Seven types of stains and how to remove them

Seven types of stains and how to remove them

Vanessa Kim
Zurich, on 13.07.2018
Translation: Eva Francis
Oops, you did it again…an ugly stain on your fancy shirt! Don’t give up just yet – try these seven tricks on how to remove stains before you say goodbye to your favourite fashion items.

I must be like a magnet to dirt. As soon as I put on a white piece of clothing, there’s a red stain on it. And that although it wasn’t me but my friend who had spaghetti Bolognese for lunch. While I used to get really annoyed about this, it doesn’t bother me anymore today. Why? If need be, I can always bleach a white piece of clothing. Plus, I know exactly how to get rid of any type of stains. Here are my top seven ways of removing stains from clothing:

#1 Red wine

Dab the stain with kitchen paper before it dries and then sprinkle salt all over it. Rub the salt in and let it rest. Then, rinse it out and put your piece of clothing in the washing machine. Don't fancy cleaning up this salty mess? Alternatively, pour a bottle of carbonated water over the red wine stain and rinse it in running water. Repeat this as often as necessary. The carbonic acid should remove the colouring from the surface of the fibres.

#2 Make-up

If you get dressed after applying your make-up, the collar of your shirt might end up with brown stains. What to do? Apply shaving foam: Moisten and coat the stain with this white foam, let it rest for a while, rub the «mousse» into the stain and then rinse everything with cold water. After this, do the same again and rinse with warm water.

#3 Blood

In this case, don't use warm water, but hold the blood stain under running cold water. Unless it's already dried up. If this is the case, place the piece of clothing in a bath of water, sprinkle baking powder over the stain and let it work for about two to three hours. Alternatively, dissolve an aspirin pill in the water and let it work its magic. ## #4 Fruit Fruits are a great summer snack. It's a shame that fruit stains are particularly stubborn. Put your textiles in a bath filled with cold water as soon as possible and soak them before washing them. In the case of white clothes, the sun will bleach stains out of them. Attention: If you try this with dark clothing, the fabric will turn yellow. ## #5 Pen Students in particular know how annoying ballpoint pen stains are. What you need is a colourless nail polish remover without acetone. Grab a microfibre cloth, dip it into the detergent and carefully dab the stain with it. After this, wash your clothes in the washing machine according to the instructions on the label.

#6 Tomato sauce

Remove as much of the sauce as possible with a sharp object such as a knife. Then hold the stain under running cold water. Do not rub or the stain will work itself deeper into the fabric. Now wipe it with a damp cloth that you previously dipped in a little liquid detergent. After this, it's off into the machine with your dirty piece of clothing. ## #7 Oil Immediately apply liquid soap to the stain. Now carefully rub over it with a damp cloth and rinse under hot water. Repeat this process if necessary. Plan B: Grab baby powder, spread it all over the oil stain and let it soak in overnight. The product will suck the greasy liquid out of the fabric.

If everything else fails, resort to the ultimate trick:

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Vanessa Kim
Vanessa Kim
Editor, Zurich
When I’m not exploring the depths of the sea as an open water diver, I enjoy plunging into the world of fashion. On the streets of Paris, Milan and New York is where I keep my eyes peeled for the latest trends. And I’ll show you how to take them from the catwalk to your everyday life.

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