Tips on getting Tough Stains out of Your Laundry
It seemed easy enough to compose an article about stain removal tips. No problems, spend a little time doing online research on laundry stain removal, compile my findings in an article, and publish it. The issue was that there was no accepted method that would work. Some of the tips made me wonder if I had clicked on salad dressing making by mistake: "use white vinegar" or "sprinkle on salt to absorb the liquid". Which one was correct? What really works?
I moved away from surfing the web to experimentation.
This is the bottom line: If a stained garment is non-washable and/or too expensive to throw away, head to your nearest dry cleaner and have them take off the stain ASAP. They are able to treat stains with chemicals that aren't normally found in the home.
This is what removed the stains in washable fabrics. I subjected a multi-colored cotton cloth with four inches of makeup -- foundation, mascara, and lipstick. I tried starting with rubbing alcohol and then used a brand name solvent cleaner that stated it works on lipstick, but I didn't really get results. After that, I experimented with my normal laundry pre-wash stain remover with surfactants and enzymes, containing zero phosphates. Next, my regular liquid laundry detergent, which does not have phosphates, was poured over the stains. Finally, using a paste of my laundry detergent plus Borax, I lightly scrubbed the garment and was successful in removing all the stains.
Next, I put ketchup and mustard on some clothes that were older and made from cotton and nylon. I applied generous quantities of condiments on each garment and left it to soak in for thirty minutes. When I was done rinsing, I went through the procedure of stain removal again. The results proved less impressive this time around, though the ketchup left only the faintest of traces, the mustard was still very obviously there. So, I used a cold-water rinse on the items and then hand washed them using a mixture of liquid laundry detergent and chlorine bleach. While the ketchup stain came out, there were still traces of mustard on the nylon article. Even then, I had the feeling of success.
The simple truth is this: your best bet to remove stains completely is to combine Borax/chlorine bleach with laundry detergent formulas that contain the tough-stain-remover components of surfactants and enzymes. One thing to remember is that chlorine bleach should be mixed only with regular laundry detergent and nothing else. Lethal toxic fumes can result from an inappropriate mixture.
As the owner of a coin operated laundry facility, Joann Charamuga knows how important it is to keep the machines running smoothly. Joann uses and trusts Web Laundry, a commercial laundry business, to do an exceptional job at maintaining her commercial laundry equipment. For more visit http://www.weblaundry.com/ and http://www.weblaundry.com/managed-laundry-services.html
