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Stain removal guide - Page 3

post #31 of 47
3/22/11 at 3:30pm
VMan,

I've only registered on this site so that I can pass my thanks to you for the tip.

I had some old work shirts and a couple of t's that had serious deep rooted deodorant stains.

I didn't hold out much hope but followed your instructions and cannot believe how well they have come out.

Thank you so much for posting this!
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post #32 of 47
3/22/11 at 4:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cimabue View Post
I think what the vinegar does is release old soap/detergent residue trapped in the fabric, which causes gray dinginess. Not a bad thing for all your washables, including colors. A vinegary soak is also good for your washing machine itself, for removing the buildup in there.
The vinegar is 5% acetic acid,and the soap(s) are alkaline,that's why the vinegar dissolves and removes soap residue.You can fill a Downey ball with vinegar instead of fabric softener and it will be softer completely stripped of soap than with a chemical softener.Just be sure to used white distilled vinegar.Sodium percarbonate(aka Oxiclean) used in laundry breaks down into H2O2(hydrogen peroxide),which is a non-chlorinated bleach,and doesn't cause problems like sodium hypochlorite.
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post #33 of 47
8/25/11 at 9:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by VMan View Post
Haha, J, I'll type it up for ya:

Step 1: Soak shirt in a solution made from one gallon hot water (as hot as it will come out of the faucet) and one cup of vinegar. Let the shirt soak for 30 mins to 2 hours.

Step 2: Rinse shirts, and squeeze out excess water. Empty bucket and rinse. In a cup, prepare a concentrated Oxy-Clean solution. Make sure to use the Oxy-Clean granules that come in the tub. Make the solution about 10 parts HOT water to one part O-C. Usually this amounts to two scoops of O-C (using the provided scoop) per 4-6 ounces of water. You want this to be very concentrated.

Step 3: Apply the strong solution generously to the stained areas. Place the shirts in a bucket (so that the solution doesn't flow away, or dry) with the stained areas towards the bottom of the bucket so they stay nice and covered in the solution. Allow to soak overnight. It can also help to use an old toothbrush and scrub the stained areas every hour or so, if you've got the time.

Step 4: In the morning, remove the shirts from bucket. Fill the bucket with a gallon of hot water, and two scoops of the Oxy-Clean (basically, follow the recipe on the package for a general cleaning solution) and mix well. Place the shirts in the bucket, and soak for 2-24 hours. This just helps to remove any trace of stain. You might want to stir the shirts around with your hands after you put them in the bucket with the weaker solution just to remove some of the stronger solution that is still on the shirts.

Step 5: Remove, and wash/rinse in the regular cycle on your washing machine.

Note: I find that this normally removes sweat/dirt stains from the armpit, neck, and cuff with ease. For really strong stains, you might have to repeat the process a few times. However, with this, I've been able to remove some major sweat stains that have been set into shirts for five years, at least.

 


Bump for a great thread.  Used it just now on 1 white t-shirt, 1 plain white button-down, 1 striped white button-down, 1 pale green button-down.  I just used a pretty truncated version of this due to lack of time: 2 hours for the vinegar soak, 2 hours for the strong oxi solution, and overnight with the weaker solution.  I'm hang drying them now.  The fabric's still wet so I don't know if the stains are completely gone, but they are definitely significantly reduced.  The white button down especially look very bright and vibrant.  The green shirt doesn't appear to have faded at all.  I will be trying this next week on a couple shirts that are MUCH more stained and reporting back.
 
FYI, allegedly you can get very similar results to Oxiclean using just sodium percarbonate, which is available at hardware stores in bulk quantities for much cheaper than oxiclean.  From what I've heard, oxiclean is 50-60% sodium percarbonate, the rest being surfactants to help break up oils and then probably filler and scents.  Not that oxiclean is that expensive, anyway.

 

Edit:

Has anyone tried this with food stains?  I had a stain on one of my favorite casual button-downs that I didn't catch before I gave it to hotel laundering.  I imagine they threw it in a dryer so it's probably heat set as well.  I'd be super bummed if I had to throw it out (or wear it exclusively tucked in) because of the stain.

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post #34 of 47
2/12/12 at 10:42am

Thought this information would be useful for this thread:

 

http://www.butlersguild.com/index.php?subject=152

 

Massive stain removal guide, classified by types of stain. Also, glad to now know that there is an International Guild of Professional Butlers. Thank you internet.

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post #35 of 47
2/12/12 at 1:22pm

Thank u for this.

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post #36 of 47
2/12/12 at 1:30pm

No problem. Will cross post in the thrifting thread.

 

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post #37 of 47
2/20/12 at 7:33am
I tried this on a few of my shirts over the weekend. Some had sweat stains to the point that I quit wearing them. They now look good as new. Thanks. This really does work.

I do have one issue, however. The procedure has taken a toll on my mother of pearl buttons. They don't have the same luster that they had before. Does anyone know how to "revive" the luster of my MOP buttons? I wouldn't not follow the cleaning process, if i had it to do over again. I'd rather have wearable shirts, with less than shiny MOP buttons, than shiny MOP buttons with ruined shirts.
Edited by rebel222 - 2/20/12 at 11:08am
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post #38 of 47
2/20/12 at 9:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rebel222 View Post

I tried this on a few of my shirts over the weekend. Some had sweat stains to the point that I quit wearing them. They now look good as new. Thanks. This really does work.
I do have one issue, however. The procedure has taken a toll on my mother of pearl buttons. They don't have the same luster that they had before. Does anyone know how to "revive" the luster of my MOP buttons? I wouldn't not follow the cleaning process, if i had it to do over again. I'd rather have wearable shirts, with less than shiny MOP buttons, that shiny MOP buttons with ruined shirts.

I was literally going to bump this post with the exact same button conundrum to see what other people have done. Yep, the buttons are indeed a bit duller. I was going to scrub them with a toothbrush or a coarse sponge to see if that helps. But I can't tell if the dullness is a residue build up that can be scrubbed off, or if its because they were stripped of the shine and luster permanently. I am obviously hoping for the former.

One other note if you don't already, wear gloves when working with the concentrated Oxi solution. Man, my hands dried out.

But as a whole, this process absolutely wipes out stains! icon_gu_b_slayer[1].gif
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post #39 of 47
2/20/12 at 8:33pm
Acetic acid (vinegar) will indeed 'bite' MOP. This is not a deposit; your buttons have been etched by the vinegar solution. If you put straight vinegar on the button, it would probably fizz, the reaction producing CO2 from the calcium carbonate of the pearl, and eating away at the button.

I haven't experienced this, being a poor schmuck without MOP buttons. You might try rubbing paraffin (candle wax) or beeswax on them before, and toasting it off after.
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post #40 of 47
2/20/12 at 11:43pm
is there a good guide for tie stain removal?
i stain on a silk tie that i really want to save
the source of the stain might be some sort of oil or maybe even wine
(was at a wedding reception when it happened)
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post #41 of 47
2/21/12 at 7:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poindexter View Post

Acetic acid (vinegar) will indeed 'bite' MOP. This is not a deposit; your buttons have been etched by the vinegar solution. If you put straight vinegar on the button, it would probably fizz, the reaction producing CO2 from the calcium carbonate of the pearl, and eating away at the button.
I haven't experienced this, being a poor schmuck without MOP buttons. You might try rubbing paraffin (candle wax) or beeswax on them before, and toasting it off after.

Damn. Thanks for the explanation. I will have to figure something out re: the MOP buttons.
Still, this method dominates stains.
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post #42 of 47
3/31/12 at 7:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rebel222 View Post

I tried this on a few of my shirts over the weekend. Some had sweat stains to the point that I quit wearing them. They now look good as new. Thanks. This really does work.
I do have one issue, however. The procedure has taken a toll on my mother of pearl buttons. They don't have the same luster that they had before. Does anyone know how to "revive" the luster of my MOP buttons? I wouldn't not follow the cleaning process, if i had it to do over again. I'd rather have wearable shirts, with less than shiny MOP buttons, than shiny MOP buttons with ruined shirts.

Bump for an old issue that may have been solved: has anyone tried buffing the buttons on a buffing wheel? Seems like a dremel with a buffing pad might work. I've never eaten up any MOP buttons so I don't know how well they'd polish this way. But it seems like it'd work.
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post #43 of 47
5/20/12 at 9:12pm

I used this on some high quality Acne White V-necks... it removed the sweat stains but created a new issue:

 

The little blue "Oxiclean" granules appear to have printed tiny blue dots on my shirts. Anyone experienced this? Anyone have a fix?

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post #44 of 47
8/26/12 at 4:40pm
Just some praise for a product that has worked well for me: Spray 'n Wash Dual Power



It's removed blood, ball point ink, pomegranate, and blueberry juice stains. Used on natural fibers.

Works much better than the regular Spray 'n Wash stain stick.
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post #45 of 47
9/15/12 at 5:09pm

Has anyone tried this for polo shirts?

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