Who doesn’t love chocolate Easter Eggs?
The Easter weekend is a traditional a time to give out chocolate eggs and let the kids go crazy with Easter Egg hunts and mountains of delicious chocolate and Easter cakes.
As yummy as chocolate is, Chocolate will stain over the easter period along with other stains such as grass stains, mud, butter from delicious hot cross buns and sticky finger marks.
If you catch the stains quickly they don’t tend to be a problem and my stain busting guide has most of them covered.
But when left untreated for a few hours they can become hard to shift as the stain will absorb itself into the fabric.
I have put together a few very simple tips to help you tackle those Easter weekend stains.
Grass Stains
To remove ground in tough grass stains from children’s clothes. Simply add a Stain remover and leave to soak for at least 15 minutes before washing as normal.
If you don’t have a stain treatment to hand then good old washing up liquid or using a liquid laundry detergent as a pretreat should work. Once you have left the soap to soak into the garment then, get a toothbrush and gentle rub over the stain to work the liquid into the area. Finally add to your washing machine and pop on the highest temperature the garment will take.
If you are out and about when the stain hits, grab your hand sanitiser and cover as much of the stain as possible.
If your stain has not been completely lifted after washing, you may want to consider using rubbing alcohol or hairspray. The reason why is that the alcohol found in these products breaks down the green pigments in grass stains.
If you are using rubbing alcohol, dab a small amount onto a clean cloth, and gently sponge it over your stain. When you see the colour lifting, rinse your garment in cold water and continue with the usual removal process.
To use hairspray, spray a liberal amount over your stain and wait for it to completely dry. Once it has dried, used a soft-bristled brush, such as a toothbrush to scrub at your stain. When you notice the colour begin to fade, flush out the hairspray with cold water.
Butter
Hot cross buns are complimented perfectly when topped with a generous amount of butter. If you accidentally drop some butter on your clothing, don’t panic, simply follow these instructions.
If your butter stain has been caused by a blob of butter, begin the removal process by using a butter knife or spoon to gently lift as much solid butter as possible.
After you have removed any solid bits of butter, use a clean white cloth, or paper towel, to gently dab the stain. Make sure that you are dabbing and not rubbing, as rubbing will cause your stain to set further into your clothing.
Once you have removed as much excess oil from the stain as possible, sprinkle a generous amount of either cornstarch, bicarbonate of soda, chalk or talcum powder over your stain. Allow your powder to sit on your stain for at least 15 minutes to give it an ample amount of time to absorb as much oil as possible. After 15 minutes, gently brush the powder off of your item.
Next cover the stain with either your liquid laundry detergent or washing up liquid and gently work into the stain using your fingers.
Finally, wash your item as you usually would. If your stain has not been removed, repeat the process.
Mud Stains
Pre-soak the garment as soon as possible in a bowl of cold water with 3 heaped tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda for approx one hour. Then pop in the wash as normal with the highest temperature the garment will allow.
Chocolate stains
Gently wipe as much of the excess chocolate as you can, taking care not to push the stain deeper into the fibres. You can use a blunt knife or credit card for this. Then flush out as much chocolate as you can using cold running water from the back of the stain. Make sure that you are using cold and not hot water because hot water will only set your chocolate stain further into your clothing.
Soak in a solution of detergent and warm water for at least 30 minutes before washing as usual at the highest temperature allowed.
Want to learn more crazy cleaning tips then then grab a copy of one of my books and I will show you how to clean your house and tidy up your life
