Stain Removal and The Toughest Kinds of Stains
For most of us, fabric care is one of those responsibilities that never quite adds up to a full-blown pain in the neck, but never entirely recedes into being something we don’t have to worry about at all. Like much of home cleaning and car maintenance, it is just ever-present enough to make life difficult, but rarely a big enough deal to seem worth complaining about.
But there are certain stains -- we might call them the Terrible Trio -- that send even the most composed housekeeper, or clothes wearer, into something near hysterics. If a visiting friend’s child spills a little Seven-Up on your nicest carpet, it’s easy to be graceful and forgiving. But removing a blood stain, pet stains, or a wine stain -- these will send a person around the bend. Why are these stains such tough candidates for stain removal?
Let’s look at these stain removal villains in order. A blood stain is a hard stain to remove for the very reason that blood, when found in any form besides a blood stain, is such an important bodily fluid -- it is full of proteins and enzymes that your body needs in order to function correctly. These protein and enzymes found in blood, and unfortunately thus in blood stains, are part of what allows your body to heal itself quickly after a cut. They are excellent bonding agents. They are made to seal up any holes or abrasions that your body develops. But think back to the first principal of stain removal: The most important thing is always to keep a stain from setting. The less likely a stain agent is to bond itself to the fabric, the easier a target it is for stain removal. Since blood is full of chemical agents that, of necessity, bond easily and well with other substances, that blood stain is beginning to set in to your fabric the instant blood touches carpet. Thus, doing a bit of stain removal on a blood stain takes a lot of work: you have to get those proteins and enzymes unbound from the fabric, when getting bound in the first place is one of the things these substances are made to do.
What could be almost as annoying, for the person trying to do a bit of stain removal, as a blood stain? Surely, a pet stain. The thing that makes a pet stain especially problematic is that the enzymes it contains can not only bond with fabric, as a blood stain can do, but they also can do harm to the dyes and other chemicals that keep our carpets and other fabrics looking neat, colorful, and bright. A pet stain bonds to the fabric and then destroys the very things that help that fabric to look distinctive -- and it smells, too. Surely, household stain removal is never more essential than when it comes to a pet stain.
Unless it’s a wine stain. Why are wine stains so hard to remove? One reason is because of the circumstances in which people tend to drink wine -- in a convivial, celebratory situation, where only a truly epic spill is likely to get noticed. (A bit of wine sloshing on to the tablecloth is easier to miss.) A wine stain is hard enough to remove if it hasn’t been allowed to dry and set. Add in the fact that we all too often do allow a mild wine spill to become a set in wine stain, the difficulty of dealing with wine stains is easily explained.
But more importantly, a wine stain, even when it hasn’t set in yet, is tough to deal with because of the chemical nature of wine. Wine is mildly acidic. That’s why wine that has been left in the half-open bottle too long tends to taste nasty, vinegary. So a wine stain is basically a record of the damage that a very mild acid has done to your favorite blouse, dress, or tablecloth.
Stain removal of these tougher stains depends, first of all, on vigilance. Pay proper attention to your pet; when someone is bleeding, attend to the wound first, but take care of blotting any spills with a towel as soon as possible after medical needs have been taken care of. And when drinking wine, keep a napkin handy, and pay attention, even as you have fun. Stain removal doesn’t have to be a big deal -- but it can never be ignored.
Having blotted the spill, you will, with any luck, be able to clean up any residue with simple soap and water. Use a gentle soap and warm -- not hot -- water.
Thankfully, there are new innovations in stain removal that are made from ingredients to safely remove ink and other stains from a variety of surfaces. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Partnership Program, Design for the Environment’s (DfE) Safer Product Labeling Program has recognized a number of cleaners with the DfE Safer Product label. The DfE mark enables consumers to quickly identify and choose products that can help protect the environment and are safer for families.
So when tough stain removal is the objective, remember that there are safe, natural stain removal products on the market today. Today’s natural stain removal products can safely remove even the toughest stains while also protecting fabric, leather, vinyl, and many other surfaces from future stains.
About StainHotline.com
StainHotline.com, operated by The Casite Company, offers safe, environmentally friendly stain removal and upholstery protection products.For stain removal products to help with leather stains, carpet stains, wine stains, ink stains, and for odor removal, please visit http://www.stainhotline.com.
But there are certain stains -- we might call them the Terrible Trio -- that send even the most composed housekeeper, or clothes wearer, into something near hysterics. If a visiting friend’s child spills a little Seven-Up on your nicest carpet, it’s easy to be graceful and forgiving. But removing a blood stain, pet stains, or a wine stain -- these will send a person around the bend. Why are these stains such tough candidates for stain removal?
Let’s look at these stain removal villains in order. A blood stain is a hard stain to remove for the very reason that blood, when found in any form besides a blood stain, is such an important bodily fluid -- it is full of proteins and enzymes that your body needs in order to function correctly. These protein and enzymes found in blood, and unfortunately thus in blood stains, are part of what allows your body to heal itself quickly after a cut. They are excellent bonding agents. They are made to seal up any holes or abrasions that your body develops. But think back to the first principal of stain removal: The most important thing is always to keep a stain from setting. The less likely a stain agent is to bond itself to the fabric, the easier a target it is for stain removal. Since blood is full of chemical agents that, of necessity, bond easily and well with other substances, that blood stain is beginning to set in to your fabric the instant blood touches carpet. Thus, doing a bit of stain removal on a blood stain takes a lot of work: you have to get those proteins and enzymes unbound from the fabric, when getting bound in the first place is one of the things these substances are made to do.
What could be almost as annoying, for the person trying to do a bit of stain removal, as a blood stain? Surely, a pet stain. The thing that makes a pet stain especially problematic is that the enzymes it contains can not only bond with fabric, as a blood stain can do, but they also can do harm to the dyes and other chemicals that keep our carpets and other fabrics looking neat, colorful, and bright. A pet stain bonds to the fabric and then destroys the very things that help that fabric to look distinctive -- and it smells, too. Surely, household stain removal is never more essential than when it comes to a pet stain.
Unless it’s a wine stain. Why are wine stains so hard to remove? One reason is because of the circumstances in which people tend to drink wine -- in a convivial, celebratory situation, where only a truly epic spill is likely to get noticed. (A bit of wine sloshing on to the tablecloth is easier to miss.) A wine stain is hard enough to remove if it hasn’t been allowed to dry and set. Add in the fact that we all too often do allow a mild wine spill to become a set in wine stain, the difficulty of dealing with wine stains is easily explained.
But more importantly, a wine stain, even when it hasn’t set in yet, is tough to deal with because of the chemical nature of wine. Wine is mildly acidic. That’s why wine that has been left in the half-open bottle too long tends to taste nasty, vinegary. So a wine stain is basically a record of the damage that a very mild acid has done to your favorite blouse, dress, or tablecloth.
Stain removal of these tougher stains depends, first of all, on vigilance. Pay proper attention to your pet; when someone is bleeding, attend to the wound first, but take care of blotting any spills with a towel as soon as possible after medical needs have been taken care of. And when drinking wine, keep a napkin handy, and pay attention, even as you have fun. Stain removal doesn’t have to be a big deal -- but it can never be ignored.
Having blotted the spill, you will, with any luck, be able to clean up any residue with simple soap and water. Use a gentle soap and warm -- not hot -- water.
Thankfully, there are new innovations in stain removal that are made from ingredients to safely remove ink and other stains from a variety of surfaces. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Partnership Program, Design for the Environment’s (DfE) Safer Product Labeling Program has recognized a number of cleaners with the DfE Safer Product label. The DfE mark enables consumers to quickly identify and choose products that can help protect the environment and are safer for families.
So when tough stain removal is the objective, remember that there are safe, natural stain removal products on the market today. Today’s natural stain removal products can safely remove even the toughest stains while also protecting fabric, leather, vinyl, and many other surfaces from future stains.
About StainHotline.com
StainHotline.com, operated by The Casite Company, offers safe, environmentally friendly stain removal and upholstery protection products.For stain removal products to help with leather stains, carpet stains, wine stains, ink stains, and for odor removal, please visit http://www.stainhotline.com.
