Acrylic Paint

"For removing acrylic paint off clothes, hair spray works extremely well. Test a small spot on the item and then spray on hair spray and use your finger mail to remove the paint. Occasionally you have to wash twice, but it has never failed me!" "Remove acrylic paint from clothes with pine cleaner. Soak, scrub, repeat. Takes some time, but it works!" "First, always clean the paint up while it's wet, and blot off the excess with a cloth or paper towel. Then douse it with Scotch using a cloth to blot and rub the paint until it is gone or substantially faded. Then wash the article with your usual detergent. Not paint or marks from the Scotch will remain."

BERRIES

Blot the stain and dip it in cold water. Rub the spot with a cut lemon, rinse, and air dry. Use pre-wash stain remover and then launder with warm water. "FYI - pouring boiling hot water on a berry stain will get stains right out on any color clothes, even white. I know this works for sure on a fresh stain but not sure about a set stain." Also check out "Fruit Stains" below for more help with berry stains.

BIRD DROPPINGS

Allow to dry before scraping off excess. Sponge with a weak vinegar and water solution.

BUTTER, COOKING OIL

Blot the spot and rub on some cornmeal. Brush off the cornmeal and then apply pre-wash stain remover, rinse. Wash in hot water. Make sure that the label allows for hot water! Another surprising tip for oil and butter stains, is good old shampoo! Just rub the shampoo on the spot with a soft brush. Let sit for a few minutes and then wash in hot or warm water. "Here is a tip to remove a butter drip from a cotton/poly pullover. I had washed and dried the pullover before I realized that I had a stain. I tried several different methods, and what finally got the stain out without damaging the sweater was rubbing the degreaser/hand cleaner that my hubby uses when working on construction equipment. I rubbed it into the sweater while damp, left for a couple of hours, then laundered as usual." "For removal of greasy food stains, sprinkle flour over the spot and let sit for a while. When you shake off the flour the spot will be gone. Launder as usual." For an old butter or oil stain, regenerate the stain first with WD-40, then rub in some undiluted dish detergent. Wash as usual.

CANDLE WAX

Put the garment in the fridge for a few minutes. Then gently scrape off the excess wax. Next, put a plain brown paper bag on your ironing board. Put the garment on top of the bag. Now put another paper bag on top of the spot and iron (on low to med setting) on top of the bag. You will see a dark spot on the paper bag. Good! Now move the paper bag under the garment to a clean spot. Move the bag on top to a clean spot. Iron again then repeat the steps until there are no more spots on the bag. Then launder as usual.

CARPET STAINS

I've received so many great carpet stain removal tips that I had to make a whole new page for them all! There is even a tip for carpet burns and much more! Just click on this Link: " http://www.members.tripod.com/~Barefoot_Lass/carpet.html " and you will be transported there! Don't forget to return here to see all of the great stain removal tips!

CHOCOLATE

Blot or scrape off the excess chocolate, then flush with club soda. For a tough stain: Sponge with liquid hand soap and ammonia; launder as usual. Or, "To get out those though chocolate stains, soak the stained article in milk."

COFFEE

CRAYON

One tip is to try blotting with dry-cleaning solvent. Another great tip to remove crayola; "Add 1/2 cup of baking soda plus your usual amount of detergent and the hottest water setting possible on your machine. I use the soak cycle once, then turn to normal wash cycle as usual." This also works with lipstick stains. "I used about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of Lestoil and about 1/2 of a small box of baking soda and 1/2 cup of regular detergent. When I finished the load, the clothes were almost cleaned so I put them through another wash with the other 1/2 of baking soda box and a little bit of bleach (because my load was dark) It got rid of every spot of crayon and my clothes are looking great again. For a dark load make sure you use a tiny amount of bleach and it shouldn't bleach your colours. But it helps get rid of any leftover stains that the first wash didn't get out."

CRAYON ON YOUR DRYER DRUM!

"I was rushing to do laundry and neglected to look in any pockets for things. I have a four year old son. Needless to say, when I was taking the clothes out of the dryer, I noticed black spots all over the clothes and the dryer. Crayon. I've never had this problem before, so I jumped on the Internet to find help. I found a lot of help for the clothes, and everyone said pretty much the same thing for the dryer drum. So, I tried the WD-40 fix, and although it worked for the stuff that you could scrape with no problem, it did nothing for the "stained" stuff, and I was scrubbing for a least an hour. So my husband went to the store and found this stuff called "Goof Off," and it worked great! You put a little bit on a rag, wipe off the mess, and you don't have to scrub. After you wipe all the mess away, you go over it with a soapy rag, and let it air out for a day. "

DR. PEPPER

"My 13 yr old daughter threw her WHITE cheerleading uniform in her back with a Dr. Pepper that did not have the lid on good. Needless to say the uniform stayed in the back pack all weekend long. Then she comes crying on Monday morning, "MMOOMMMM you gotta get this clean!!" the only thing I found that took the stain out was mixing 1 cup HOT water and 1/4 cup CASCADE dishwasher detergent. Be sure to test a small hidden area for color-fastness first before doing this."

FRUIT

Stretch the stained area sightly over a pot in the sink. Then pour boiling water through the stain from a height of 1 to 2 feet. Be very careful not to splash yourself with the super hot water though!!

GRASS

Pre-treat grass stains on washable fabrics by sponging them first with warm water then dabbing the soiled area with un-diluted rubbing alcohol. (use a clean cloth!) Then launder item as usual. Or, combine a few drops of household ammonia with 1 tsp. of peroxide. Rub on the stain and rinse with water as soon as stain disappears. Ellyne Baker from Clinton, Iowa writes; "Grass stains are removed easily with white vinegar." "Felsnaptha Soap is great for grass stain removal, especially on baseball and football pants. Just wet the bar of soap, rub on the stain and wash as usual. Works great!" "Take molasses and rub it into the stained area. then launder as usual. It has worked on all washables that I have used it on." "My tip is probably based on the same principle as Tammy Nolff's. I use Light Karo syrup on white baseball pants. Rub it in, wash as usual. What a time and cost saver!"

GET THE GREASE OUT BABY!

Grease: I have received so many great grease removing tips that I had to make a new page just for grease stains! Click on this Link: " http://www.members.tripod.com/~Barefoot_Lass/grease.html " for some of the best grease stain tips sent in by some real experts!

KETCHUP

"Here is a great tip to remove ketchup or tomato sauce stains. Just pour some Mr. Clean onto the stain and let set for about 30 minutes. The stain should be gone, if not just soak a few minutes longer. Just rinse and wash as usual." Scrape off excess. Put a drop of Lestoil on the stain and brush gently with an old toothbrush. Rinse well and launder as usual. Or, after scraping, pre-soak with a paste of water and enzyme laundry detergent, rinse, dry, then launder.

INK STAINS

"First, put a paper towel or a rag under the stained area to absorb the excess ink. Spray on a non-oily, alcohol based hair spray. Saturate the ink stain with the hair spray. Blot with a rag and repeat until the stain is gone. Apply pre-wash stain remover and launder as usual." "Try milk! Yes, put the piece of cloth into a cup with milk and you'll see it vanishing... then wash or dry clean as usual." "For ink stains, rub with salt and wash with bath soap. It works!" "Use simple rubbing alcohol to remove ink stains. Take some alcohol on a rag, dab on the ink then wipe with a soft rag or paper towel. Works like a charm! This isn't sticky like hair spray."

LIPSTICK

Got lipstick on his collar? Get it out by rubbing the stain with a generous amount of petroleum jelly, then wash as usual. "Hair spray works on lipstick stains too!"

LIQUOR

Sponge stain with cool water. Soak in solution of cool water and dish washing liquid for thirty minutes for a light stain and overnight for a heavy one. Rinse and launder.

MUSTARD

Mustard contains turmeric which is like a dye. So mustard stains can be tough ones! First scrape off the excess mustard with a credit card or a plastic knife. Rub some glycerin (in the hand cream isle at the drug store) on the stain and let sit for an hour. Then pre-treat the stain with a stain remover such as "Shout". Launder as usual. "Mix 3 parts of dish washing liquid with 1 part denatured alcohol. Soak the area of the stain in this for a few minutes (10-20). If the stain turns dark... don't worry, it will wash out! Rinse with hot water and wash as usual." "If the fabric is colourfast, sponge on white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide. Then wash." "For mustard stains on white clothing, take a denture cleaning tablet and add it to 1/2 cup of cool water. Then dip in the spot into the cup and let soak until the stain disappears." Note: Never use ammonia on mustard!

Nail Polish

Sponge the stain with acetone based nail polish remover or banana oil, then immediately wash as usual. If stain persists, do not put item in the dryer! Try adding a few drops of alcohol and blot. Wash again. Do not use polish remover on acetate or triacetate fabric... it will "melt" the fabric!!

RED DYE STAINS

"To remove red dye number 2 (koolaid, punch, wine, etc.) spray a 50/50 mixture of ammonia and water onto the stain. Place hot, steam iron on top of damp towel covering the stain and let it set for 30 seconds. Lift the iron and the towel. The stain will have transferred onto the towel. This even works on old, set-in stains!"

RING AROUND THE COLLAR!

))))RUST((((

First, never use chlorine bleach on a rust stain! Try using a commercial rust remover. Just follow the manufacturer's instructions. If you don't happen to have any rust remover around the house, try one of these tips; "The safest and best way to remove is rust is rhubarb. Cut rhubarb stalks into one inch pieces and put in a pot of water. When it comes to a rolling boil, turn off the heat and let sit 10 minutes. put mixture thru sieve. Toss rhubarb. soak rust stained fabric in solution for 1 hour to overnight depending on amount of rust. Works well either warm or cold. Launder item as usual. Works every time on any washable fabric." Or try sprinkling the rust stain with salt, rub with lemon juice and place in the sun. Keep checking the stain and make sure that it stays moist by reapplying the lemon juice until the stain disappears. Rinse well! No lemon in the house? Try this trick; Dampen the stain and then spread it with cream of tarter. Carefully hold the stained area above boiling water for a few minutes. (a kettle works well for this) Rinse well. The rust stain should fade as you rinse. Make sure that the fabric can be washed in hot water. Hope in California says: "To remove rust, especially on white clothing, it also makes whites very white, boil water adding cream of tartar and dip and boil article for a few minutes, rinse. Super white and rust free." "I used a mixture of white vinegar and hot water to remove a 21 year old rust stain out of the gown that I wore home from the hospital. First, soak in white vinegar. Next soak in hot water and white vinegar. Check garment to make sure that the stain is removed. Then wash as usual."

000 SILLY PUTTY 000

"Here is a tip for removing Silly Putty from clothes: First put the clothing in the freezer for a little while, then scrape the area with a dull knife to remove what you can from the surface. Put an old towel behind the fabric, and soak it with rubbing alcohol, then rub with a piece of old towel, removing bits of putty as they flake off. You may need to soak the fabric again (and test in an unobvious place with alcohol first to make sure it doesn't remove the colour). Hold it up to the light to make sure all the putty is removed (repeat if it isn't). When all the putty is removed, wash as usual." "Rub salt into the Silly Putty and it will come off!"

===TAR===

Rub the spot with kerosene until it is removed, then wash with detergent and water. The kerosene will not take the colour out of most fabrics. But, it's always a good idea to test it first! Serena from Canada wanted to share her great tar stain remover tip with us; "Peanut butter also gets tar out, just launder after!"

TEA STAINS

"For Tea stains, Rinse the stained area with water, then add some lime juice and leave it for a few seconds. Rinse and wash as usual. Now you've gotta search for the tea stain!" "Sprinkle salt on the tea stain while it is still wet. Wash as usual."

TREE SAP

Rub the sap with an ice cube, then gently scrape off any excess sap. Sponge the stain with cleaning fluid and let air dry. Rub with detergent and launder as usual. If stains persist, apply a few drops of household ammonia and air dry. Launder in the hottest water that is safe for that fabric. If you don't have any cleaning fluid around the house, saturate the spot with a pretreatment stain remover. (shout it out is a good one) Wait a few minutes and then rub the stain with a heavy duty laundry detergent. Launder as usual. "I have found another way to remove tree sap from skin and clothing (and even, once, a pair of rubber flip-flops!). Just rub Purell or another antibacterial hand gel on the stain. For some reason, it breaks up the sap and removes the stain. This also worked on the hood of my brother-in-law's car that had sap stains from sitting under a tree and did not damage the surface of the car at all."

WINE

For red wine, soak with white wine! Rinse with cool water and wash with enzyme laundry detergent. For white wine, rinse well with cold water and launder as usual. Diver sent in this great wine stain remover tip; "To remove wine from washable fabric soak stain in club soda, then wash in cold water." "Pour salt over the stain. The salt will soak up the wine. Then vacuum." "I am not sure why this works - but one day, staying at a friend's house, we spilled red wine on the nice family tablecloth. I tried rinsing it under the sink to no avail. Someone suggested we soak the tablecloth in milk, which we did - we soaked it overnight and the next day rinsed it out - it came completely clean."

MORE GREAT STAIN REMOVER TIPS!

Quick Fix For Stains!: "Here is a quick way to get food spots out when you're in a hurry and can't change your outfit. This morning, I was dressed and ready to leave for work when my blueberry jam toast dropped on my blouse. I was running late so I improvised...using a facial cleansing cloth (those moist cloths meant for make-up removal), I rubbed the stain right out in a couple of seconds! This is not the first time I have used my facial cleansing cloths for other purposes. A couple of days ago, I used one to give my leather shoes a quick polish before running out." Cascade To The Rescue!: "My mom and I found that Cascade dishwasher detergent removes most food and grease stains. It is also great for laundering your kitchen curtains. It really gets the food grease & odours out. Also great for washing any curtains if you have a smoker in the house. It really gets out the smoke & nicotine. I even used it to hand wash a pure silk dress with a port wine stain that the dry cleaner could not get out. I soaked it for a couple of minutes in a solution of Cascade and lukewarm water in a basin & when I went to find the stain to gently rub it, it was gone." "Please warn your readers about Cascade - it contains a bleaching agent and should be rinsed off very quickly." I find that it is best to use Cascade on whites, that way you are safe! Everyday Stain Remover: "I have found that using this stain remover works for me. I put Ammonia, Dishwashing liquid, and Water in a spray bottle using equal parts and I spray my stained laundry with it. Works great!" Spit On It!: "You can spit on fresh stains like blood, some greases, food, spiced apple dye, etc. Really get it moist with the spit, then rub a bit and dab with a keenex and the spot will vanish before your eyes. It may take a few times, but it works." Stain Magic: You use equal amounts of green Palmolive dish soap, clear ammonia and water. I have been able to get baby food carrots out of a new pink shirt with this solution. It is the best!" Murphy's Oil Soap Secret: "Murphy's Oil Soap is a great stain remover for almost any stain. Spray on garment, rub, then wash as usual." Baby Wipes: When he dripped ketchup on his shirt while in his car. He thought fast and grabbed the baby wipes that just happened to be there. He had been amazed to find that the wipes got every speck of the stain out. I don't have any munchkins but, I'll have a pack of those little miracle workers in my car from now on! Electric Toothbrush Stain Removal Tool!: "I was just gathering outgrown clothes for a rummage sale next weekend. A few items had little spots on them. I brought them to the bathroom to throw in the washer and came up with a great time saver instead. I put a bit of toothpaste on an electric spin toothbrush, and voila! I had a nifty spot remover. The brushing action of the toothbrush worked the paste right into the spot. I just rinsed the brush well and went over the spot again to rinse the toothpaste away. I'm going to pack an extra spin brush in my suitcase from now on for those "little emergencies" while on trips." Dry Clean Only Trick: "White slacks, marked Dry Clean Only -- I hand washed in cool water with "hand washing lotion", and for stubborn spots, (around the hem & others), I used Ivory bar soap -- hang while wet. They were white again!" Super Stain Remover: "I travel a lot and don't often have handy tools with me to remove stains. I have, however, discovered that white Colgate toothpaste, when rubbed on blood, as well as other stains like red wine, will remove them. Don't use Crest if it is tinged with blue." Most Stains: "I've found that ivory bar soap will get out most anything if you just rub it in well and rinse with water." Stain Removal Solution: "Mix two cups of water and two tablespoons each of the following - white vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and plain ammonia (not the sudsy kind). Shake well before each use. This is also good for cleaning windows and the shower. It makes mirrors and windows shine like new. It works on any household chore. It even removes most stains from carpets." More Stains! "For stains, soak item in a solution of one gallon of water to 1/2 cup of cascade dishwashing detergent." Food Stains: "For food stains, other than oil and grease, just wash immediately with luke warm water. The stains will disappear." Dingy Whites: "As a nurse that believes nurses should still wear white... I have found that if you drop a plain aspirin in the washer with your whites it will keep them from getting dingy." Yellow Whites: "If you add white vinegar to white clothes that has become yellow for what ever reason, such as, aging, baby spit-ups, it will turn your white clothes white again." Little Stain Removal Miracle!: "Ivory bar soap is a miracle-worker! I have removed furniture polish, red wine, tomato sauce, and grape jelly stains from my carpet. Just scrub with an old toothbrush and rinse well." Tip From A Traveler: "I carry the little bottles of shampoo that you get at the hotel, the cheaper the better. If you rub some into a stain soon after it happens, it will usually come out in the wash. I rub it into set stains and throw them in the wash and they usually come clean."