Dirt, perspiration, ring around the collar, and arm pit stains have a lot of protein in them but they are easily removed...... usually.
1. Check the fabric content of the garment. Cottons, polyesters and nylons and any blends of these can be washed and these stains should come out with just about any detergent and soft, hot water works best. Cool water should work if the detergent will dissolve in cool water. To make sure the soap/detergent dissolves put some in a clear glass of cool water and observe the soap. If it dissolves great, if not, get something that will or switch to hotter water. The main reason for detergent is to break the surface tension between soil and water. Water is a great solvent it will dissolve just about anything it can come in contact with. Now just about any protein can be removed with ammonia but it stinks. So it is not too popular, (Be careful not to allow chlorine and ammonia to come in contact with each other. Chlorine gas among other things can be released and it is deadly....seriously deadly.) But you can add it (the ammonia) to your detergent if it doesn't have chlorine in it. Phosphates are no longer available to lower the pH and soften the water but you can really boost the cleaning power of the detergent by using soft water. It is the single most best thing you can do to remove stains. I can also say that washing the clothing before too much time has passed (not letting it sit in a pile for a week) will do wonders for soil removal.
2. Wash the article of clothing using your favorite detergent/soap.
3. OK, so if it didn't come out in the wash, get out the ammonia, peroxide and the spotting brush. Use the ammonia first and tamp the stain (absorbent towel under the stain) then peroxide, heat it up, rewash. If the stain is oily, put a one or two drops of Dawn or other dish soap and tamp it
4. On men's collar stains (mostly body oils) you can and may need to scrub the fabric with the brush with ammonia and dish soap. Yellow under arm stains are difficult to say the least because of the deodorant and/or antiperspirant, but if you use these same things they can be removed.
Good Luck and let me know if this doesn't work for you.
The Fabric Doctor
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
What are protein stains and how to get them out
Protein stains are body fluid type stains like blood, milk, baby formula and most food and egg even mud have protein components. If you can catch these stains before they dry they can be removed with water. Hot water will cook them and make them harder to remove but it doesn't have to be cold water.
If this is a dry clean only fabric it still may be best to rinse the stain but you may have to take it to the dry cleaner to help with removal and sizing damage. Silk and wool are proteins and don't do well with this method of stain removal.
After they dry and age or you didn't see it before you washed it, they can be removed by Ammonia (see post about mustard)! Put some on the stain and let it sit for say 10 minutes or longer but don't let it dry out. You can also agitate it but rubbing can raise the fabric fibers and make it look different. Then wash it again. If the stain is heavy, you should use a brush on the fabric and tamp it. (Tamping is a technical term meaning to beat it with a brush. If you do the back and forth thing then you mess up the fabric. The brush should have short bristles and they should be quite stiff and it helps if it is heavy, like made of wood. I don't know where to get the ideal brush if you are not a dry cleaner, but this is a tool you should have in your stain removal kit.)
Put a towel under the stain so you don't drive it into the other side of the garment or the counter. Occasionally, blood and other Protein stains will leave a light brown stain after washing and this can be removed with a few drops of Hydrogen Peroxide! (no need to wash again)
There are lots of enzyme stain removers out there and their purpose is to remove Protein stains. Enzymes are really good at it, that's what they do but ammonia works well and it's cheep and safe. Try it out and let me know.
If this is a dry clean only fabric it still may be best to rinse the stain but you may have to take it to the dry cleaner to help with removal and sizing damage. Silk and wool are proteins and don't do well with this method of stain removal.
After they dry and age or you didn't see it before you washed it, they can be removed by Ammonia (see post about mustard)! Put some on the stain and let it sit for say 10 minutes or longer but don't let it dry out. You can also agitate it but rubbing can raise the fabric fibers and make it look different. Then wash it again. If the stain is heavy, you should use a brush on the fabric and tamp it. (Tamping is a technical term meaning to beat it with a brush. If you do the back and forth thing then you mess up the fabric. The brush should have short bristles and they should be quite stiff and it helps if it is heavy, like made of wood. I don't know where to get the ideal brush if you are not a dry cleaner, but this is a tool you should have in your stain removal kit.)
Put a towel under the stain so you don't drive it into the other side of the garment or the counter. Occasionally, blood and other Protein stains will leave a light brown stain after washing and this can be removed with a few drops of Hydrogen Peroxide! (no need to wash again)
There are lots of enzyme stain removers out there and their purpose is to remove Protein stains. Enzymes are really good at it, that's what they do but ammonia works well and it's cheep and safe. Try it out and let me know.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Mustard on your shorts how to get it out
OK, the fabric doctor is up.
My son, Peter, was fixing lunch for his two boys this afternoon and he got some mustard on his cotton khaki shorts. this is one of the hardest stains to remove from any fabric but it can be done on cotton. Don't attempt this fix on silk or wool or any blends with these fibers in them.
I am assumming that you have tried to remove the stain by washing or sending it to the dyrcleaner before you got to this point but don't be discouraged, the stain won't "set". Most people don't know that mustard is hard to remove unless you've done it before.
The first thing to do is put an old towel under the stain to stop the ammonia and peroxid from spreading all over the table or counter. Use some really cheap ammonia one without any additives like smell enhancers, just plain old ammonia. Cover the stain with ammonia (use an eye dropper or a straw with your finger over the end rather than pouring it straight from the bottle because you might pour out a lot and it stinks) and then add a couple of drops of peroxide (Ordinary 3% in the brown bottle from the pharmacy) to the stain, then heat it up. This is the hard part. you can sit it in the sun for a few hours or use the steam from a steam iron holding it over the stain (don't put the iron on the stain just use the steam) and you will see it disappear.
This is a trick from an old dry cleaner, me. My kids are always asking me to teach them how to do some of the things I learned to do as a dry cleaner and having spent some fifty years in that business I hope i can divulge some of these secrets.
My son, Peter, was fixing lunch for his two boys this afternoon and he got some mustard on his cotton khaki shorts. this is one of the hardest stains to remove from any fabric but it can be done on cotton. Don't attempt this fix on silk or wool or any blends with these fibers in them.
I am assumming that you have tried to remove the stain by washing or sending it to the dyrcleaner before you got to this point but don't be discouraged, the stain won't "set". Most people don't know that mustard is hard to remove unless you've done it before.
The first thing to do is put an old towel under the stain to stop the ammonia and peroxid from spreading all over the table or counter. Use some really cheap ammonia one without any additives like smell enhancers, just plain old ammonia. Cover the stain with ammonia (use an eye dropper or a straw with your finger over the end rather than pouring it straight from the bottle because you might pour out a lot and it stinks) and then add a couple of drops of peroxide (Ordinary 3% in the brown bottle from the pharmacy) to the stain, then heat it up. This is the hard part. you can sit it in the sun for a few hours or use the steam from a steam iron holding it over the stain (don't put the iron on the stain just use the steam) and you will see it disappear.
This is a trick from an old dry cleaner, me. My kids are always asking me to teach them how to do some of the things I learned to do as a dry cleaner and having spent some fifty years in that business I hope i can divulge some of these secrets.
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