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Having been awarded no less than 9 Clumsiness Gold Medals at the Beijing Olympic Games 2008, I stand proudly and admit freely that my cloth do not last long without experiencing stains of all sorts.

Feeling tired of web-searching and re-re-reading the same cleaning solutions over and over again, I have compiled here the not-so-magic granny old recipes to get rid of them quickly and at no cost.

Special products are usually bulky, expensive and hard to find. Soap almost never works for special stains, neither can bleach even in the cases of clear cloth. This is why I prefer by far those tips, hoping it helps:

• Blood:
  • Put a effervescent alcasalzer in cold water
  • Use the mix to wash the blood stain
  • Rinse/Wash in cold water
• Chocolate:
  • Pre-wash by applying some milk on the stain
• Coffee (My favourite stain…)
  • If still wet, apply a lot of salt on it to absorb as much as possible
  • Then use a mix, in equal proportions, of vinegar + (denaturated) alcohol (meaning ethanol) to remove the stain.
• Fruit stains:
  • See “Rust”
• Greasy liquid (butter, oily sauce…):
  • Pre-wash with your hands applying dish detergent on the stain
  • Leave the detergent on it (do not rinse) and put in washing machine

• Grass:
  • Wet the stains
  • Apply sugar on it
  • Wait five minutes
  • Pre-wash roughly with your hands
  • Put in washing machine
• Pens (greasy ink types)
  • Dry clean by applying rubbing gently sodium bicarbonate on the stain
  • Blow away or Vaacum the powder
  • If not enough, do the same thing after placing a piece of paper and an iron on it (Level 1 of heat)
• Pens (liquid-ink types)
  • Pre-wash by applying some milk on the stain

• Pens (Colors for kids)
  • Spray hair fixing spray on the stain
  • Let dry
  • Pre-wash with hands putting alcohol vinegar on it
  • Put in washing machine
• Rust:
  • Make a mix of lemon/lime juice (acid) + salt
  • Apply on stain
  • Leave 30 minutes
  • Rinse

• Wax
  • Place absorbent paper on the stain
  • Apply gentle iron (level 1) on it, the paper will absorb most of the stain
  • Finish with liquid-detergent

• Whiteboard pencil
  • Apply Denatured alcohol

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In a coming update of this document, I will try to explain why these grany recipes with scientific explanations. Although the recipes may have been found by luck with time and experimenting random things, there is no magic at all, it’s all a matter of chemistry and reactions

Mold will be added to the list.

Finally, a coming separate article will focus not on stains but on general care tips for you cloth.