1. Use vinegar to kill mould and mildew. This is especially good for removing mildew marks from coloured clothes, as the other natural stain removal method for mildew (lemon juice) acts as a bleach and is best kept for whites. Use full strength vinegar.
2. Vinegar can be used in the dishwasher as a rinse aid, as it neutralises the strong alkaline powder used by most dishwashers. Don’t add essential oil.
3. To deter flies from the kitchen, boil vinegar on top of the stove with the lid off. Malt vinegar works best, but if members of your household can’t stand the smell of malt vinegar, it will deter them from your kitchen as well as the flies.
4. However, white vinegar with a bit of spice mixed into it and gently warmed will put a pleasant and rather refreshing scent into the air. Not sure what else to do with vinegar with spices in it once it’s cooled down? Use it for making chutney or pickles.
5. Vinegar contains the sort of acid that is used in very expensive cosmetic toners but costs a mere fraction of the price. Dilute vinegar with water and apply it to your face with cotton wool or a tissue (or a soft cloth that you will wash and re-use) after cleaning your face with soap-and-water or cream, or else add a splash of vinegar to fresh cold water and splash your face with it. Very refreshing and a great way to wake yourself up, as well as getting rid of any soapy residue, but don’t get it in your eyes.
6. If your washing machine is looking dull inside and the soap is building up a bit, run the machine through a rinse and spin cycle with a cup of vinegar inside it. This will clean out the filters and the hoses inside your machine. If you don’t like the idea of running the washing machine empty apart from water, put a few dingy white socks inside to soak and deodorise. Then leave them in the machine and run a full load once the vinegar wash has finished.
7. Old stickers and decals attached to walls, doors, bed headboards and car bumpers can be removed when faded or unwanted by holding a cloth soaked in neat vinegar over them until the sticker goes a bit soggy. Alternatively, spray the sticker thoroughly with vinegar. This will loosen the glue and allow you to peel off the sticker. Use a soft cloth or three to rub off the rest of the residue, then sponge the vinegar off.
8. If you need to clean stickiness off scissors (after cutting lots of sticky tape, for example), sponge the blades with vinegar and rub them well with a soft cloth. Dry very well to prevent the scissors from rusting.
9. Vinegar should be added to any hard candy or toffee recipe. Use ½ cup of vinegar to 2 cups of sugar and 2 tablespoons of butter. Boil the lot together for up to 10 minutes then pour it onto an oiled tray. When it is cool enough, you can pull and twist it (be careful not to try touching it too soon – sugar gives a nasty burn), or just let it cool before bashing it with a hammer.
10. Out of baking powder? Use baking soda and add a tablespoon of vinegar to your regular recipe.
11. To clean out a glass decanter, put about a cup of vinegar and half a cup of sand or rice inside it. Leave this mixture to sit inside the decanter, then shake very, very vigorously. Rinse well. Much safer for you than the traditional method of cleaning glass decanters used by old-fashioned butlers and maids – swirling lead shot and brandy around the inside (How To Poison Your Employer 101).
There’s always something that is left after you put clothes through the wash. How do you clean those mystery stains off without (a) ruining the clothes or (b) sending the article to be professionally cleaned by the dry cleaners. And how do you clean stains without using ferocious chemicals that make you cough and give you stinging eyes and cracking skin – a sure sign that the cleaning product in question is a potent source of household chemicals.
Most of these stain removal tips are best used for cleaning clothes. However, some of them are quite likely to work if you have to clean carpets or clean upholstery. Though why you would have to clean perspiration stains off curtains beats me. Someone staggered off a home gym machine all covered in sweat, tripped and fell into the curtain? Never mind.
With all these natural stain removal methods, it’s best to do a little patch test in an obscure corner in case it’s too ferocious for the garment or other item you’re trying to get the stain off. The same goes for any unfamiliar cleaning product, natural or not, or whenever you clean something for the first time.
Perspiration stains:
1 cup of vinegar
¼ cup salt
8 drops essential oil of choice (optional)
Combine the ingredients and let the salt dissolve. Soak the stain in the mixture, then scrub it gently with an old toothbrush before washing as normal. For cleaning curtains or upholstery, sponge the mixture off with fresh water, doing so several times until the stain has disappeared. Allow to dry as normal (but you can hurry things along on the curtain or the sofa with the help of a hair dryer).
Butter, cooking oil or margarine stains.
Your first resort here is soap and warm water, as soap breaks down grease and fats very well, especially with the help of warm water. Scrub the soap to a lather, but don’t be too vigorous on more delicate materials. Rinse as normal. If the wretched stain still lingers, try rubbing a paste of baking soda and water into the spot and allowing it to dry before washing as normal.
Cleaning wax spills:
Another greasy stain that turns up all over the place. If the wax is still liquid (it just spilt), freeze it hard quickly with ice cubes before it has time to work its way into the fabric or fibres of whatever you spilt it on. If it’s already hard, proceed to the next step, which is to pick it off with the help of your fingernails and/or a blunt knife blade. A little bit will still remain. You need the help of an iron set on low and a stash of paper towels or loo paper. Cover the site of the spill with a paper towel, preferably putting one paper towel on each side of the item, although you can’t do this when cleaning wax off carpets for obvious reasons. Melt the remaining wax by pressing the iron onto the site through the paper towel. Repeat with a fresh paper towel (or bit of paper towel) until no more wax comes out. A small mark may still remain. Treat this as you would any other grease stain (see above).
Don’t bother trying to clean wax off a wooden floor – just rub the wax in. It will do the wood a lot of good.
Lipstick:
Some people swear by glycerine as the best natural method for removing lipstick stains. Other people prefer strong alcohol, such as vodka, methylated spirits or rubbing alcohol. Whichever method you prefer, rub the stain remover over the site and rub in well before washing as normal. In the case of cleaning lipstick off carpets or curtains (probably courtesy of a small child), this will involve gently scrubbing the spot with warm soapy water until the stain has gone, then blotting and sponging with fresh water to rinse.
The best time to remove a stain is right now, so if you have searched for this article online, print it out (on recycled paper, preferably) and take it with you as you get back to the job. The longer a stain sits, the harder it will be to remove.
But what do you do? How do you get that stain out? And does stain removal have to involve harsh chemicals that do goodness-knows-what to your skin and make your eyes water when you use it?
First aid for all stains is plain cold water and lots of it. Water is the closest thing we have to a universal solvent, and it can start dissolving and breaking down the stain. Well, most stains, anyway. What’s more, it also saturates the thing being stained so less of the unwanted substance can get into the fibres of the fabric, allowing a good bit of the stain to float out and away.
Every household that has human beings living in it (and other species as well) would pay to have an emergency stain home cleaning kit. Like the first aid kit and the natural disaster emergency supplies that should also be part of all sensible households, everyone in the house ought to know how to use the stain removal kit.
The kit should contain:
A jug for pouring water onto the spot. If you have to clean a stain out of a carpet, don’t overdo the water, or you will start spreading the stain. Try to keep the stain contained.
Salt: If you spill something really staining (red wine being the most common culprit) onto the carpet, the sofa or the tablecloth, dumping a generous amount of salt onto the stain while it’s still wet prevents a lot of problems. Salt absorbs the moisture more easily than fabric does, so the wine will go into the salt rather than into your carpet. Vacuum or sweep up the salt once the moisture has evaporated.
Several towels: Once you have flooded a spot with water, you need to blot up as much fluid as you can, which will contain the stuff that stains. Blotting with a towel is also the first step when cleaning up puppy pee (or human pee, in the case of a child who is still getting the hand of being potty trained), and a towel is also the best thing for scooping up vomit.
Methylated spirits, isopropyl alcohol, vodka or some other strong spirit: Any one of these is great for removing grass stains, permanent marker and biro. Hairspray is also supposed to remove permanent marker, but this writer hasn’t tried it.
Sard Wonder Soap: If you can get hold of it (it’s made in Australia), this is great for general stain removal in the laundry. It even gets grass stains out of cricket whites.
A scrubbing brush: Often, a good hard scrub with soap (Wonder Soap or ordinary soap) is all you need to clean a stain out of a carpet. The dirt floats up in the foam and can be rinsed or blotted up.
Kerosene: Not exactly natural, but removes tar. Handle with rubber gloves and don’t breathe the stuff in if you can help it. Rinse everything well afterwards, including your hands.
Avocado: Act quickly. Rub the stain with soap and warm water to make a lather and leave to sit a while before washing as normal. If the stain persists after one wash, rub glycerine into the spot and wash again. Avocado stones are particularly staining, so don’t cut them in half.
Blood: Fresh cold water is the best method. If you have got blood on an item of clothing, soak it overnight in cold water. In the case of cleaning blood off carpets, sponge the area with lots of cold water before blotting dry.
Beetroot: Easier to wash out than you might think, given the brilliant colour. Ordinary soap and water will do the trick, in this writer’s experience. Fresh beetroot can be quite staining to the skin, so if you have been chopping or grating fresh beetroot, wash your hands very thoroughly afterwards, possibly using a scrubbing brush and/or an exfoliating soap (e.g. one with oatmeal) before going near paper or anything pale coloured.
Chewing gum: First, freeze the chewing gum hard by holding an ice cube over the spot (takes at least 10 minutes, so be patient). Then pick off as much as you can, using fingernails and/or a blunt knife. Garments can be put directly into the freezer and frozen solid. Any residue can be sponged with vinegar before washing as normal.
Coffee: Flood the stain or spill with lots of cold water before washing as normal. For cleaning carpets, blot up the excess water with a towel after flooding the site of the spill. This usually does the trick, but if any residue remains, rub a little soap onto the site and scrub the carpet gently, working the soap up to a foam. Blot with fresh water again to remove the foam. Allow to dry.
Egg Yolk: As this is a protein stain, treat it with cold water. Soaking overnight followed by normal washing tends to work for most items. However, a small greasy stain may remain. Treat this either by rubbing a paste of baking soda and salt into the spot and allowing to dry before washing as normal.
Grass: Remove grass stains by rubbing strong alcohol into the spot and allowing it to “sit” before washing as normal. Alternatively, rub Sard Wonder Soap (if you can get hold of it) onto the site and work it up to a lather. Allow it to sit for at least ten minutes before washing as normal. Really bad grass stains (usually found on sports clothes) may require soaking overnight in warm soapy water as well as regular treatment.
Ink: Ballpoint pen ink washes out in the regular wash, as anyone who tried to decorate a pair of jeans on the cheap by doodling on them found out. It may take several washes. If you’re in more of a hurry, apply a little strong alcohol such as rubbing alcohol or vodka.
Lipstick: Either rub the spot with glycerine or with alcohol and allow to sit for a bit before washing as normal.
Mildew: Items with really bad mildew should be thrown away. Mild mildew can be treated by rubbing the spot with lemon juice and putting the item into the sun. This kills the mould spores. Vinegar also works, but has less of a bleaching action, so may be suitable for coloured or black items.
Oil: Many oil, grease or fat stains can be treated by scrubbing the site of the stain with warm soapy water until it lathers. If the stain persists, treat it with a paste of baking soda and eucalyptus essential oil. Allow this paste to dry before washing as normal.
Permanent marker: Douse the site with strong alcohol as soon as possible, then soak or wash before the alcohol evaporates. Many people claim that hair spray will also work to remove permanent marker.
Poo: Scrape off as much as possible with loo paper. Using rubber gloves, rub a paste of baking soda and water into the site to remove the smell and any fatty residues, and allow this to dry before washing as normal. Dry in full sunshine to kill any remaining germs.
Red wine: Immediately scatter salt over the spill to absorb as much as possible. Leave for half an hour (or until dry) before sweeping up or vacuuming up the salt. Be generous with the salt. Alternatively, flood the spill with white wine or fresh water (or soda water) to dilute the red and blot up with a towel. Flood with more fresh water and continue blotting until the stain disappears.
Tar: It’s not exactly natural, but a little kerosene works wonders. Alternatively, try freezing the tar hard with an ice pack before scraping and picking it off. Glycerine or vegetable oil can also be used to soften the tar, followed by eucalyptus essential oil. Leave the essential oil to work in and try scraping again.
Urine: Sponge with vinegar before washing.
Vinegar: This is a stain remover in its own right, so it doesn’t actually stain! Balsamic vinegar may stain, but sponging the site with white vinegar will dilute it. Wash as normal.
For all these stain removal methods, clean whatever has got the stain with the substance recommended, then rinse by sponging with fresh water (preferably cold water) and blotting dry. Clothes can then be washed as normal, but if you are cleaning stains off carpets, you should make sure that the carpet dries thoroughly (don’t use too much water). The best way to dry a carpet after spot-cleaning is to lay a thick towel or bath mat down over the place and press it in firmly. If you live in a particularly damp house, follow this treatment by standing a heater (turned on) near the place (upright as normal so you don’t start a fire) or help things along with a hair dryer.
Blood: Cold water. Never use hot water or even warm water or you will set the stain.
Ballpoint pen: Methylated spirits or any other strong alcohol. Ballpoint pen will wash out of clothing in the normal wash, but it may take two trips through the machine until the ink is gone.
Chocolate: Rub the spot with glycerine and allow this to sink in before scrubbing the spot with soap before rinsing.
Curry: Methylated spirits, vodka, whisky or other strong alcohol. Avoid curry stains and spills on carpets (which are a real pest to remove) by restricting eating to one room only – the one with the table in. If you are indulging in a curry in front of the telly, put down a towel or plastic sheet first in case the worst happens.
Egg: Cold water
Grass: Methylated spirits, vodka or brandy, or else eucalyptus oil
Lipstick: Glycerine. Allow it to sit on the stain for 30 minutes before scrubbing with soap.
Ink: On clothing: soak in lemon juice and salt before rinsing and washing as normal. On carpets, sprinkle well with salt to absorb as much as possible then vacuum or sweep up. Fix any lingering stain with methylated spirits or some other strong alcohol.
Mildew: Soak in lemon juice. If possible, expose the mildewed item to sunlight to allow the dual bleaching/mould-killing action of UV rays and lemon juice to work to their fullest potential.
Milk: Sponge with cold water. In the case of carpets, sprinkle baking soda over the spot after rinsing and drying to absorb the horrible smell of sour milk.
Sweat: Make a solution of baking soda and water. Soak the stain with this solution. For older stains, soak the stain in white vinegar. Obviously, this treatment is unlikely to be used on carpets.
Wax: Use fingernails to scrape up as much as possible. Next, use an iron set on low plus paper towels or loo paper to melt out the wax. Finally, deal with any lingering greasemarks by soaking the spot in glycerine for half an hour before scrubbing with soap.
Wine: Immediately sprinkle salt on red wine spills to absorb as much as possible. Sweep up, then flood the stain with fresh water. Blot again. Continue until the stain has gone.
Vivid (permanent marker): Methylated spirits in large quantities. Hairspray is also supposed to remove permanent marker stains.
