We’ve all had that sinking feeling when something splashes onto your favorite item of clothing – you can’t walk into a room with the same level of confidence once your outfit for the day is stained.
Fortunately it doesn’t mean the end of your garment. You can get rid of virtually any stain; all you need is the right approach.
Tip 1 – Assess The Stain
The first thing you need to do when dealing with a stain is figure out what it is. You may know if it has just happened or it is your clothing. But, you may not be aware of when it happened or, it might not be your clothing.
You’ll need to look at the stain to decide if it is food based or something else. This will help you to decide how to treat it.
Tip 2 – Brush
It’s a good idea to lightly brush your stain. This should remove any excess of the contaminant. Of course you need to do this gently to ensure you are not going to damage the fabric.
Scraping of the excess will also help you to deal with the actual stain and not waste detergent and effort on excess contaminants that can be easily removed.
It’s also important to note the material of the garment. For example, you can be much tougher with cotton or denim garments than you can with something made of wool or polyester.
Tip 3 – Soak
The next thing to do is to soak the item in a bowl or tub of water with some specially formulated stain solution or laundry detergent. The container will have instructions regarding whether to agitate the stain or not.
Tip 4 – Choose The Right Method
If the soak approach does not work, then you may need to try something different. Your approach will depend on what substance created the stain.
For example, adhesive tape can be removed easily by applying ice to the stain for a few minutes and then scraping it with a knife. This also works for chewing gum or rubber cement.
There’s a whole range of options you’ll need to familiarize yourself with depending on the type of stain.
Tip 5 – Repeat
It’s easy to become disappointed or downhearted when you’ve tried to remove a stain and it hasn’t worked. However, this doesn’t mean you should give up.
You may have got the stain type wrong or may have more success with a different type of product or approach. It’s important to try again but to always read the label of your item. This will tell you what approaches you should try.
