General stain removal advice -
As well as a guide to washing instructions, the Persil website also has its own 'Stain Solver', which is more comprehensive than mine, but has not been tested by me (those below have.) It seems to say 'don't worry, just wash it!' for most of the stains I've looked at. It's better designed than this mere list...
Biological stains - This is a plug for Biotex, a powder which can be used as a soaker, a pre-wash, a spot-on-rub-in-wash-out stain remover, and even a hand wash solution as it can remove stains at low temperatures. Comes in a cardboard carton from most supermarkets. It's probably enzyme based, i.e. little friendly things eat at your grass/sweat/blood/chocolate for you. Proteases break down protein stains, lipids eat at fatty stains. A point to note would be that if you recall your biology classes correctly, enzymes get denatured at high temperatures. So any enzyme based detergent (inc. biological washing powder) may cease to be effective at temperatures like 60 degrees. I once caught a Biology student at Cambridge in the laundry room wondering why her clothes hadn't come out clean even though she'd used the highest temperature wash. So when washing, if you want to go high temperature, use a non biological washing powder. Bleach also kills enzymes.
Blood - never use hot water, as this sets the stain. Use a little cold water and rub in a lot of salt. Rinse away the salt, still rubbing. So far I know this works and is safe (modulo the usual provisos about not rubbing too hard) on clothing, carpets and mattresses. On carpets you might as well rub salt in with a little water, leave it to dry, then hoover up later.
Candle wax - pick or scrape off any excess, freezing may help (as for chewing gum) if this is difficult. Any grease stains can be removed following the instructions for grease spots below.
Chewing gum - freeze it, then usually you can pick it off. Any residual stains have always come out in the wash for me.
Coffee/tea stains (in cups or on spoons) - I tried: scrubbing, soaking overnight in bicarbonate of soda (an abrasive), bicarb+vinegar and bleach. None worked. Finally my dad passed on a trick from his dad - a teaspoonful or so of washing powder (what you wash clothes with) in a solution with warm water, left overnight, worked like this: Before and After. Just make sure you rinse thoroughly after else your tea will taste gross and you'll get an upset tummy.
Grease (e.g. on fabric) - lots of layers of brown paper above and below the grease spot, pressed with a warm iron, often does the trick. Obviously don't use an iron any warmer than what the fabric can take (check the washing instructions) and you might want to put another layer of fabric - some cotton from a sheet or something between the paper and the iron. I also used to use a product called Dab-It-Off for black oil and tar stains. It's dry cleaning fluid, and pretty lethal. Comes in a small yellow bottle.
Leather (I meant stains on leather, or leather cleaning) - a little baby oil or vaseline is good for leather. You can even just use it as a treatment to keep it supple. Also works for PVC. Probably the kinkiest entry here.
Mould or mildew - on (painted) walls and window frames I have used a product called Dettox Mould and Mildew Remover which contains bleach. It's potent stuff. It is for window frames, walls, refrigerator door seals, concrete patios, plastic shower curtains, doors, and tiles. The bottle says you must not let it come into contact with fabrics, unpainted metal, unglazed tiles, coloured grout, chrome, copper, varnished wood or painted surfaces. It worked fine on my walls (I did a patch test first on a hidden area) - in six different rooms all painted different colours, so I'd recommend it, providing you do a test first. It's £1.86 for 500ml and can be found in Asda or Sainsburys usually, I could never find it in tesco. It's a green spray bottle. Notes on use - always wear gloves, and when you spray, have a cloth underneath to catch drips as the mechanism means that lots comes out at once and you don't want drips of bleach everywhere. It will bleach any fabric or unvarnished wood instantly (It instantly bleached the cloths I used to wipe it up with, and I dripped bleach on one skirt and one interior bit of wood. Not good.) Open all the windows you can, it smells grim.
Nail polish - I don't know what you should do about this but I know what you shouldn't do. Do not follow the example of my friend at school who tipped over a bottle of black nail varnish (yeah, we were like that) on her new cream carpet, and tried to remove the polish by tipping a bottle of nail polish remover over the stain. It dissolved the carpet. I split blue nail polish on my (pink) carpet a few years later and it's still there...I've been too scared to try anything on it...
Rust - a lemon juice and salt solution left to dry on the fabric is pretty good. For some reason leaving it to dry in the sun helps. If your fabric is coloured or delicate, tread carefully, lemon juice is acidic and may cause bleaching. You could to a spot test to check if there's a bit which isn't visible usually.
Tipp-Ex - the dry cleaner just laughed at me. (I chucked a whole bottle over my favourite trousers in a supersymmetry lecture - was even sat on the front row...) Acetone (i.e. nail polish remover) hasn't worked on them. (If the fabric is acetate based, you shouldn't use acetone, or you'll dissolve it, as in 'Nail Polish' above.) In case you're wondering for future purchases, water based Tipp-Ex is rubbish at covering writing, even though it would wash out easier (and not get you high.)
Windows - By far the best (and cheapest) thing I've ever used is a ball of damp newspaper, followed by a ball of dry newspaper. You have to scrub quite hard with the damp stuff, and then again with the dry, so it's hard work, but the results are amazing. I got that from Moira Bremner's version of Enquire Within Upon Everything, which is a 'Home Reference Bible.' Biblical or not, it is in fact pretty good. My friend Christel tells me that on How Clean is Your House? they used newspaper and vinegar - I haven't tried that - vinegar stops smearing, but when I did it with just paper it didn't smear anyway. By the way, even though the ink is great for your windows, it's not so good for your hands. The way I got rid of my blackened fingers was to carry on cleaning the rest of the house (i.e. a mixture of cream cleaner, bleach and mildew remover) but I wouldn't recommend that unless you also happen to have a bottomless tube of Neutrogena Norwegian formula hand cream.
General washing advice -
MACHINE WASHING
Do not let clothes get too dirty before washing them.
Clothing should be dry and aired out before it is washed.
Empty out pockets, unbutton buttons and turn up collars before washing.
Do not overload the washing machine.
Remember that the temperature on the tag is a maximum, not an ideal.
If you
think the items aren't too dirty, wash at the lowest possible temperature, as
this keeps them in better condition.
HAND WASHING
The first time(s) you wash a garment it may release some colour - it should be washed
separately or with like colours.
Let the soap or detergent dissolve completely before putting the garment in the water.
Hand wash only items are marked that way because they can't take high
temperatures or agitation.
So, use warm ish or cool water and avoid soaking.
And, don't scrub, just squeeze gently.
Rinse well.
If allowed for the fabric, you can add mild fabric conditioner to the final rinse. Instructions on bottle usually say something like 1/5 of a capful to a sink of water, but check first.
DRYING
Fold or lay flat heavy garments so that they don't stretch out.
You can place knitted things on a towel when you dry them flat, or use a clever jumper drier like my mum had (horizontal mesh between a square frame.)
Don't expose clothes directly to sunlight or strong winds, especially colour garments.
If drying clothes on an indoor clothesline, make sure there are air drafts, else they might go musty before they dry.
BLEACH
Before using bleach, look carefully at the symbols on the tag. (see that Persil website)
Use bleach only with cold water and never use it for over one hour.
Use gloves to protect your hands.
Do not use iron, copper or brass basins. I think that's because of some kind of electrolysis thing, though whee the current comes from I don't know.
IRONING
Classify clothing according to the symbols on the tags and start ironing garments requiring cooler temperatures first.
When lowering the temperature on the iron, wait a couple of minutes.
Ironing's often easier on damp clothes. It helps protect them too because water evaporates rather than natural oils in the fibres.
Use a damp cloth to remove anything stuck on the iron sole before it cools off.
NATURAL FABRICS
WOOL
It shrinks if you wash it at high temperatures and it loses its shape if you hang it to dry.
Advantages: it is a good thermal isolator, it is very absorbing and recovers well.
Inconveniences: it can become matted and can take on a yellow hue.
COTTON
It shrinks if you wash it at a very high temperature, irons well and should be washed separately the first time around (colour garments).
Advantages: cool and flexible, wear and tear resistant.
Inconveniences: tends to fade and wrinkles easily.
LINEN
Always wash by hand, never centrifuge or wash at high temperatures. It can take hot ironing.
Advantages: cool and pleasant to touch, resists soiling well.
Inconveniences: creases very easily.
SILK
Cannot be washed at high temperatures or centrifuged, stubborn stains require professional care and it should be ironed without steam and at low temperatures.
Advantages: strong, light, pleasant to touch, does not tend to fade.
Inconveniences: wears out and sweat stains show easily.
ARTIFICIAL FABRICS
ACETATE, RAYON AND VISCOSE
Do not centrifuge to avoid deforming.
Advantages: silky touch, they do not tend to fade.
Inconveniences: non-resistant when damp, they can burn easily and get charged with static electricity.
SYNTHETIC FABRICS
POLYESTER, NYLON AND LYCRA
Extremely sensitive to heat, they should be washed in lukewarm water and ironed at low temperatures without steam.
Advantages: very resistant, they do not wrinkle easily and do not tend to fade.
Inconveniences: they can burn easily and get charged with static electricity.
* This information refers to pure fabrics. For mixtures, please check the percentage of each fabric in the garment and apply a combined treatment.
I got taught at school that one way to distinguish between natural and synthetic
fabrics was the different burning characteristics. Synthetic/artificial fabrics
would burn into globules of goo, really gross. I think cotton would either catch
and burn evenly, like paper, or just smoulder, I can't remember. Anyway it
didn't go gooey. It's not the best way to find out what your clothes are made
of, though. Especially not if you're wearing them.
