Remove Food Stains and Old Stains

It's happened to all of you: you're eating some delicious spaghetti (if you're lucky this is on a date) and then splat you have spaghetti sauce on your new jeans that look casual but still so good. Blast. How do you get rid of stains like that? Sometimes it is a bit more difficult to extract those stains but it's almost always possible.

One of the best products I've ever seen and ever used is the Tide Pen®. This is seriously one of the coolest products on the market and can do some serious instant stain removal. If your stain is not huge then there's every chance your handy Tide Pen will remove that right away. The trick to the Tide Pen (and most other stain removal) is to treat it right away. Don't wait for the stain to set in, otherwise you'll be in for a rough stain ride. To use the Tide Pen you simply press down on the stain until the solution comes out and you rub until the stain magically disappears!

If you don't have a nifty Tide Pen in your purse or backpack, you'll have to wash the garment as soon as possible. Avoid trying to wash it out with water or any other liquid before you can actually treat the stain. Doing so could result in making the stain set in further, thus making it harder to remove.

Another alternative method is using denture tablets; you might be surprised by the results. Just put the stained item in a container of warm water and plop in several denture tablets. Let soak for the amount of time recommended on the package for dentures, and then wash as usual. Be a bit more cautious with this treatment and test it on a less loved piece of clothing or fabric before using on your actual stained garment.

Say 'so long' to long-time stains. Use a solution of two cups warm water and a half cup of white vinegar to remove stains that have been hanging around in colored clothing for a long time. Soak the clothes for about an hour. Rinse out the clothes and then wash as usual. This, like the above remedy should be tested on something else first just to make sure it's effective with your stain and the fabric of your garment. Another thing to consider with the vinegar treatment is it might be hard to rid your clothes completely of the vinegar smell!

Fortunately most run-of-the-mill stains aren't hard to remove and if you use the right methods you'll be pleased with the results. The best way to deal with stains however is to treat them and wash the garment as soon as possible. It's definitely harder to remove stains that have already had time to set in and so you want to avoid that by treating and washing your clothes as soon as you possibly can. So with these tips in mind, give it up for stain removal!