Don’t throw away
Summer brings long days of fun, sun and laughter; it also brings stains caused by everything from ice lolly juice and sun cream to bicycle grease and grass.
These can seem like the kiss of death to many of our favourite pieces of clothing, but discard no more. There’s a way to get rid of many of the most common summer stains, for good, saving your clothes – and your money.
There are four main categories of stain: protein (milk or sweat, for example), tannin (including coffee and wine), dye (mustard, ink, etc), and oil (greasy food or lotions, for instance) – and at this time of year we tend to encounter all four.
To tackle them, you don’t need to stock up on expensive stain removers or add yet another single-use product to your cupboard. Instead, you can rely on things that are in most homes already and have multiple uses.
Distilled white vinegar. No more than 5% acid; the kind you eat. About 35p a bottle in the supermarket.
Washing-up liquid – this can be an eco-friendly variety if that’s what you use. The lighter in colour, the better. From less than £1.
Bicarbonate of soda. About 60p for a small tub.
As a general rule of thumb, if the fabric is dry clean only, avoid spot cleaning it yourself, especially if it is dyed. Bicarb can be a little too abrasive on silks and delicates, so go easy or skip that step. If you are ever in doubt, test an inconspicuous area first.
Tackle sun cream
If your sun cream contains certain ingredients, it can oxidise, resulting in yellow stains on straps and necklines that are often most obvious post-wash. This stain will sometimes only appear after washing and may even deepen over time as more sun cream comes into contact with it. This can leave the garment unwearable for many. But there is a solution.
Step one: add a cup of white vinegar to three litres of water in a basin or sink and allow the garment to soak, inside out, for 30 minutes. Add another cup of vinegar, ensuring it mixes well and leave for another 30 minutes.
Step two: after this hour you should see that the stain has lifted. The acidity of the vinegar is what will have worked this magic. The deeper the stain, the longer the soak you will need. Another hour should work its magic even deeper.
Step three: when you are satisfied that the stain has lifted or lightened considerably, it’s time to add some washing-up liquid. Apply it to the areas that were stained as these will most likely have some oil stains, too. Massage it into the fabric with your fingers to loosen and remove the oily stain, then rinse and wring gently.
Step four: wash as normal, then leave to dry in the sun, and your favourite top will be as good as new. The sun is a stunning natural whitener of whites – if you have anything else in the load that could do with some brightening, get them outside, too.
You can use this process to get rid of grass stains, too.
De-yellow armpits
We have all been there. Another perfect white T-shirt falling victim to mysteriously stained armpits, so it has to be banished to the back of the wardrobe.
This staining is totally normal – the sweat glands under our arms provide a more fat-rich sweat, which results in these yellow or brown stains. Combine that with the products we use on our body, and you have a stain that seems impossible to remove. Unless you know how. Here’s how you tackle protein and oil stains.
Step one: with underarm stains, we encounter a lot of product buildup from sweat-tackling products through to moisturisers, so it’s vital to break this down first. In a sink or basin of water, allow the garment to soak, inside out, for 15 minutes. Then massage washing-up liquid into the stain, gently working it into the stained area as you hand-wash. This will start to loosen anything on the fibres. You may notice the fabric starts to harden as the product breaks down; keep going until it feels free of buildup. Rinse.
Step two: add a ratio of 1:3 vinegar/water to the basin or sink and allow your clothes to bask in her acidic glory. This will work on the protein stain that is your sweat. Give this about an hour for it to chomp through, or more if you can still see remnants of the stain. Rinse the garment. Hold on to that vinegar mix – you will need it later.
Step three: mix three tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda with water until you get a glorious face mask consistency. Apply this to the stain in a thick layer. Alkaline-rich bicarb loves to suck stains out of fibres, so allow it to sit there for 30 minutes (an hour if the stain is really bad).
Step four: now it is time to drop the bicarb-laden pits into your vinegar/water mix from earlier. This stage is all about the intense bubbling reaction that vinegar and bicarb create when they meet. This will loosen anything your hands cannot reach by fizzing through the fibres. Rinse and wash as normal, and you will be back to dancing with your arms over your head.
Get rid of grease
Always a sign of a great time – whether you were hanging out at a barbecue, on a sunny cycle ride, or enjoying fish and chips at the beach. Even if you have already washed the garment, this will work.
Massage some washing-up liquid into the stain and then machine wash as normal. Really. It’s as simple as that.
Lose lolly marks
Drips from ice lollies can leave a dye or tannin stain, depending on what gave the treat its rich colour. The key move with either is speed. Straight away you need to dab out any excess using a damp white cloth or napkin. Never rub, just pat to transfer from one to the other.
Then it is vital to flush the stain with water as soon as possible. This can be done using a tap, or a bottle of water if you are on the go. Work from the back of the stain – never wash dye or tannin stains through a garment, wash them off it instead.
If you cannot take off the item of clothing, keep the stain wet until you can, or it may set into the fibres.
Last, you need a bio laundry detergent. This will be rich in enzymes that are great at tackling these kinds of stains. Apply a dab on to the stain about 10 minutes before the wash. This will act as a pre-treatment.
If your fabric is delicate, such as silk, or your skin is sensitive, bio will be too strong. Instead, you can soak the stain in 1:3 vinegar/water for half an hour before washing.
