Chester's Clean House: Blood

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Chester's Laundry Stain Removal Guide

If anyone tells you that they enjoy doing the laundry, you have to question their sanity. Laundry is just a fact of life, it has to be done. I don’t mind doing the laundry, but I do hate stains! Especially the set-in ones! Here are some of our best tips for removing laundry stains.

Blood Stain Removal

Hopefully you don’t have to use this great tip too often! The best way to remove blood stains, even dried-on blood stains is to make a paste out of meat tenderizer and water and apply to the stain. Let it stand for about an hour and rinse off with water. If the stain still exists, repeat and this time work the paste into the stain. Rinse off and launder as usual.

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Coffee Stain Removal

Coffee stains happen, luckily making your own coffee stain removal solution is easy. The first thing you should do with a coffee stain is rinse out as much of the stain with water as possible. The best way to do this is to turn the garment inside out and place it under a running faucet. Next mix 1 cup hot water with about 1 tsp of dish soap. Blot with a sponge and dry with a white terry cloth. If the stain is still there, try mixing 1 part distilled vinegar and 2 parts warm water. Again blot the area with a sponge and dry with a terry cloth towel. Do not rub, that will only spread the stain. Wash regularly and verify that the stain is completely removed before you dry it. You can repeat each of the coffee stain removal methods as needed. As always test for color fastness.

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Deodorant Stains Removal

Deodorant stains can ruin any dress or shirt. I have two different tricks for dealing with these stains, however, you must test each one first in a inconspicuous place to make sure that they do not cause the color to fade or damage the fabric. The first trick is to wipe the stain with white vinegar as a pre-treatment for the stain. Launder as usual and the stain should be gone. The second trick is to soak the deodorant stain with denatured alcohol. Once you have soaked the stain, wash with the highest temperature setting that you safely can use.

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Grass Stain Removal

Grass stains are horrible. If you can get to them before they completely set, then just use a pre-wash stain remover such as the Spray and Wash Stick. It will keep the stain from setting even if you pre-treat and ignore until your normal laundry day. However, if the grass stain has set completely, you have to take more drastic measures. Mix two parts of ammonia with one part vinegar. Work the mixture into the stain and then launder as usual.

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Homemade Laundry Detergent

Diane T. sent in her homemade laundry detergent:

Here’s a recipe for laundry detergent which makes no suds, leaves no residue, and leaves your clothes soft. I dry my clothes on a clothesline and since I started using this detergent, I rarely have to iron anything –the wrinkles seem to just fall out! This recipe makes almost 5 gallons at a cost of about $3.00. I use a cup of detergent per full load and get 55-60 loads of clothes from each batch of soap. Pretty cheap, yes? I make mine in a large recycled paint bucket with a lid and store it under the pantry counter. I keep a smaller container by the washing machine which I refill from the large bucket. I buy all the ingredients from my local Kroger grocery store or they can be purchased online, which would increase the cost. Since I have very hard water, I sometimes add ½ cup of baking soda to the wash load to soften the water. (This works great when washing dishes, too, both in the dishwasher and hand washing).

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP:

Ingredients:

1 very large container (5 gallon )
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap
1 ½ cups 20 Mule Team Borax
1 ½ cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

Directions:

Put 12 cups (3 quarts) water in a large pan, bring to a boil.
Grate the bar of soap into a bowl and pour into the boiling water. (I shave the bar of soap with a potato peeler.)
Stir until dissolved.
Add the Borax and Washing Soda, stir until dissolved.
Put 8 cups (2 quarts) HOT water into a 5-gallon container.
Add soap mixture and stir well
Add 2 gallons ( 8 quarts) water, stir well.
Let mixture sit for 24 hours and it will kind of jell, like Jello.
Use a whisk or mixer (or paint blender) to make it smooth. This step is not absolutely necessary, but makes for a smoother soap.
Add 1 cup per regular washer load of clothes.

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Ink Stain Removal

Ink is one of the hardest things to get out of clothing. Inks are made in many different ways, so it is hard for me to tell you what will work best for removing your ink stain since I don’t know what kind of ink it is. The strategy for ink stain removal is to use a solvent to remove the stain from the fabric. Not all ink can be removed but you will not know about your stain until you try. In the worst case the following solvents will at least lighten the stain.

When working with all of these solutions soak a clean terry cloth rag with the solvent and blot at the stain. Never rub an ink stain because you will only work it further into the fabric. If you get an ink stain, treat it immediately if possible to make ink stain removal easier once you get home. You can treat with waterless hand sanitizer or just plain water if that is all that is available.

Hairspray is the most common ink solvent, and it works fairly well. Be patient and keep spraying and blotting. It will take some time for the stain to come up. Sometimes I will let the hairspray soak for a few moments before I blot. Rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover (acetone), Lestoil, and turpentine all work well on removing ink stains. Some ink formulas may need the use of one or more of these solvents to remove the ink.

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Laundry Odor Removal

Teri V. sent in the following tip:

I have a teenage son with raging hormones and body odor! To help fight the odors in the laundry I use the bleach cup in my washing machine and fill it with isopropyl alcohol. The rubbing alcohol not only boosts the power of the detergents, it also removes all of the odors, even the tough ones.

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Laundry Soap Residue Removal

If you start to notice that your laundry is coming out of your washer with soap residue or your clothes seem to be getting stiffer the more you wash them, then you have a detergent build-up in your washer. Adding one cup of white vinegar to your laundry will help to break up that residue. I recommend adding vinegar about once a month to keep your washer clean. Just make sure to never add vinegar to any load of laundry that you are adding bleach to.

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Red Wine Stain Removal

We have all been there before. You are having a wonderful time at a party and turn around to talk to a friend when you accidentally bump into a glass full of red wine. You new dress is ruined. To get the red wine stain out mix 1 tsp of dish detergent and 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide into a bowl. Use a clean towel or sponge to dab the area. Start from the outside and dab your way around the stain slowly working toward the center of the stain as it is removed. Hydrogen peroxide can bleach your clothing so test before you begin.

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Tough Laundry Stain Removal

If a stain has been completely set-in and even if it has already gone through the dryer, Lestoil can still save the day. Work the Lestoil into the stain and launder as usual. Make sure that you never use Lestoil on any garments that are dry-clean only. Also, test in an area that will not be noticed to make sure that it does not fade or damage your clothing.

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Share Your Tips

Do you have a great laundry stain removal tip? Please add it to the comments or email it to us so that we can share it. Together we can knock out even the toughest stains.

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Carpet Cleaning Tips

Here at Chester’s Clean House we have focused on many different carpet cleaning tips over the years. Here are a handful of some of the best tips from the last few years.

Chester's Best Carpet Cleaning Tips:

How to Remove Red Drink Stains from my Carpet - How to remove a stain from your carpet using Dawn, a terry cloth, and an iron. Remove as much liquid as possible with a shop vac. Make a mixture of Dawn and warm water and dampen a clean terry cloth with the mixture. Place the cloth over the stain and place an iron on top set to the lowest temperature setting. Over the next 15-30 minutes the stain will be pulled into the cloth and out of your carpet!
Homemade Carpet Shampoo - Using 1/2 cup of laundry detergent, 1 teaspoon of ammonia, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and about 4 cups of hot water you can create a great homemade carpet shampoo. Once you whisk the mixture together, use a sponge to lightly rub the lather over the carpet. Vacuum thoroughly once the lather has dried.
Removing Blood from Carpet and Microfiber - Spray the stained area with shaving cream and finished with a clean cloth and water. If the stain has set, use hydrogen peroxide and water to removed the dried blood. On microfiber, use meat tenderizer and water. After it dries, vacuumed thoroughly.
A Great Homemade Carpet Deodorizer - By combining equal parts of corn starch and baking soda in a medium sized bowl, you can create a great carpet deodorizer. To give it a wonderful scent, add about a dozen drops of lavender oil. You can add other essential oils as well to customize the scent.
Remove Grease Stains from Carpet - To remove a grease stain from carpet, rub baking soda into the stain. Let it stand for a few hours and then vacuum it up once it has dried.
Removing Wax from Carpet - The best way to remove wax from carpet is to gently remove as much wax as possible using a dull knife or similar object. Once you have removed as much as possible, cover the spot with a piece of brown paper bag. Run a warm iron over the bag. The wax will adhere to the paper bag. Remove the bag and repeat as necessary. Be careful of the iron's temperature. If you let it get too hot you can burn the carpet.

Lestoil Cleaning Tips and Cautionary Words

Here at Chester's Clean House we believe in cleaning in the most natural way possible. I like to say "if you can eat it, you can clean with it"; meaning that using natural products that you could eat to clean will ensure that you are not exposed to chemicals that may harm you. I don't believe that there is any way to quantify what exposure to harsh chemical cleaners may do to your body over your lifetime. So I like to play it safe and do things naturally. This is where my conflict starts, sometimes to really get the job done the right way you need to use some of those chemicals in a responsible way. Lestoil is one of the best cleaners for removing greasy spills and splatters from fabrics so put caution to the wind and learn how to carefully use Lestoil Cleaner.

What is Lestoil?

Lestoil is a product of the Clorox Company. It is a heavy duty solvent that is a mixture of light petroleum distillates and about 30% Stoddard solvent. It is a golden color and has a strong pine smell. It works wonders at removing grease, tar, ink, blood, grass stains, and those really hard to get out stains from cloths. It can be used on fabric furniture and carpeting just as well. Before you continue you should read the Lestoil Material Safety Data Sheet (Lestoil MSDS) to know more about Clorox Lestoil.

Lestoil is a great solvent. So great that if you keep a bottle around for more than 18 months, there is a good chance that it will eat through the plastic bottle and leak all over. To help protect againt this, I always write the date I purchased it on the bottle so I know when I need to get a new container for it. Knowing how caustic this stuff is, I also always wear rubber gloves and a respirator whenever I am using it.

Using Lestoil in the Laundry

Lestoil is very concentrated, so you only need to use a little bit to treat each stain. I just pour a little onto the stained area and rub it into the fabric. I let the Lestoil stand for about 30 minutes before laundering the clothing. For really thick stains, I will use the cap to try and scrape away the stain. Wash and dry as you normally would. Do not use this on dry clean only fabrics.

Lestoil works best on the following stains:

Greasy
Tar
Ink
Grass Stains
Hydraulic Fluid
Motor Oil
Dry Erase Marker
Perspiration Stains (paraffin wax from deodorant)
Lip Stick
Juice Spills

Where to buy Lestoil

Lestoil can sometimes be fairly hard to find. Most grocery stores carry it in the laundry detergent isle. If you cannot find it at your local grocery store, the next place I would try would be at the drug store. If all else fails you can find it at amazon.com.

Enjoy the cleaning power of Lestoil, but also remember to stay safe.

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Hydrogen Peroxide - Cleaning, Sanitizing Wonder

Over the years, we have offered many great cleaning tips that use hydrogen peroxide. Ever wonder why it’s such a great cleaning agent? Hydrogen Peroxide (H₂O₂) is a mild acid, but it is a very strong oxidizing agent which means that as it combines with other molecules, it gives off oxygen. Because of this, Hydrogen Peroxide can be used very successfully as an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-mold cleaning agent. It also is very good at bleaching surfaces.

Hydrogen Peroxide is safe to use around the house and is non-toxic, especially in the low concentrations that we recommend using. It is also fairly inexpensive, and easy to obtain at almost any grocery or drug store. It can also be bought in bulk at restaurant supply stores.

When you clean with Hydrogen Peroxide, you get an added bonus. It sanitizes your sponges every time you use it. No need to worry about spreading nasty stuff around!

Practical uses of hydrogen peroxide:

Spray on and wipe down wooden cutting boards to disinfect
Use to sanitize bathrooms and kitchens, just a splash on a sponge will do
Can be used to clean toilets, and is septic system safe
Can be diluted into a spray to clean vegetables and fruits
Can be used in your washer instead of bleach, just treat it as if it were bleach
You can even bleach your hair with a highly diluted mix of H₂O₂ and water!

Some of our classic cleaning tips using Hydrogen Peroxide are:

Removing Blood From Carpet and Microfiber

The other day I stubbed my toe and it bleed pretty good. In the process of getting my toe to stop bleeding I got blood all over our carpet and microfiber couch. I immediately got some shaving cream and sprayed the affected areas and finished with a clean cloth and water. The next day I was able to find a little more blood that I had missed. On the carpet I used hydrogen peroxide and water to removed the remaining blood, but I was worried that the hydrogen peroxide might fade the couch. I used meat tenderizer and water on the microfiber. After it dried I vacuumed the area well and used a baby wipe to remove the watermarks that were left. When cleaning up blood, remember that it is a protein based stain and work accordingly with the limitations of the soiled surface.

Removing Protein Based Stains Like Milk, Chocolate, and Blood

Meat Tenderizer works great at getting out protein based stains like milk, chocolate, and blood. If you have a fresh stain, sprinkle meat tenderizer on the wet stain and let it stand for around one hour. Rinse off the excess with clean water and repeat if necessary. Launder as usual. For dried on stains use a paste of water and meat tenderizer for about one hour. Again, rinse with water and launder as usual.

Removing Blood from Furniture

To remove blood stains, use hydrogen peroxide. Rub gently to remove any blood stains from furniture and clothing. Always use a clean cloth and try to clean the stain as quickly as possible. Whenever cleaning fabrics, always test an inconspicuous area to make sure that your cleaning solution is not going to discolor or stain the fabric.

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