How to remove stains?

If you are faced with the problem of stains on clothes, upholstery furniture, shoes and other things, first of all, you need to establish their origin and composition, because it depends on it, how to remove stains. The easiest way, at first glance - to use dry cleaning services, because there the masters know what and how to do, and you personally will not need any effort. But sometimes it's faster and more effective to get rid of troubles at home, because you will agree that an armchair or a sofa with a stained upholstery to deliver to a special service is quite difficult.

Important! A fresh stain is much easier to remove, so the problem must be solved immediately and immediately. Many fresh spots easily disappear after washing with soap or other detergents.

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What are the spots?

All stains can be conditionally divided into the following groups:

• Soluble in water. These are contaminations from: food products containing sugar, from joinery glue, from some water-soluble dyes, water-soluble salts, etc.
• Soluble in organic solvents( gasoline, alcohol, etc.).To such kind of pollution include stains from grease, oil paints, machine oil, cream, resin, varnish, wax, parquet mastic, gutalin, etc.
• Insoluble in water and organic solvents. These are pollution from liquid paints, tannins, oxide salts and metals, protein substances, from blood, urine, mold, pus, water-insoluble natural and artificial paints, etc.

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What you need to know about removing stains from clothes?

Special treatment is necessary for each type of stains, but some types of contamination, for example from coffee, wine, fruit juice and others, should be removed not only by means for water-soluble stains, but also products designed to remove stains of fat, as well as insoluble stains.

Before removing any contamination by the means, it is necessary to check its effect on the fabric and color of the material. To do this, test the product on an inconspicuous area, for example, the seam, under the girdle or inside the pocket.

Important! Do not use too concentrated solutions. It is more expedient to repeat the treatment with a weak solution, but several times, alternating with its washing.

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Determine the nature of the origin of the stain and the type of fabric

An important condition for effective removal of impurities is the determination of their origin. Also important is the material on which the stain was formed.

Important! If the type of tissue is unknown, then from the hidden place of clothing cut a small piece and examine it for the action of the stain remover.

To still be able to establish the nature of the origin of the pollution, we offer several ways how to recognize the spots by their appearance:

• Fat spots do not have a pronounced border. The contours of the contamination are usually blurred or appearing in the form of rays, distributed in all directions. Fresh grease is always darker than the material on which they are formed. The older the fat spot, the lighter it is, and the old contaminants, penetrating deeply into the material, even appear from the back side of it. To easily soluble grease spots are pollution from vegetable oils: sunflower, olive, cream, wax, pork fat, etc. To hardly soluble fatty contaminations are: stains from varnish, oil paint, resin, etc.
• Fat stains that do not contain fat( from fresh fruits, tea, wine, beer, fruit juice, etc.) have sharp outlines of borders. Contours of pollution are darker than the spots themselves. The color can be from yellowish to brown.
• Spots containing both fatty and non-fatty substances are the most common. This group includes pollution from soup, sauce, milk, blood, coffee with milk, street dust, etc. The edges of the spots, depending on the fat content, are less or more delineated. This type of pollution is usually retained on the surface of the material and only the fats entering them penetrate deeper.
• Oxidized stains. To this kind of pollution are spots from berries, fruits, mold, wine, cosmetics, coffee, tea, etc., which after the time is usually oxidized. Depending on age, the spots have different edges, and the color is yellow, red, and some are brown. This shade appears on old spots, as a result of the formation of oxygen and other new substances under the influence of light. Such pollution is the most difficult to remove.

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General tips for removing stains from clothes

To remove stains from the fabric is not an insoluble problem for you, first of all, take the following rules for yourself:

• Stain removal begins with cleaning the product from dust: the thing is knocked out and then processed- First cleaned with a dry and then a damp brush.
• The next step is to wash the product with water, first cold, then hot. If the stain is fresh, then use a warm soapy solution: moisten the cloth or toothbrush with a solution and wipe the stain, then rinse it with clean water, dry and iron.

Important! To avoid divorces and streaks, place a plank covered with a few layers of clean white cloth to the spot from the inside.

• Apply small patches with a pipette or a wooden stick. Large contaminants wipe from the edges to the middle. For the cleaning procedure, use a brush, a hard brush, cloth or cotton wool.
• The correct tactic is to remove the stain from the wrong side by placing a piece of blotting paper or paper napkins under the fabric.
• The effect of the divorce, which is formed when deducing around the contamination caused by chemical preparations, can be avoided if the cloth around the stains is moistened with water or sprinkled with talc, starch.
• The best means of removing contaminants of unknown origin are diluted in water with ammonia and salt.

Important! Using this or that solvent to remove stains from clothes, remember:

• Acids and alcohols destroy some paints.
• You can not use alkali and alkaline products for woolen goods and natural silk products.
• Acetone and acetic acid destroy fabrics from acetate silk.
• Chlorine lime is harmful to cotton and linen fabrics.
• Use alkalis and whitening agents to clean only white fabrics.
• Do not stain vinegar on nylon.

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Than to take out old spots?

If you can not keep track of the state of things in time, you will have to solve the problem in fact. In this case, you will definitely need our advice on how to remove old stains from clothes.

Grease stains:

• Old stains from oil paint are easier to remove if the soiling is soaked in turpentine and then treated with the appropriate preparation.
• To remove old fats, first use gasoline and then use soap.
• Fresh fat and oil contamination from light fabrics is removed with the help of powdered chalk( talc): leave the product for 2-4 hours, then shake. Repeat the procedure if necessary.
• You can remove grease stains by rubbing a gruel from potato flour, pre-dried on fire and mixed with gasoline. Leave the flour for 20-25 minutes, then carefully beat the clothes and brush with a brush.
• Remove greasy dirt on velvet with a warm crumb of white bread.
• Fatty stains, sprinkle with talc( or chalk), cover with blotting paper and iron with a non-hot iron.
• Wash the seared places on the outer garment collar with a cotton swab dipped in the following solution: mix 5 g of table salt with 25 g of 10% ammonia.
• Clean the seat from the seat on wool fabrics with dry fine sand. Moisten contamination with warm water and pour a small layer of sand, and then wipe with a stiff brush or cloth. After the treatment, steal the product.
• An old fat stain can be deduced as follows: in half a cup of pure alcohol, add a teaspoon of ammonia and a half-spoonful of gasoline. With the mixture prepared, soak the stain and allow to dry on the fabric.
• Spots from sprat, vegetable oil and canned oil are easily removed with kerosene. Wipe off contamination with a swab dipped in the product, and then wash the product in warm water with soap.
• Remove the stain from fish oil with water with an admixture of vinegar.
• Fatty "troubles" on products from dense synthetic materials sprinkle with potato starch, and then rub with a damp towel. When the starch is dry, brush it. Repeat the procedure if necessary.
• On velvet grease soiling, remove as follows: fill the linen bag with clean, dry, fine and warm sand. Tap the pouch on the dirt until it disappears. If this does not help, soak the contamination with gasoline and again treat it with a bag of sand.

Important! Fat stains can be removed with the following solvents: turpentine, gasoline and commercial liquid stain removers, which are a mixture of solvents of various types. However, with these agents, handle carefully, as they are flammable and easily volatilize.

Use solvents for cleaning in a well-ventilated area and away from open flames. Store the product in a container with a tight-fitting stopper.

Stains from milk, ice cream and eggs

Egg stains should be removed in a timely manner, as the proteins that make up the product eventually become insoluble compounds. They are extremely difficult to remove from the tissue, therefore:

• Remove fresh stains from eggs with water and add ammonia.
• Remove old contamination from eggs with glycerine or a mixture of glycerin with ammonia. Glycerin warm up to 35-40 C and brush it with dirt. Then leave the thing for 15-20 minutes, after the treatment - wash your clothes.
• Stains from milk and other products containing proteins must be washed off immediately with warm( not hot) water. If the contamination on the light fabric is too great, immediately immerse the product in warm water with soap and then rinse.
• If the fabric is colored, then use the mixture: 2 tbsp.l.glycerin at 2 tbsp.l.water. Add a few drops of ammonia to the solution. Moisten with a mixture of contamination and place the treated fabric between two layers of white cotton cloth, and then iron.
• Colored woolen products are processed with glycerine heated to 35 ° C.Apply the product to the contaminated area for 10 minutes, and then - rinse with soap and water, and rinse the product in warm and cold water.

Chocolate, coffee, tea

Footprints from the above products contain fat, dye, protein and tannins, so to remove stains of this origin, use the following recipes:

• Chocolate contamination is enough to wipe with a solution of ammonia. You can wash away stains from chocolate and strongly salted water.
• Remove the aged spots from the chocolate on white things with hydrogen peroxide. Soak the fabric for 10-15 minutes. After handling, rinse the product in cold water.
• Remove stains from coffee and strong tea with a brush dampened in warm water, after which the product should be thoroughly washed in a warm soapy solution using the following composition: half a teaspoon of soda ash or 1 tsp.ammonia on 1 liter of water. After the treatment, rinse the product twice in a warm, and a third time in cold water, slightly acidified with vinegar.
• Remove contamination from chocolate, coffee and tea on light fabrics with warmed-up glycerin( up to 35 ° C).Lubricate the soiled area with glycerin and after 15-20 minutes rinse the treated area with warm water.
• For silk fabrics, use the following mixture: 20 parts glycerin, 1 part 10% ammonia, 20 parts water. Treat the stain with this mixture, and then rinse with warm water.

Fruits

If the stains are fresh, they are easily removed with hot water with laundry soap. Remove stubborn stains using the following formulations:

• Mixture of glycerin and vodka in equal parts.
• Vinegar or lemon juice in equal proportions with vodka or denatured alcohol. Use the product in this way: hold the fabric over a container of boiling water, and then wipe with vinegar or lemon juice diluted in half with vodka or methylated spirit. After the treatment, wipe the area with a tampon moistened with a solution of ammonia with water.
• Remove fruit and vegetable contamination on jersey with a gruel of detergent powder or with the following mixture: petrol and pharmacy glycerin( without perfume additives) in equal proportions.
• Remove fruit stains with slightly heated denatured alcohol or vodka.

Red wine and berries

Pollution from red wine and berries can be removed using the means described for removing stains from fruit. In addition, the following compounds can also be used:

• On colored products, remove contaminations with a mixture of glycerin and raw egg yolk( 1: 1).Blend the stain with the mixture and leave it for several hours, and then rinse with warm water.
• Fresh stains from red wine and berries are removed with wet table salt, and after a while rinse the area with hot water.
• Berry and wine stains from white products can be removed with hydrogen peroxide( 1 teaspoon of a substance for 0.5 tbsp water).After cleaning, rinse the cloth with cold water.

Important! Remove fresh stains from wine, fruits and berries with simple hot water. Pull the fabric over any dishes and pour a small stream of boiling water from the teapot until the contamination is completely removed.

Blood

Fresh blood spots are easily removed if they are washed first with cold water and then with warm soapy water.

Important! Before the main wash, soak the product with soiling for several hours in cold water.

To remove old problems, use the following recipes:

• Wipe contaminations first with dilute ammonia( 1 tsp of water per glass of water), and then clean with a borax solution( 1 tsp / 1 cup of water).After treatment, rinse with warm water.
• Remove stains from fine silk products with starch. Cover the surface of the contamination with the product and allow it to dry, then shake off the starch and wash the product in the usual way.
• Remove old blood stains as follows: soak the product in a solution of table salt( 1 tablespoon per 1 liter of cold water), then wash the cloth in warm water with laundry soap or detergent.

Important! The salt solution also removes other protein contaminants, for example, handkerchiefs are washed much more easily in salted water with a low concentration. Salt should be used in small amounts, as otherwise the protein will curdle and remove it will be difficult enough.

Sweat

Sweat stains contain inorganic salts( sulfates, phosphates, table salt, etc.), organic acids, fat, urea, cholesterol and other substances. These impurities damage the fibers of natural silk and wool, as well as decompose the dyes of the fabric.

To remove such stains from clothing, use the following tips:

• Stains from perspiration are removed if you add liquid ammonia( 1 tsp to 1 liter of water) during washing.
• On woolen garments, remove contamination with a cloth soaked in a strong salt solution. In case the spots are noticeable, wipe them with alcohol.
• With a silk lining of this kind of contamination are removed by a mixture of ammonia and denatured alcohol, taken in equal amounts.
• Collar clean with gasoline soap, mixing it with the same amount of ammonia. Blend the mixture into highly contaminated areas, and then wash with warm water and rinse with warm water, acidified with vinegar.

Important! For all types of fabrics, the following mixture is suitable to remove stains from perspiration: salt, borax and ammonia on one teaspoon dissolve in a glass of water. Treate the area with a product, and then rinse with water.

Urine

Urine is also considered quite difficult to remove by contamination. In addition, it is necessary to withdraw not only the trace itself, but also to remove the specific odor. For this reason, in this case, suitable means:

• Traces of urine moisten with a strong solution of table salt, and then rinse the area with water.
• On white fabrics, remove stains with a solution of citric acid( 1 part of the preparation for 10 parts of water), on colored fabrics - with a solution of vinegar( 1 part of vinegar for 5 parts of water.).Moisten contamination with the solution, and rinse after one hour with water.

Ink

Ink is one of the most common troubles of those who work everyday in the office and deal with papers. Often such an incident with the presence of blots from the paste from the handle on the clothes are presented by the children. Therefore, one must literally know how to remove stains from ink. To cope with this task will help such methods:

• Fresh ink spots remove warm milk: put the product for several hours in warm milk( if the stain is large, change the milk several times).After treatment, wash clothes in warm soapy water with the addition of a small amount of borax or ammonia.
• Ink is contaminated with glycerin. Stained tissue should be kept in glycerin for at least an hour, then rinse the product in warm, slightly salted water. If the treatment results are left, then wash them in warm, soapy water.
• With white fabrics, remove stains with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia( 1 tsp of product per 1 item of warm water).Moisten the fleece in the solution, apply to the stained area, and then rinse the cloth with warm water.
• Old aged stains on colored products fill with a mixture of turpentine and ammonia( 1: 1).After removing the problem, wash the entire product and rinse.
• Clean the silk tissues as follows: apply a paste of mustard to the contamination and leave for a day. After 24 hours, scrape the gruel and rinse the product in cold water.
• Clean the ink stains with salt on leather objects. Cover the stain with a thick layer of wet salt and leave for 2 days. Then, shake off the salt and wipe the product with a sponge or cloth moistened with turpentine. In the end - polish the skin to shine.
• The ink stain from the velvet is removed by immersing the soiled area in warm milk for 30 minutes. Milk change until the contamination disappears. The final touch in the restoration of such a tissue, so that there are no remaining areas - washing in warm soapy water.

Important! With any tissue removed ink stain can be immediately, if poured on the contamination of salt and pour lemon juice. Once the stain disappears, rinse the cloth several times.

From the hot iron

If you were careless and left a scorch on the fabric with a hot iron, then use the following tips:

• On white cotton and linen fabrics, the singed places should be removed with hydrogen peroxide: one teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide, ⅓ tsp.ammonia on 1 tbsp.warm water. With a solution, wipe the cloth, and then rinse with water.
• On dyed cotton, silk and woolen fabrics, remove the scorched areas with denatured alcohol.
• If the stain is small, soak it with the onion juice and leave for a few hours, and then wash the product again. If the stain is large, put a gruel of grated onion on it. Leave the remedy for a while, then soak the thing in cold water and rinse well.
• Burn marks from the iron with water and sprinkle with brown. Dry the dried product and if the stains do not disappear, then soak them with hydrogen peroxide, and then iron.

All the cases of troubles that you can undergo can not be predicted. Therefore, classify your pollution by type and use our advice and recommendations, depending on the material of the garment. We hope that the information obtained from this article will be enough for you to remove any, even the most difficult and complicated contaminants. Have a rest with pleasure, but do not think about spots!