House Cleaning and Stain Removal Forum

[marget]

Sometimes, I end up with stains on cotton shirts that I assume come from liquid detergent that hits the clothes directly. Does anyone know how to remove this type of stain?

Thanks!

[mrscleannw]

Hello marget and welcome to our forum.

Prompt treatment will always give you the best chance to remove stains from your clothing. That being said we don’t always notice stains on clothing until they have already been washed and dried; especially those stains that mysteriously appear during the wash cycle.

Always follow washing machine manufacturers’ recommendations for laundering your clothes. They recommend you start the washer, and as it’s filling up with water add the laundry detergent (liquid or powder) and allow it to mix with the water BEFORE putting your clothes in the washer. I presume this is to ensure any dyes or additives used in the detergent will not inadvertently stain your clothing.

Here are some cleaning tips to try to remove the stain from your clothing. We recommend you always test first on an inconspicuous spot.

For white or colored clothing:
1. A safe bleach alternative.
Try using hydrogen peroxide. By mixing a solution of hydrogen peroxide (3% medicinal grade) and water (mix half and half). Soak the item in the hydrogen peroxide solution, letting it sit a few hours out of the sunlight (hydrogen peroxide will turn to water if left in the light).
Rinse the item of clothing thoroughly in warm, clean water, then wash it as you normally would. Make sure you follow the care instructions on the clothing label.

2. Acidic stain removal alternative.
For spot treatment, mix white vinegar and warm water (half and half) in a spray bottle and spray the stain liberally. For larger stains, make a bowl of the mixture and let the garment soak in the solution for a few minutes. Wash as usual making sure the stain is gone before putting in the dryer.

You can also try a pre-treatment product prior to washing. There are many good pre-treatment products on the market today.

This is something interesting I came across from another website and something I’ve done myself.

Remove the liquid softener dispenser (some of these are located on top of the agitator). It could possibly have an accumulation of lint, hair, and other debris in various parts of the dispenser.
You can use a toothbrush, q-tips, etc. to clean it out. If it is dirty it could be those little balls of gunk are absorbing the softener and throwing a residual of softener onto the clothes.

Mrs.Clean