Stains on your clothing can be frustrating. Luckily, there are a few on-the-go tips to stop accidental spills from ruining your garment for good.
From pen stains to red wine and beyond, these tips should teach you how to spot clean clothing.
1. How to Spot Clean Stains on
Clothing
B L O G | K E L L Y ' S D R Y C L E A N E R S
https://kellysdrycleaners.com/
2. From landing ketchup on your shirt to
finding a leaky pen in your pocket, it’s
sometimes difficult to prevent staining
our clothes. However, these are not just
common annoyances; if not cleaned
immediately, they can cut short the life of
your otherwise perfectly nice and
perhaps expensive garments. To prevent
this from happening, you should learn
howtospotcleanfabrics.
3. WhatDoesSpotCleanMean?
Spot cleaning means treating only the
stained part of the garment. You must
know how to pick the right cleaning
solution for different types of stains and
fabric.
4. Aspotcleanonlycarelabelisoftenseen
on expensive designer items that are
hand-made, fragile, or contain lace and
bead work. While spot cleaning works
for most fabrics, it can often leave a
watermark on silk, which looks similar
to a stain. In this case, getting help from
aprofessionalisabetteroption.
5. Choosing the Most Appropriate
Solvent
Part of learning how to spot clean fabrics
is knowing the best solution to use. The
clothing label should be your best guide.
If it does not give you any specific
instructions,gobyfabrictype.
6. You can soak cotton in warm water. Do
not dry heat because it will only set the
stain. While you may use bleach when
spotcleaningcotton,itisveryhardonthe
fabric. If necessary, use chlorine as a last
resort but dilute it well with water. Most
of the time, detergents and light acids like
vinegar should work well in treating
stainsonwhitecotton.
7. Wool is more heat sensitive than cotton.
It must be gently spot cleaned using
warm, not hot, water. You can soak it, but
makesureitislaidflattoavoiddistortion.
Use only wool-safe detergents. Never use
bleach or acids on wool. They will
damage the fabric permanently. If a wool
detergent with water does not work, have
itdry-cleanedimmediately.
8. Polyester and rayon can be spot cleaned
more thoroughly than cotton.
Unfortunately, oxidizing bleaches like
hydrogen peroxide can destroy these
fabrics. It is best to spot clean them using a
normal detergent or with a dish soap
meantforheavygreases.
9. Silk is more sensitive. It is better to rinse
the whole garment thoroughly because
spot treatment may cause watermarks,
which are nearly as bad as stains. A
glycerin stain remover is highly
recommended.It’sneutralandeffective.
10. No matter what you are using, test the
solvent on an inside patch of your clothing
before applying it to the stain on your
clothing. Also, ensure that you are using
therightwatertemperature.
11. HowtoSpotCleanClothing?
Before applying any solvent, try to remove
any excess stain using any edgy material
like a credit card or knife. Do not rub away
the stain to prevent it from going deeper
intothefabricfibers.
12. For liquid stains, use a paper napkin or a
white cloth to blot away as much moisture
as possible. A slice of white bread is also
helpfulinabsorbingoilystains.
13. After removing excess solid stains, get a
clean, white paper napkin. Place the
stained area face down over the napkin. By
working from the opposite side of the
stain, you will force the dirt into the
napkin and away from the garment. If you
work from the front, the stain will move
deeperintothefabric.
14. Dampen a small white cloth or cotton
swabwiththecleaningsolvent.Again,spot
cleanthestainfromtheoppositeside.Start
at the edges and slowly move towards the
center to prevent the stained area from
getting bigger. Repeat the procedure until
allthestainsaregone.
15. Allow the spot cleaned area to air dry.
Avoid direct heat and use a fan to
accelerate drying. High heat can create
staintraces.
After spot cleaning the stain, thoroughly
clean the garment by washing or dry
cleaning. Always follow the
recommendationsonthelabel.
16. Nothing treats a stain better than
immediate spot cleaning. With just room
temperature or warm water and an
appropriate solvent, you are ready to go.
However, even after learning how to spot
clean your clothing, you can always ask a
professional cleaner for help if you have
questionsorlimitedtime.
17. Kelly’s Dry Cleaners have branches in
Durango, CO and in Farmington, NM. Call
us at 505-564-3333 and we will take care of
everything.