Tips and ideas for removing set in stains from clothing. Post your ideas below.
I use a week long OxyClean soak. I routinely soak my dishtowels and dish cloths for a week in OxyClean plus some of my band members really stained t-shirts, a bedspread that had been used outdoors etc. - all with set in stains. The gold cotton bedspread did lighten up a bit but it was even and a huge stain that had been washed and dried for years came out! I use a half cup of powder to 5 gallon bucket of hot/warm water.
I've gotten the best results from OxyClean powder. I make a paste, rub it into the stain, let it set for a while, then wash it.
I buy and sell vintage linens. Lots of stains, some 50+ years old! Oxyclean works well but I really like Biz powder (there is a liquid but I like powder better).
Trick is to fill a bucket with hot water, dissolve a good sized scoop of Biz, stir, and add the item. Leave for as long as it takes to get the stain to leave. Two days, seven days, whatever. It never hurts the fabric. If water turns a very nasty tea color,it is working, pour water off, fill with hot water and keep soaking. If you have to pour off a few times, add a bit more Biz (I don't like the liquid Biz as much as it is blue colored so harder to see if the Biz is pulling out the stains).
If stains are especially bad, add some Tide with bleach alternative to the water too. That doubles the punch of the Biz.
This removes 50 year old coffee stains off of tablecloths and napkins and removes all the grime and dirt of being stored that long.
Make sure to rinse the Biz/tide off very very well or you end of with some of the smudge going back on fabric as long lines or drips.
Another tip that works for really really hard to remove stains like tea, only if fabric is white of course, is soak stain in lemon juice and put out in the sun. That usually will do it to remove the stain. Of course rinse it well after the stain has bleached out.
Red Jello stain: I made a paste out of OxyClean powder and Baking Soda to remove a red jello stain that had dried on a beige tee-shirt. I brushed the paste in with a toothbrush and let it sit for a while (I had already tried Shout and vinegar which didn't work).
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My daughter has a white cotton comforter that has some odd set-in stains. I am not even sure what they are, maybe chocolate milk or something she ate in bed (7 year olds do this). The comforter has been washed and dried several times, so the stains are set in stone. I can't use bleach because there is some lovely light gold embroidery on the end of it.
I've tried letting the liquid detergent sit on it for an hour or so (just on the spots) and that hasn't worked. I washed it with Oxiclean on hot water - no change. I've read ammonia may help, but I don't have ammonia nor do I want to use it. Any other ideas? I need it clean ASAP for guests!By Delancey
Dissolve 6 or 7 denture tablets in a bucket of warm water. Then soak the stained object in it for a whole day and then rinse out. We had white curtains that had gone yellow from smoking tenants in our property. They came up like new
Best of luck
Grant
I have a white t-shirt I've tried to soak it in Sarb Wonder and the stain still won't come out. Any ideas?
Cleaning a White T Shirt
Step 1
Fill up a 5 gallon pail with hot water
Step 2
Add 2T each dishwasher powdered detergent and hydrogen peroxide
Step 3
Soak overnight
Step 4
Wash as usual in the morning.
First - it appears you are not in the USA so I am not sure if everything (products) will be available to you but you may be able to find a similar product.
Step 1
If t-shirt has been dried in a hot dryer then it may have permanent stains that almost nothing will remove.
Step 2
Saturate set-in stains with vinegar. Then, rub the spot with a paste made from equal parts vinegar and baking soda. You can add a couple tablespoons each of vinegar and laundry detergent to a bucket of water and soak the garment overnight if the stain persists. Then, rinse and wash.
Step 3
Mix 1/4 cup liquid dish detergent - 1/4 cup glycerin (sold in drug stores/Walmart type stores) (pharmacy) - 1 1/2 cups water. Mix and put in spray type bottle and spray on all spots. Let soak for an hour or so and then laundry as usual but do not dry in dryer until checked for remaining spots.
Step 4
All fabric powdered Clorox bleach will sometimes work (not chlorine liquid bleach). 3/4 fill a bucket with very hot water (for cotton) and add 1/4 cup powdered bleach - mix well - add shirt and leave for several hours - check and leave up to one whole day - wash as usual (add this bucket of solution to first wash)
Here is a link you can check out as there are other stain remover suggestions.
home.howstuffworks.com/
Try soaking the shirt in javex.
Sometimes I have found that the best way to remove stains from cotton, especially the color white, is to simply lay it out in the sunshine for a good while. You didn't really mention exactly what it was that stained your shirt, but it wouldn't hurt to try.
Got tacomeat and red sauce on a purple shirt now I have a purplish red stain cashed it a couple of times it my favorite shirt
How does laying fabric in the sun help to get a stain out ????
How do you avoid ruining the rest of the garment when it has pattern you do not want to become discolored in the process of getting rid of the tough stains?
Sunshine is a natural bleach
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I used the following method to get out some set-in stains. (Red jello and spaghetti sauce mashed in and dried in the dryer, other unidentifiable stains noticed after clothes were dried.)
