5 Tips for Getting Out Tough Laundry Stains the First Time

Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you that I am the queen of spilling on my clothing every time I eat and staining practically everything I own. Along with being the queen stain maker in terms of eating, I am also in education and work with students, so my clothing has been through it all.

I have dealt with just about every tough stain possible and have tried multiple ways of removing stains without spending a lot of money, some have failed and some have been extremely successful.

There have been times when removing tough stains from my clothing was successful but the clothing did not fare as well, either the entire piece of clothing faded and/or the clothing became misshaped. Every laundry stain removal task has been a test, an adventure and a learning experience.

I will share my clothing stain removal successes but will give an upfront suggestion to make sure you pretest any stain removal process on a small area of your clothing before you jump into the procedure in full force.

Clothing Stain Removal Tip #1: Lipstick

I wear lipstick almost every day and almost every day I get lipstick on the collar of my shirts when I am putting on my shirt or taking off my shirt. I have found if I soak the lipstick stain with vegetable oil and allow it soak in for a small amount of time, then blot at the stain with a rag, the lipstick will start to fade. I then rinse out the area really well with water and then blot with rubbing alcohol. This process does an excellent job the first time but may have to be repeated multiple times.

Clothing Stain Removal Tip #2: Crayons

The kids at school love those crayons not only on their paper but also on me. I have had crayons on my clothing, especially the underside of my arms so many times that I have lost count of the crayon stains I have had. A fellow co-worker once told me about this crayon stain removal tip, and I have never forgotten it: use an ice cube on the crayon stained area and allow the area to harden up, once the wax is somewhat hardened, take a knife and carefully scrape off the crayon wax. The cold method has always worked really well for me, but I have also heard of the hot method, which entails heating the crayon wax with a blow dryer and then scraping off the excess wax.

Clothing Stain Removal Tip #3: Gum

Gum is a very tough stain, but I think cleans up fairly easily if you use the same cold method as used in the crayon removal stain. Gum does sometimes need a bit more time than crayons to freeze up, so you may want to place the entire piece of clothing in the freezer for a short amount of time so that it is ready for the stain removal process. Gum removal in the hair also reacts pretty well with a cold application, such as an ice cube.

Clothing Stain Removal Tip #4: Ink

An ink stain can be removed by spraying the affected area with hairspray and making sure the area is fairly saturated, then blotting at the ink stain with a rag. The process usually lightens up the ink the first time but most likely will need to be repeated multiple times depending on the size of the ink stain and how much the ink has penetrated the fabric.

Clothing Stain Removal Tip #5: Chocolate

Chocolate is one of my favorite foods so it is a common stain on my clothing, I have found that simple dishwashing soap does miracles on cleaning chocolate off my clothing especially the quicker I am at catching the stain. Using a damp rag, dishwashing soap and gently rubbing at the chocolate stain really helps to remove the tough stain quickly.

Removing stains from clothes does take a lot of patience but if you take your time and are willing to keep an open mind, you can remove those tough stains without having to spend a lot of money.