Ask Mrs. Clean: House Cleaning, Stain Removal and Organizing Tips

[mouseling]

ive got a shirt that is 90% cotton 10% pollester someone got something on my grandson iron and it has left a black streak on the shirt for the life of me i cant seem to think how to remove it i did try using my good iron and using a piece of wax paper and trying to remove it that way it seemed to work a little bit but not much any help will be great sue

[mrscleannw]

Hello Mouseling and welcome to Mrs. Clean's forum!
The first question I need to ask is if you have any idea what was on the bottom of the iron. Does it appear to be greasy or is it waxy? Does it appear to be burnt and that is why it is black? The more information I have on what the stain appears to be, the more helpful I can be to you.

If it appears to be oily:
You might have heard it before that Dawn dishwashing detergent liquid is great at cutting grease. Well it doesn’t just work wonders on your dishes. It can also be a great way to get tough grease off your hands and even grease stains from clothing.
You will always have better results if you use it on a fresh stain but people have claimed it works on even older stains in some fabrics.
1. Place the detergent directly on the stain.
2. Allow it to soak into stain for a few minutes
3. Wash the garment as you normally would.
4. Before drying, check to be sure the stain is completely removed. If stain is not totally gone, try another method below. Do not dry in dryer.

If this does not work try other options found here :http://www.mrscleanusa.com/en/cleaning-tips/stain-removal/grease-stain.html

If it appears to be waxy:
There is commercial product that works really well to remove waxy stains such as candle wax, Chapstick etc. It is called Un-Du Candle Wax Remover. Just a few drops of the candle wax remover will dissolve wax and the stain and you won't need to use an iron, scrape, or cut to remove wax. Just follow the manufacturers instructions on the product. I have actually tried this product because it was recommended by the makers of Chapstick, and it works really well. It has saved many clothing items from Chapstick stain! It has even removed stains that have already been though the washer and dryer!

Let me know if you have any further information or if these methods do not work. Whatever you do, don't put the shirt in the dryer before the stain is totally gone or your chances of saving the shirt decrease rapidly.

Best of luck and let us know how it turns out,
Mrs. Clean

[mrscleannw]

Hello again Mouseling,

I just wanted to add that you may want to recommend an iron cleaning product to your grandson. Products like Dritz Iron-off work well to clean and protect the iron's surface from accidents such as this. It costs only about $6.00 and is well worth it! You can buy it at stores such as Walmart and JoAnne Fabrics or any other fabric or craft store.

Mrs. Clean