It's easier than you think
How to spot wash
Cleaning stains on fabric is easier than you think, if you use natural Castile Soap.
When I accidentally spill something on my clothes, especially if it would make a great photo for an article, the last thing I think of is taking a picture. So this is a photo of where the black car oil stain was.
Using natural Castile soap is the best for removing stains, since it opens up the fiber structure, and mechanically removes the stain from the fibers.
Effective Tips and Tricks
What to do
Andy is a skilled mechanic, which is part of why he's an excellent soap maker. Usually, he’s very neat. That’s not always possible with some of his mechanical endeavors. Recently, when working on one of the Mini Coopers, oil slowly drizzled on him, before he noticed it. A lot of oil. Luckily he was wearing his insulated winter coveralls, and the oil saturated the upper right thigh part of the leg of the suit.
After 15 minutes, he was ready to deal with this stain. He took the suit off, and saturated it with Instant Liquid Soap. He left the soap on the suit. It dried, and since it was still Winter, he continued to wear the suit, when he needed it. After about 4-5 days, he was ready to be without the suit for a few days, and we threw it in the washing machine.
This stain removal method will work beautifully on jeans.
Old Fashioned Laundry Soap
How to wash
We have and small Asko washer, so his giant suit was 1 full load. I put in a normal amount of our old fashioned laundry soap, and set the temperature to a medium warm, about 140 ℉.
My washer also has a presoak setting, which lets the wash soak for about 15 minutes, before getting to the regular washing cycle. I used a medium temperature, since the suit lining is polyester, and it can melt causing other problems, like putting micro plastics into the water supply.
It came out beautifully, and you would never know there was a 4-5 “ in diameter black car grease stain there. Natural laundry soap cleans the best.
Extra steps for other fabric types
Add baking soda
Coffee, turmeric and beet stains are water soluble dyes, so the removal technique is slightly different.
Wet the stain first with clean water, immediately if possible. Then drizzle some already diluted, full strength Instant Liquid Soap on the fabric, covering the stain. If the fabric is shear or a soft hand washable wool, gently run the soap into the fabric with your fingertips. You can also gently rub the fabric against itself.
If the fabric is a thicker cotton, you can use an old medium bristle toothbrush to rub the soap in. Leave the soap in the fabric for a day or two. Then wash the garment normally.
If this doesn’t work, or you want to do something extra before your normal washing method, rinse off the soap after 1 or 2 days, and lay the fabric flat, and sprinkle baking soda on it covering the stain. Leave it spread out for a day or 2. The soda will pull the stain out of the fabric, and turn brown. Rinse it off and throw the garment in the laundry. Wash normally.
1 comment
VERY IMPRESSIVE