A nightmare and your worst ennemi : stain , part 1

Stain , the worst ennemi of all.A stain in the front of a clothing can scrap it and make you cry.Today many product are available on the market and everyone has some old grandma recipes.If at the bottom of a petticoat some people consider it gave age and a more authentic look , sometimes your worst nightmare become a reality.

 

After the test Tea for dye , I thought testing common stains will be interesting.I made a selection  of common fabric I had in my stash , all of them being leftover.I didn't have all the fabric I wish  to test but I try to make a good selection , using mostly pale color to be able to show a before and after.On a picture it's more difficult to see it on dark color.

 

Step 1:The fabric.

Green wool flannel

yellow two tones pure linen

yellow satin

gold chinese brocade

white linen blend

white with a black print cotton

blue pale polyester

peacock polysilk

grey suede

black satin probably made of a blend

black velvet

blue knit fabric unknow kind of

 

Step 2: Washing the fabric.

  

Before making stain , I wash each sample of fabric.Sound silly , so why doing it?Because staying in a basket for months , it collect a lot of dust and sometimes it could have been on floor or elsewhere.I thought it might change the result.See the color of the water.A lot of dust for sure.

Step 3 : choosing and  making stains.

There is hundred of stains I could possibly test but I make a short selection of common one.To really call it  a stain , it have stay at least 72 hours ( 3days)before I try anything.Fresh stain are more easy to treat so I thought it would be a real test if I wait.

red wine
oil - a blend of canola and olive
makeup
tooth paste
small berries - blueberry , rasberry and cherry
blood - not mine but from a juicy steak
deodorant and anti-perspirant

A picture of stain left for a few days.On the plate you have at left the red wine , at right oil and at the bottom fabric in waiting .

 

An example of a result . At left you have the before and at right fabric after the differents tests.Except for the print cotton , the color are both the same.


The results
I have try many things , some more '' special '' then other so don't be suprise if you want to laugh .Remember to treat stain with warm water , never hot .If after washing in the machine it's not enough , do not put in the dryer and try something else.You shall not '' cook'' the stain if you want to have a chance to remove it.

Red wine
The more natural the fibre is , the deeper the stain is.I have try isopropyl alcool 70% and salt (separately).It work a little but really not enough.Next come pure vodka , vodka and salt ,salt and coke.No result for them.What did work is warm water and lemon , soak for 30 min and next wash with concentrate soap.

Oil
Easily remove at 99% the first time with concentrate soap for clothing.Repeat 2 or 3 times and everything is gone.

Makeup - a blend of things for the skin , eyes and lips
Makeup remover work well and remove 95% and next you just need to  clean with soap  .If the makeup is more oily , use concentrate soap to clean the 5%.

Tooth paste
How many time before going to work or just before an event  I have to change my cloth because I have a few drops of tooth paste on me.It's easily remove with warm water and leave no trace , in case it does add a little bit of soap .

Blood
Soak in warm water already remove un bit of it.It's  simple to do :rinse with warm water , soak in water and wash with concentrate soap.

Deodorant and anti-perspirant
First remove the excess of  deo or anti-pers on the fabric (this might happend more often in summer).Wash with warm water and concentrate soap.I remember my mom being mad because she say huge spot of anti-perspirant in t-shirt during the summer.Finally it seem it's not a really big deal.

Small berries
It's the only one which required more patience to treat and is a little tricky.I try 2 methods.

1- Pure concentrate soap apply directly on the stain and wait for 15min before washing remove 75% , after 4 other treatment it gave this result:
cotton : 95 %
chinese brocade:85 %
pure linen: 80%

2- Warm water with the juice of a lemon , soak during 1 hour and wash with a little concentrate soap it gave a result of cotton 100% remove which is the case for most fabric.Some may required 2 or 3 other treatments but it work well.After 4 times , I wasn't able to remove a little-tiny stain on the brocade.

Conclusion
The result of the test is there is no miracle , warm water and a good amount of concentrate soap for clothing is what work the best.Many grandma recipe were not working at all .I also ask my honey to get a scientific point of view about it .I realize a few things I thought may work shall not even try because it would be a lost of time.

This test isn't complete without the other side of the medal.The second part will be on commercial product stain remover.If you ever read the label on the bottle , you know you shall not use some product on some type of fabric.I will do the same stain and we will see how it work.