If you have a child under the age of 18, you are likely doing laundry. And most likely they are not that picky and have thrown some ugly stains on the family clothes for you to miraculously remove and bring them back to like new condition. Somehow I have a 10 year old son who loves hot red sauce and all kinds of hot peppers. This has threatened to ruin many pajamas, school uniform shirts and pants, fancy t-shirts, Sunday dress shirts and … well, you get the picture. I found that Tabasco, or hot sauce, is one of the hardest stains to remove. I try to avoid having to deal with this by having my son change into dark colored clothing before spreading hot sauce on anything. But if that fails, here are some tips that work for me.
How to remove Tabasco stains.
Soak in oxygen bleach like OxyClean. Test color fastness first, but oxygen bleach is generally color safe. You can make a 1-2 oz bath. of bleach in 1 liter of water. Soak the garment, rub gently, and let it continue to soak for as long as possible, preferably overnight. If the stain persists, you may need to repeat or create a concentrated paste to treat the stain. Just mix the oxygen bleaching powder with enough water to make a paste. Apply generously to the moistened stain. Let it sit for a few hours or overnight. Pour in the wash with the same load of color. Repeat if necessary.
Apply detergent, stain remover and vinegar. If you are lucky enough to catch the stain while it is fresh, rinse it off with cold water. Then pour in the concentrated liquid detergent and let it sit as long as possible. Hand wash the detergent, then sponge it with white vinegar if any stains remain. Let stand a few minutes. Rinse and repeat the use of detergent and vinegar if any stains remain. If most of the stain is gone, but there is still a light shade, spray a clothing stain remover such as Shout or Resolve. Then throw in the wash. If you are unsuccessful at first, try again. It will eventually come out.
Another difficult stain to remove is grease or oil. And oh, those weird, mysterious stains I finally discovered came from the fabric softener sheets in the dryer.
How to remove grease or oil stains.
Baby powder and an iron. If you notice the stain after washing and drying the garment, try this method. Stretch the garment out on the ironing board to work with a smooth surface. Put the iron on medium dry heat (no steam). Sprinkle talcum or baby powder lightly on the stain and rub gently. Place a napkin or thick tissue on the powder and iron a few times. Let cool, then brush off the powder. The heat helps loosen the stain and the dust absorbs it.
Treat it with a degreaser. I like Dawn dishwashing detergent – it works great and won’t damage fabric. While on vacation this summer, my son received oil that had washed ashore from the Gulf Oil Spill in his mostly white swimming trunks. Despite the pretreatment, it would not wash off. I splashed in some Dawn, rubbed the stain, and washed it by hand in the sink. Every part of the stain turned out fine!
Spray on WD40, then use Dawn. I know it sounds crazy at first, but it really works on tough oil-based stains. The WD40 reconstitutes the oil or fat and allows it to be released and liquefied. It can then be broken down with Dawn Liquid Detergent. Just scrub, lather, rinse, and then rewash with normal wash.
Don’t let stains frustrate you or cause you to discard perfectly good items that can be stored and restored in good condition. A little patience and the right stain remover will get the job done and save your clothes, your money, and your sanity.
