of the yellow tint, but will make it even brighter and more noticeable.
Fresh sweat and antiperspirant marks can be cleaned with laundry soap. The thing must be soaked in soapy water, or rub the contaminated area with the product and leave for thirty minutes. After treating the stains, the clothes should be rinsed and washed in the washing machine.
White things can be cleaned of such contaminants using hydrogen peroxide.The product should be applied to areas with yellowness and left for twenty-five minutes, after which the clothes are washed in the usual way. Instead of peroxide, you can use lemon juice.
A white stain on black clothes can be removed with vodka. This method is not suitable for delicate fabrics.. Stains must be treated with vodka, after which the clothes are washed in the usual way.
Clothing made from natural fabrics can be cleaned of dirt with vinegar. Contaminated areas are soaked in the solution. An hour after applying the vinegar, things can be washed in the washing machine.
Stubborn yellowness can be removed with aspirin tablets. Pulp is prepared from crushed tablets and water and rubbed with stains on clothes. The product is kept on the fabric for three hours, after which the item must be washed.
From the iron
If the iron is used improperly, unpleasant dirt can appear on clothes. On light things, yellow marks form, and on dark things, shiny spots. Most often, this kind of pollution is formed on synthetics, since the top layer of such a fabric can melt under the influence of high temperatures, leaving behind a shiny mark.
An iron stain on dark trousers can be removed by simply stroking the problem area through gauze or a thin cloth dipped in soapy water.. The solution must be sufficiently concentrated. Strong pressure on the iron during ironing is not worth it.
A small, shiny stain on black clothing will help remove the vinegar. In a solution of vinegar and warm water, the contaminated item is soaked for one hour, after which it is dried naturally. It is not necessary to wash clothes after soaking.
A universal remedy for iron marks, which is suitable for most types of fabric, is onions. The bulb must be cut into two parts and treated with the cut side of the contaminated surface until the shiny trace completely disappears. Then the item must be rinsed and dried.
You can clean a shiny stain from synthetics with boric acid. The problem area is treated with acid and left for fifteen minutes, after which the item must be washed and dried well.
chronic pollution
It is not always possible to completely remove stubborn stains. To remove old stains, you need to make much more effort than when removing fresh stains.
You can try to remove old traces of berries from products using laundry soap. The contaminated area must be generously rubbed with soap and left for thirty minutes. After that, the item must be rinsed in warm water. If the spots have faded significantly, then you can wash the clothes in a washing machine. Otherwise, the procedure for processing with laundry soap must be repeated.
The disadvantage of this method is that the process of cleaning old contaminants with laundry soap can take a long time. However, it is worth noting that this method is absolutely safe for processing delicate materials and jeans.
A more effective remedy for removing old stains is Antipyatin. However, like other types of stain removers, Antipyatin can ruin colored items.
Stubborn berry stains from white fabrics can be removed with hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide must be treated with a contaminated surface and left for thirty minutes.After that, the item is washed by hand or in a washing machine. It also effectively removes old chocolate stains on white clothes. It is enough to apply peroxide to the contaminated area for fifteen minutes, then rinse things in cool water.
Blood stains are one of the most difficult stains to remove. If you can try to quickly clean a fresh stain, then it is not always possible to remove stubborn blood from clothes.
Bloody traces should never be treated with hot water. The blood contains a protein that folds under the influence of high temperatures. After clotting, the protein cannot be removed from the fibers of the fabric: a yellowish blood trail remains forever on the clothes.
Clothes with old bloody marks should be soaked in saline. For two liters of cold water, you need to take two tablespoons of edible salt. The clothes are soaked in the resulting composition for ten hours, after which the thing must be washed in the usual way already in warm or hot water.
Kitchen towels are constantly exposed to various types of pollution. Traces of food eat into the fabric and are difficult to remove. When washing kitchen towels, you need to use a special method. Towels must first be soaked in a special solution. The solution can be prepared as follows:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over a fire.
- Three tablespoons of refined vegetable oil and powdered bleach are poured into boiling water. One glass of washing powder is mixed into the resulting solution.
- All components are thoroughly mixed in water. The saucepan is removed from the fire.
In the resulting composition, towels are soaked until the mixture cools.The ingrained dirt should completely move away, and after soaking, it will be enough just to rinse the products.
An easier way to remove stains from kitchen towels is to soak them for one hour in salt water. To prepare the solution, it is necessary to fill a small basin of cool water and dilute five tablespoons of salt in it. After the soaking procedure, the towel must be washed with washing powder to completely remove dirt.
Useful tips and tricks
With proper care, many types of soiling can be avoided. First of all, when even the smallest stain appears on the fabric, the contamination must be treated and remove as soon as possible. This will prevent dirt from penetrating deep into the fibers of the fabric.
Mold is one of the most unpleasant and dangerous types of pollution for health. Fungal formations can appear not only in rooms with a high level of humidity, but also on clothes. So that you do not have to deal with the problem of removing mold from clothes, it is better to take care of protecting your favorite things in advance:
- After washing, things must be dried well. Fungal growths can appear on wet clothes.
- It is not allowed to store things in places with a high level of humidity.
- At the first sign of mold on clothes, immediately soak the item in hot water. Consider the characteristics of the material, and do not expose the fabric to temperatures that can harm it.
Deodorant and sweat stains are just as difficult to remove. To prevent the appearance of yellow marks in the armpit area, the following recommendations should be considered:
- When buying an antiperspirant, pay attention to its composition. Among the components should not be aluminum salts.Such substances contribute to the appearance of yellow marks on clothes.
- Clothes should only be put on after the deodorant has completely dried on the skin.
- For clothes, there are special linings that will protect the underarm area from contamination.
For information on how to quickly remove stains from clothes, see the following video.