Stain removal sorted - natural tips

Here are natural tips on how to get rid of annoying stains

Baby oil/Grease/Oil - Dab excess oil with kitcen paper, then sprinkle tain with talc, cornflour or bicarbonate of soda. Leave for 30 mins then wipe off clean, dry flannel. Works for both washable and non washable fabrics too.

 

Candle wax -  Harden wax by covering with ice cubes. Crack surface and gently scrape off with a blunt knife. To remove greasy stain, place cloth between kitchen paper and press back of stain with warm iron. Move paper around to keep paper area free from grease and continue till wax is absorbed.

 

Coffee on upholstery - sponge off with soda water, making sure area is soaked. Blot and reapply soda till stain has lifted.

 

Curry - Scrape off as much excess as you can with a blunt knife. Saturate in warm water, then wring out. Rub glycerine into stain and and leave for 1-2 hours. Repeat until stain has gone.

 

Deodorant - For light stains, rub liquid detergent into the both sides of stain when fabric is dry, then wash in usual way.

 

Ink - For ballpoint pen ink, soak all of stain area in milk and leave for several hours. Wash and dry thoroughly afterwards. For permamnent ink, spot treat with methylated spirit, making sure you dab the back of the stain. Rinse thoroughly then air dry.

 

Felt tip - for permanent marker, add 4 tablespoons ammonia to 2 pints warm soapy water. Soak for an hour, then rinse.

 

Grass stains -  spot treat small stains with white vinegar or non-gel toothpaste. Rinse and reapeat till spot is removed. For stubborn stains, spot treat with methylated spirit. Launder as usual. Tip: Don't use detergent directly on stain as this will set it.

 

Hair dye on upholstery - very quickly blot up as much dye as you can with kitchen towels. Add a few drops of washing up liquid to a cup of warm water. Dab solution on to stain, then dab with clean absorbent white cloth (a clean white cloth is important to stop you dragging stain). Leave for 5 mins, rinse. Repeat if necessary. Tip: Act quickly as hair dye is impossible to remove once dired.

 

Heel marks on waxed wooden floors - rub in turpentine till mark comes out. But you'll need to rewax.

 

Lipstick - scrape off excess with spoon. Wet stain with sponge, then rub in washing-up liquid. Scrub back of the stain with a clean toonthbrush.

 

Milk - on upholstery squirt a tiny bit of shaving foam onto stain and brush gently into fibres with an old toothbrush. Blot off excess foam with clean dry cloth wipe with sponge, dampened with cold water.

 

Mud - For light staining, allow stain to dry, then shake off excess mud. Cut potato in half, rub over stain and launder.

 

Rust - On clothing, cover marks with lemon and leave to dry outside. On carpets and upholstery, mix equal parts of ammonia and boiling water, leave to cool. After a colour test, sponge the mixture onto rust and rinse off.

 

Scorch marks - for small marks on woollens or carpets, rub with edge of silver coin.

 

Tar - rub eucalyptus oil into back of mark and blot. If stain is still there rub in liquid detergent and rub fabric against itself in hot water.

 

Tarnish - rub tomato sauce into tarnished pans. Leave for 5 mins and rub off.

Toothpaste - Scrape off excess. Mix one tablespoon of white vinegar into 1 litre warm water. Add dash of washing up liquid. Soak for 30 mins. Rinse and air dry. (Do colour test first).

 

Wine, red - On fabric, immediately soak with soda water or white wine and blot with kitchen paper. Then cover stain with salt and leave for 5 mins, rinse in cold water, rubbing fabric against itself.

 

Yellowing - Freshen off colour whites by soaking fabric in a bowl containing 2 to 3 denture cleaning tablets. Leave soaking for several hours.

Top trick If you take wax or oil off a wooden kitchen worktop (say with an abrasive cleaner) get the colour back by rubbing cold tea into the patch. You might need to try this a few times.

 

 

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