Stain removal tips that are brilliant ‘cos they work!

Don’t ask me where I got these stain removal tips from as I cannot remember but what I do know is they work as I have tried them all. I do live with Mr. Messy who spills things on his clothes fairly regularly. I also have two dogs, one of which thinks that anywhere we sit, sofas, beds etc. he can sit too. So there is a lot of stain removal going on in my household.

First off I must tell you about dry shampoo. This 50ml canister from Batiste (available from Superdrug) costs £1.50 and should be carried in every lady’s handbag for stain removal when out-and-about. As we all eat so much more oily food, salads with olive oil dressing etc there are often small spillages. If you wash the item you are basically sealing it into the fabric. I spilled melted butter on a pair of pale grey suede shoes and I quickly whipped out my spray, applied a coating to the potential stain and waited for it to dry. I then knocked off all the powder and it was like magic – NO STAIN! I have also used this method on olive oil on a little cotton top and again had a perfect result. I have not tried it on silk or on one of my husband’s ties which take a real battering but I will let you know when I do.

Summer brings out all the white tee-shirts and jeans and no matter how carefully you wash these they will lose their brilliant whiteness. I have in the past mentioned Napisan for a good soak and that is very good however recently I learnt about Borax. Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate or disodium tetraborate is a naturally occurring mineral that is used in many commercial cleaning products. Borax is used in everything from toothpaste and cosmetics to laundry boosters and dishwasher detergents. It is sold in powder form and has a consistency that’s similar to powdered laundry detergent. There are many household uses for borax. It can be used to create all sorts of natural cleaners, and when added to things like homemade laundry detergent or dishwasher detergent, it actually boosts the cleaning power of the other ingredients. I use it in my soak wash and I have had miraculous results on my son’s white tee-shirts that have not been washed properly at university so there was a lot of ground-in stains. It worked on 90% of the stains.

On the last 10% of the stains I used Fels-Naptha laundry bar & stain remover. Just wet the stain then rub with this bar of soap and wait one minute. Then wash the clothes normally and you will be amazed. I have used this on my cream outdoor cushion covers that have had so much use this summer – what was I thinking when I chose cream for outside? Anyway it worked and the covers look brand new so I am thrilled. Naptha is no longer included in this product as there was a problem with skin irritations, however it has kept its original name.

Please note do not let any of these products near children.