Spot and Stain Removal
There are no secrets or shortcuts in stain removal. It’s all good timing, good sense, and using the right stuff.
A Short Course in Smart Spot Removal
1. Do it now.
Remember, a spot is on and stain is in. Any spill, splash, drop, or drip needs a while to work its way into the surface. If you catch it immediately, it can often be flushed away. If it sits on there even a minute or two, it starts to sink in and be absorbed. If it sits an hour or more, or dries on there, the chances of removal are greatly reduced.
2. Identify the stain.
Look, feel and sniff before you decide you don’t know what it is. If it’s still a mystery, try dry or solvent spotter (see Spot Removers) first, and if that doesn’t work, go to wet spotter.
3. Pay attention to what it’s on.
Different surfaces and fabrics need to be treated differently, and this has an important bearing on your destaining strategy.
4. Read the label.
The little care label that’s attached, if there is one. You ‘ll learn things you need to know before you start any stain removal process.
5. Get rid of the worst of it first.
Never wet when you can just whisk! Why make stain soup out of something if you can just brush or vacuum it away? Even if it’s a hardened spot, never apply any kind of chemical or liquid until you’ve scraped all the stain material you can away first. With liquid spills too, gently blot up all you can before commencing any kind of chemical attack.
6. Use white cloths.
Pros use white cloths in all stain-removal operations, for two important reasons: (a) You can see if and how much stain is coming out and check your progress; (b) You can tell if the item or surface you’re working on is colorfast or not. White will show any bleeding immediately, and you can adjust your method or quit before you ruin anything.
7. Don’t rub or scrub.
Never rub or scrub a stain or spot. Instead, you want to gently and carefully pull the stain out. Rubbing will spread the stain, and it can fray or abrade the surface, cause pilling. If a spot does seem to require some kind of manual action to help persuade it out, ‘tampering’ is what you want to do.
8. Work from the outside in to avoid spreading the stain.
9. Don’t expect miracles.
There’s no magic all-in-one stain remover, as TV ads or hint and tip peddlers might try to make you believe. Certain chemicals work on certain classes of stains, and most stains require a combination of chemicals and a several-stage attack for complete removal.
10. Pretest first.
All stain removal involves some degree of uncertainty, so be sure to do your experimenting where you’ll be able to live with any unexpected results. Find and inconspicuous spot somewhere under or in back of, and apply a little of the proposed spotter with a white cloth, to see if the chemical affects it (discolors, melts, etc.).
11. Don’t forget to rinse.
Remember that whatever you use to get a spot or stain out will leave some residue-solvent or detergent-behind. If you remove ballpoint ink, for example, with hairspray, the stuff that makes hair stiff is now where the ink was, and has to be removed.
12. To avoid reappearing spots in carpet,
rinse well when you finish a spot removal operation, then put a thick layer of clean towels over the spot, and weigh them down with a brick or some heavy books. Leave the towels there until the carpet is good and dry, and any traces of stain that may have been left will wick up into them.
13. If you’re left with any lingering odors.
Some animal food spills (especially on absorbent materials such as carpet and upholstery, or anywhere they’ve been left awhile) can smell forever. For this, you need a bacteria/enzyme digester that removes every bit of the organic material causing the odor.
14. Go easy on the bleach.
It has its place in stain removal, usually as a last resort. Bleach strips the color out of spots-it doesn’t necessarily remove the actual stain. It can also take out a lot more than you intended and weaken and deteriorate many materials. So bone up on the different types of bleaches and go easy with them.
15. Stay aware of safety.
In dealing with spots and stains, you’re often using genuinely dangerous materials. Keep your stain removal arsenal well up away from little ones and keep the labels on all bottles and containers. Read and follow the safety precautions.
16. Don’t hesitate to hand it over to a professional.
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