How to Spot Treat Stains

Working in a B&B, you get to see lots of stains. I do all the laundry including our own personal laundry. We buy bleach 5 cases at a time and laundry soap at 6-7 gallon bottles. There are three washers and dryers that can be kept running usually about 6 hours per day from about 9:30am on an average day some days until 7pm.
They're all sorts of stains from a variety of foods, beer, wine, tobacco, jelly and so on. Some stains on the sheets, pillow cases, towels, face clothes, cotton comforters, down comforters, and floor towels from the rooms are recognizable; blood, wine, liquor, makeup and some can be left to the imagination. Then there are the"mystery" stains. Occasionally, an older washer with begin to leave rust stains or spots. If that is the case then I will run the longest cycle with the hottest water and a couple of cups of bleach and that takes care it. I generally don't pre-treat stains, unless I know they won't come out in normal wash. It takes too much time.

When they come out of a normal wash and the stain is still there I will put I with a load that will be run on "whitest whites" setting on one of the high efficiency washers. Most of the time, the stain will be out after being washed on the "whitest white" setting. Stains that remain after that run will be treated with one of four or, eventually all of these items; Tide Laundry Stick, Cadie laundry Stick, Cosmetic Stain Remover, Ecolab Stain Blaster R (rust), and Ecolab Miracle Spotter (best).

Naturally, both sides of the stain are treated except for down comforters, which have are usually pretty good concerning stains. On the other hand, heavy cotton comforters are bears because, unless you can get to the stain quickly, the stain will set deep in the fibers. Along with treating both sides, I will use a small, short bristle brush and scrub, let it set awhile, then wash on the "whitest white" setting. 95% of the time, the stains come out. 3% of the time they fade pretty lightly and the rest just don't budge. Some stains have eventually washed out after an unknown number of washes.

On high-efficiency washers, the "whitest white" setting has been the most effective with ordinary stains. It only takes ½ to ¾ of a cup of bleach for a full load. In the old washer, I will use one full cup. For other stains, some knowledge of how it got there would be fantastic, but it is a dream here so you have to guess and begin with your best stain remover and work from there.