Your ultimate Stain Removal Guide for clothes: Blast 10 most common stains

Bye bye laundry stains, Keep your Clothes Spotless the Natural Way!

Whether it's pasta sauce on your new white top, a coffee spill, or a splash of red wine, stains are a part of life—and they don’t have to mean disaster for your favourite clothes.

This stain removal guide for clothes will stop you from worrying if those stains will come out. If you're a busy mum or someone striving for a natural, sustainable home, this guide is here to help get rid of those pesky stains the first time!

We’ll walk you through our tried and tested eco-friendly methods for tackling 10 common stains we all get on our clothes. You will be confident about getting these stains out, and feel great that you're keeping your family and the planet safe too. So, grab your Figgy stain removing essentials and get ready to say goodbye to those stubborn laundry stains! 

Why Use Natural Eco Alternatives Vs. Typical Stain Removal Products?

Traditional stain removers may be tough on stains, but they can also be harsh on your home environment & health too. Many conventional products contain chemicals like chlorine bleach, solvents, harsh detergents, synthetic fragrances, and ammonia that can release fumes and irritate the skin and airways – not to mention stripping colour and ruining clothing with harsh bleaching!

With Figgy products, you can be sure of ingredients that are safe around all your family, your clothing and the environment. Here’s why natural is the way to go for treating laundry stains:

• Safe for Sensitive Skin: Natural ingredients like soap, oxygen bleach and washing soda are gentle yet effective, making them ideal for families with sensitive skin.
• Reduced Environmental Impact: Figgy & Co eco-friendly ingredients are biodegradable and free from harmful pollutants that build up in our environment, protecting waterways and reducing waste.
• Cleaner Air Quality: Our products don’t contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), so they won’t contribute to indoor air pollution and damage to your airways.
• Gentle Yet Powerful: Using ingredients like washing soda, baking soda, and castile soap, Figgy products clean effectively without the risks associated with harsher chemicals.

Eco-Friendly Stain Blasting Removers (Ingredient Breakdown)

Let’s break down some key natural ingredients for tackling stains. Each of these eco-friendly options is safe, sustainable, and available in the Figgy webstore.

• Figgy’s bar soap: Figgy’s hero laundry product! This versatile soap gently lifts even the toughest stains without synthetic detergents. Made from fairtrade coconut oil, this soap is made for blasting stains.
• Home Cleaning Castile Soap: The liquid version of our bar soap is great for hand washing, spot treating and using alongside other ingredients.
• Washing soda: Washing soda is magic at lifting greasy stains. It can be thought of as the similar but stronger cleaner than baking soda. This is the main ingredient in Figgy & Co Laundry powder
• Oxygen bleach: A mild, eco-safe bleaching agent that is the shelf stable version of hydrogen peroxide. Effective on red wine and blood (for light-coloured fabrics only). This is the active ingredient in Figgy & Co Laundry soaker.
• Baking Soda: An odour-neutraliser and mild abrasive scrubber, ideal for soaking away musty smells and refreshing garments.
• White Vinegar: Cuts through tough residues and build-up and helps combat odours.

Understand Laundry Terms and Cleaning Methods

Suds up or Lather: Apply soap to the textile either by squirting directly with liquid soap or swiping over with bars soap. Rub the soap into the textile to distribute then rub the soap in further by rubbing the fabric on itself to make bubbles or a fine silky lather.

Blot: Use gentle downward pressure to absorb liquid to lift it away. Do not rub.

Emulsify: To bind soap to an oil by rubbing soap into an oily stain without water. This new mix will then rinse away in water.

Wet-up soap: Put the soap bar under the running water then apply this wet soap to the stain. This is idea when you want the soap to be concentrated with no or limited water being added to the stain.

Stain Guide: How to Treat the 10 Most Common laundry Stains

Here’s a breakdown of natural treatments for removing common stains that turn up on our clothes. Remember, with eco-friendly cleaning, the method is just as important as the materials! Stains don't need to be stressful - with the right steps and cleaning allies, blasting stains will become a no-brainer. And If you don’t need to wash the whole garment, opt for spot cleaning only — this will save time, cleaning products and water!

1. Coffee and Tea Stains

• Step one: Blot with cold water to lift the stain.
• Step two: Pre-treat stain with Figgy bar soap directly onto the mark. Suds up then wash as normal
• Step three: Should any stain remain (unlikely). Dissolve 1-2 tablespoons of Oxygen bleach or Figgy & Co Laundry soaker in half a bucket of warm water. Soak for at least 2 hour or until the stain is gone

2. Red Wine Stains

• Step one: Blot with a cloth, then flush with cold water and blot up again.
• Step two: Suds up with soap – and expect the stain to change colour but not disappear – this step is to wash out the wine before dealing with the pigment. Rinse with fresh water.
• Step three: Soak in Oxygen bleach or Figgy & Co Laundry soaker. Dissolve 1-2 tablespoons in half a bucket of warm water. Soak for 30-60 minutes or until the stain is gone

3. Blood Stains

• Step one: Use cool water to flush out free rinsing blood first. This might mean dried blood will need a short soak in water first.
• Step two: For larger or set stains - soak in a saltwater or washing soda solution – dissolve 1 tablespoon of salt or washing soda or Figgy washing powder in half a bucket of cool water. Soak with cool water for 30-60 minutes.
• Step three: Suds up directly on the blood mark with bar soap or a small squirt of castile soap — rub with your finger tips to move the soap through the stain. Wash as normal.
• Step four: If a stain remains (more likely with older stains) soak in Oxygen bleach or Figgy & Co Laundry soaker. Dissolve 1-2 tablespoons in half a bucket of warm water. Soak for at least 2 hours or until the stain is gone

4. Oil and Greasy stains like butter

• Step one: Scrape up any residue with a blunt butter knife.
• Step two: Use un-diluted castile soap or wetted-up Figgy & Co bar soap directly on the oil. Don’t wet under a tap – apply the soap first then work the soap into the oily stain until it goes a milky colour – this is the oil and soap emulsifying. Rinse from the backside to front with hottest water the fabric will tolerate.
• Step three: Check for any residue and repeat step two if required. Wash as normal

5. Chocolate Stains

• Step one: Scrape off excess chocolate gently.
• Step two: Use un-diluted castile soap or wetted-up bar soap directly on the mark. Lather until the mark lifts. Rinse and wash as normal.

6. Ink Stains

• Step one: For a large amount of ink – try to lift away the excess with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitiser. Use a blotting action to lift the ink up off the fabric
• Step two: Rub with a good amount of soap — and work the suds into the mark, rinse. Suds the stain up again – this time leave the suds on the mark for 15-30 minutes so the soap can dissolve the ink.
• Step three: If a mark remains, dissolve 1 tablespoon of Oxygen bleach in 1 cup of hot water – dip the stain in and leave it to soak for at least 2 hours or until the stain is gone. Be careful with highly coloured garments and the colour may fade.

7. Grass Stains

• Step one: Use diluted castile soap or rub Figgy & Co bar soap directly on the stain. Suds up well, wash as normal
• Alternative: Soak with ¼ washing soda dissolved into a bucket of warm water. Rub the fabric on itself with your hands to help the grass stains lift off the fabric. Wash as normal.

8. Sweat Stains & Deodorant build-up

• Step one: Pre-soak the area in Strong White vinegar to soften the deodorant build up. Rinse well
• Step two: Apply bar soap directly to the area and with a brush work the area to release the build-up.
• Step three: Wash on a long hot wash or wash with a hold & boosted with ½ cup washing soda or ¼ Oxygen bleach.

9. Tomato Sauce or Pasta Sauce Stains

• Step one: Scrape up any excess sauce with a blunt butter knife.
• Step two: While rinsing under a tap, soap up with Figgy & Co bar soap. Suds up the area well. Rinse and wash as normal.

10. Makeup Stains like Foundation

• Step one: Scrape up any residue with a blunt butter knife.
• Step two: Use diluted Home Cleaning Castile Soap, or wet-up Figgy & Co bar soap directly on the stain. Do not add water first. Suds up the stain gently — work the stain inwards so it doesn’t spread. Scrape off the soap and foundation mix, then rinse with water from the backside to the front.
• Step three: suds up again, let the lather sit on the textile for 15-30 minutes then rinse and wash as normal.

8 Tips to Successfully Remove Stains from Clothes

Here are some general rules to use along with the stain removal guide for making sure your stain removal is as effective as possible:

1. Act Quickly: Fresh stains are far easier to remove than set stains.
2. If in doubt: Start with soap. Soap is a go–to general purpose cleaner, you can’t really go wrong.
3. Blot, Don’t Rub: Rubbing damage the surface of fabrics & can spread the stain around the fabric.
4. Use Cold Water First: And then move to hotter water as needed. Hot water can set stains, especially protein-based ones like blood
5. Rinse stains outwards and away: When rinsing stains in the sink, but sure to rinse from the inside to the outside – this way the stain will not spread further.
6. Minimise first: If there is mess sitting on the surface, remove what you can with a blunt butter knife.
7. Oil and water don’t mix: Oily stains need to be emulsified with soap — skip the water and go straight to the bubbles.
8. Test Solutions First: If you are working with a delicate fabric or one that is highly pigmented with colour that will run, always test a small, hidden area before treating the main stain.

Special Care Tips for Stains on Delicate Fabrics

Certain fabrics require extra care because of what fibre type the are made off. Check the washing instructions tag on your clothing for guidance. For delicate items like silk or lace, follow these tips:

Spot Test First: Always test a hidden area of the fabric with your cleaning solution.

Use Cold Water: Prevent shrinkage and colour bleeding.

Avoid Soaking: Blot gently and avoid immersing delicate fabrics.

Use a Mild Cleaner: Figgy & Co bar soap or diluted castile soap is ideal for gentle cleaning.

Air Dry Flat: Lay flat to dry to maintain the fabric’s shape.

Oxygen bleach: While this whitening agent is fantastic for many textiles - protein based garments can be damaged. Avoid using on wool and silk

Common Stain Removal Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Avoid these common mistakes to make stain removal easier and safer for your fabrics:

Mistake #1: Don’t put stained clothes into the dryer — The heat will set the stain and make removal difficult if not impossible

Mistake #2: Using Hot Water on Protein Stains — Stick to cold water for blood, dairy, or egg stains.

Mistake #3: Harsh rubbing in one spot — This will damage the fibres and lead to an obvious mark

Mistake #4: Not using enough contact time — natural cleaners like soap and oxygen bleach are effective but may not work as fast compared to chlorine bleach for example, so for tougher stains make sure they are given time to work.

Natural Stain Removing Essentials to have in your Laundry Kit

To be prepared for any stain emergency, stock your kit with these essential all natural stain removers. Being ready for life's messes definitely makes it easy to treat stains immediately & takes away the worry if you will be able to treat a stain or not:

Figgy & Co Soap: These traditionally made pure soaps are gentle on fabrics but powerful on stains. Both our soaps are formulated in-house, we've taken the best natural ingredients and made truly modern, effective cleaners that are ideal in the laundry and rest of your home! Travelling soon? Figgy & Co bar soap is idea to have on hand while holidaying, now you can take care of stains and wash your smalls!

Washing soda & Oxygen bleach: Your go-to for many types of stains. Washing soda will help dissolve oily stains, while oxygen bleach (or green bleach) will break down stains using hydrogen peroxide.

Bucket: Essential for soaking – a lidded bucket is ideal for households with babies to keep them safe from accidental drowning

Soft Brush: For gently working on stains. An old toothbrush is ideal.

Spray Bottle: Great for quick applications of vinegar or castile soap solutions right onto the stain before it sets or to target an area.

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