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Q: My kids love the Cookie Monster, and he inspired them to help me make holiday cookies. But our cookie decorating sessions always end up with food coloring stains on their clothes. How do I remove them?
If you treat the stains as soon as the decorating session is over, they will be easier to remove.
Start by sponging the stain with cold water to remove as much of the food coloring as possible. Then pretreat with a prewash stain-remover and launder. If the…
Chocolate stains happen. In this video, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) shows you steps to remove them.
Q. Our family really loves pumpkin – pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup have all been part of our Thanksgiving meal. Inevitably, we get pumpkin stains on our tablecloth and the cloth napkins we reserve for special dinners. How do I get these stains out?
Scrape off any excess pumpkin and then flush under cold water to loosen the stain. Pretreat with a prewash stain remover. Launder in the hottest water that's safe for the fabric, using chlorine…
Spaghetti sauce splatter on your shirt, wax drips on the table cloth,and wine spots stain the rug, it can and will happen. And why does the bread always fall butter-side down? But, don’t let worrying about a few stains ruin your dinner.
ACI has these cleanup tips for after your feast:
Tomato Based Stains…
Q: Because they can be uncomfortable and not always safe, last year I convinced my kids to forgo masks in favor of face paint and other makeup to create their Halloween "personas." It was a great success and we're doing it again this year. The only problem is the makeup stains on their outfits. Some stain-removal help, please!
A: Stains from face paint, makeup, hair gel and lipstick can all be treated with a prewash stain…
Are your black jeans, t-shirt or your little black dress not as black as they used to be? For the most part, it’s pretty inevitable that dark clothes will fade after repeated washings.
There are laundry products that are formulated to lessen the fading. Be sure to read the product label and look for features like color guard or "for black" or "dark clothes". And always follow the product and garment label instructions before using.
If machine washing is recommended, you…
With a little preparation, you can be ready to enjoy a stress-free picnic.
When preparing or serving food in the great outdoors, there are a few extra steps and considerations that you may not have at home or even in your backyard. Food needs to be stored properly to be safely consumed during your al fresco meal. Spills and stains have more time to set before they can get to the laundry. And you need to be prepared to clean up thoroughly to leave things better than you found…
Treat and wash stains promptly!
Holiday entertaining is fraught with potential disasters. But a cool head and the right products will keep a mini-crisis from becoming a major problem. Here are some quick and easy remedies from the American Cleaning Institute:
Stains
Turkey, gravy, butter, and salad dressing (oil-based stains): Pretreat with a prewash stain remover. Launder in the hottest water that’s safe for the fabric.
Cranberry sauce, apple cider, and pumpkin pie (fruit-…
Q: I’ve done a good job keeping my skin protected from the sun, and my kids protected from mosquitoes. But now I have bug spray and sunscreen on my clothes. What do I do?
While that’s definitely good news for you and your kids, it sounds like the family wardrobe didn’t make out as well. But don’t fear; most commercially available bug sprays and sunscreens do wash out relatively easily. First, pretreat the stains with a prewash stain remover, then launder, using the hottest…
Q: My summer resolution was to make sure my kids get plenty of outdoor exercise. In addition to limiting their indoor activities, as a family, we've been doing lots of weekend picnicking and hiking. The downside is that our clothes are full of grass, dirt and sweat stains. How do I get rid of them?
A: For grass stains, pretreat the stains with a prewash stain remover or rub liquid laundry detergent into the stains. Launder, using the hottest water that's…