Most stain advice is a list of instructions. This starts somewhere more useful: with the handful of mistakes that turn a stain into a ruined item, because those are the same whatever you spilled.
The four rules that matter more than any individual remedy
- Blot, never rub. Rubbing drives the stain deeper into the fibre and breaks the surface,
which is why a rubbed patch still shows after the colour has gone.
- Cold water first, always. Heat sets protein stains permanently: blood, egg, milk,
sweat, most food. You can always go hotter later. You cannot undo it.
- Work from the outside in, or a small stain becomes a large ring.
- Nothing goes in the dryer until the stain has gone. A tumble dryer bakes a
half-removed stain into a permanent one. Check it wet, wash again if you need to.
What ruins what
- Bleach on wool or silk. Protein fibres, and bleach dissolves them. So does biological
detergent, given a warm wash and enough time.
- Heat on protein, which is rule two and worth saying twice because it is the mistake
people make most.
- Vinegar on stone. Red wine on a marble worktop plus a splash of vinegar is how a stain
becomes etching. See vinegar.
- Acetone on acetate. Nail varnish remover dissolves the garment along with the varnish.
- Water on some silks and viscose, which watermark. For those the answer is a
professional, and stopping early makes their job possible.
Work out the type, then the treatment
Nearly every stain is one of four kinds, and the type decides the approach far more than the specific substance does.
- Protein (blood, egg, dairy, sweat). Cold water, then an enzyme detergent. Never heat.
- Tannin (tea, coffee, red wine, fruit juice). Hot water and detergent. Avoid bar soap
first, which can set tannin.
- Grease (cooking oil, butter, make-up, engine oil). Lift the excess with something dry,
then an alkali or a proper degreaser. Washing-up liquid is built for precisely this.
- Dye (curry, grass, ink, felt tip). The hardest, because the colour has bonded to the
fibre. Usually patient repeat treatment rather than a single fix.
Turmeric, which is why curry stains are so stubborn, has one useful quirk: it is photosensitive. A yellow patch that survives a wash will often fade a long way if you leave the item in direct sunlight for a day or two.
Before you start
Check the care label, then check whether the item is worth the risk. A professional clean on something good costs less than replacing it, and there is no shame in deciding that a stain has won.