HOT SUMMER STAINS

As Seen on 3TV Good Morning Arizona (7/7/16):

Grass

Grass stains on clothes can be removed with an old toothbrush and plain white toothpaste; just make sure you use a paste variety and not a gel or whitening paste. Squeeze a small amount of the toothpaste onto the stain, then dip the toothbrush in clean water and use it to scrub away the stain. Repeat this process as needed to treat all of the stain(s). Rinse the area and launder the clothing as usual. Now the kids can steal home plate without a second thought.

Red Mud

If the mud splatters are small, the first step is to remove any solid matter with a dull knife or edge of a spoon. Don’t rub because that only pushes the soil deeper into the fibers. As soon as possible, hold the stained areas under a faucet running cold water. Hold the fabric with the wrong side of the stain directly under the faucet to force the mud out of the fibers.

If there is a great deal of mud on the clothing – like a football uniform – take the item outside and use a hose to rinse off the mud. If you can’t head outside, fill a deep sink or plastic tub with cold water and rinse off the mud.

Work in a good lather of Fels Naptha Laundry Bar Soap. If the mud stain remains, work in some Twenty Mule Team Borax with the lather of Fels Naptha. Flush with cool water and launder as usual.

Ice Cream

Spot-treat the fabric with a mixture of dishwashing liquid and glycerin (available at drugstores). Machine wash, using the hottest water recommended for the fabric.

Oil Off Bike Chains and Cars, etc.

Do not treat with plain water will help set the stain. Place soiled garment facedown on clean paper towels and apply leaning fluid to the back. Carbona Stain Devils No. 5 (carbona.com) is a good choice. Let clothing air-dry, then rinse. Machine wash, using the hottest water recommended for the fabric.

Rust

Rust is a hard stain to get out, because it has tiny particles that get stuck in the fiber. On white fabrics, make a paste of lemon juice and salt. Cover the rust with it and then lay in the sun. For best results, treat with a commercial rust remover that’s safe for fabrics. For both methods, launder as usual. Don’t add chlorine bleach to the mix. It reacts with the rust, intensifying the discoloration.

Blood

Fast fix: If the stain is wet, soak the fabric in cold water, then rub with a bar of soap.

If the stain is still wet, soak in water and apply a small amount of ammonia with a Q-tip. If it’s a light-colored material, follow up by dabbing with hydrogen peroxide. It will create an oxygen-type bleach and remove the blood. Machine wash. With dried bloodstains, apply an enzyme prewash product or soak the clothing in warm water with an enzyme detergent before laundering. One to try, BIZ found in the laundry aisle. If the stain persists, wash with a detergent and a bleach that are safe for the fabric.

Calamine Lotion

If spilled, the shocking pink particles can really cling to clothes. Lubricate and lift out the particles by immediately applying glycerin and dishwashing liquid in equal parts, then launder as usual.

Collar Stains

You don’t need a special stain remover or laundry pretreater to banish a ring around the collar.

Whether it’s on work shirts or Sunday best, staining around the collar can be easily be removed with something you already have at home, shampoo. Just pour a little shampoo — any shampoo will do, even the inexpensive, generic kind — onto the collar, rub the collar together to work the shampoo in well, and rinse thoroughly. Then launder as usual.

I bring home the complimentary bottles of shampoo from hotels and keep them in the laundry room.

Tea Stains

If you have fabrics with tea stains, don’t despair. The stain will come out with a little sugar.

Mix up a solution of heavily sugared water by stirring the water as you add sugar to it. Keep adding sugar until it no longer dissolves (warm water makes it easier for sugar to dissolve). To remove tea stains from clothing or table linens, submerge the stained area for several minutes in a small container of the heavily sugared water, then launder as usual.