Put your pants in the freezer and grab the whole milk: this is how you remove the most common stains | Cleaning tips

Cleaning tip of the weekThe house could use a major overhaul once in a while. Cleaning expert Marja Middeldorp therefore helps solve everyday problems. This week: the most common stains.

“Oops, a blob! It always happens at an inopportune moment, everyone has to deal with it.” The reason to agree with Marja about stains are questions from two distraught people in the popular Facebook group WoonTips, of which more than 700,000 people are members. One couldn’t get glue stains out of clothes, the other had no idea how that stain of red, sugared fruit juice could disappear from the oak table.

The Hague, 19-05-2022. Portrait of Marja Middeldorp for her column with cleaning tips. Photo Joost Hoving © Joost Hoving

For stains, cleaning guru Marja conjures up her five-part ‘first aid stain kit’. ,, Whole milk, buttermilk, ordinary household vinegar, lemon and of course water. If you have those five things at home, you can at least reduce many stains.”

Starting with the lemonade stain in the table. A stain can easily penetrate the wood. Take a bowl of lukewarm water and add household vinegar. Never use vinegar alone, it is too harsh and acidic. So always mix it with water. You then take a cotton ball or a clean cloth, dab it in the mixture and then dab the stain on the table with it. Let it soak in, because it has to go through the wood. Then take a clean cloth and dab it in just water and go over the stain until the stain disappears. Then pat dry and the stain should be gone.” Coat the oak table thinly with some polishing wax, so that the table shines nicely again.

But what if the stain is still not gone? Marja takes out her stain kit again. There’s a lemon in it. “You cut it in half and drop a few drops on that spot. You let that soak in and you dab it again with clean water. If your stain isn’t gone by then, you can always go to a DIY store to find more expensive remedies. But if all goes well, these home garden and kitchen products will suffice.”

Scrape with a teaspoon

Then: the glue stain on your pants or dress. “Glue stains are always tricky. Glue is often everywhere except where it should be. When I look at it, it’s already on my nose. Before you start scrubbing and polishing, look at the washing label first. Does the garment need to be dry cleaned? cleanedthen don’t do anything about it! They use products that clean much better. So leave it to the dry cleaners, you will only make it worse.”

Also watch out with synthetic fibers: garments that contain that fabric can start to sag if you try to scrub away stains yourself. Here are some things you can try with cotton-only clothes. You can fold your pants and put them in the freezer overnight. In most cases, you can scrape the frozen glue off with a teaspoon the next day. You can also gently iron the stain with a paper towel on it, just as you get rid of candle wax stains.”

Text continues below the photo.

As an example.

As an example. © Getty Images/iStockphoto

Prevention is better than cure, says Marja. ,,If you use glue, make sure you have old work trousers on. If you are gluing something small, place an old cloth on your lap. You can also try to remove the stain with acetone. You use that to remove nail polish, and that is actually a kind of glue. For example, try in a corner of the inside of your shirt or pants, in a place where it is not noticeable, to see what it does to that fabric. And sometimes, unfortunately peanut butter, you just can’t get a glue stain out.”

Are we there then? No! There are still some untouched items in the Stain First Aid box. What do we do with that buttermilk and whole milk? “Almost all of us have that. Use full products, which are fatter. You can use milk for all kinds of stains. I use buttermilk for really greasy stains, like from peanut butter or gravy. For example, I always clean my bath with buttermilk. It then shines like a charm.”

Stains in your carpet or rug? vtwonen explains how to get them out.

Suppose you have a red wine stain on your shirt. ,, Tip one: don’t panic and don’t run with water and cloths. Put a little milk in a bowl and grab a clean cloth. First dab the wine stain dry and then the milk on it. Just continue dining, let it soak in. If you then put your shirt in the wash, you will see that the stain is gone nine times out of ten because of the milk.”

It is sometimes said that you have to fight red wine stains with white wine. Don’t do it, says the connoisseur of cleaning from The Hague. “It doesn’t do what you hope it does and it’s a shame too. You better use milk. Then take a sip of white wine from the fright.”

Do you want to ask Marja Middeldorp a question? Send an e-mail to this address ([email protected]) with your name. See more cleaning tips below:



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