Dan's Papers - January 11, 2008

You wake up on a beautiful sunny morning with a smile on your face and a rare boost of energy for seven o'clock in the morning. The birds are chirping as you step into the shower feeling content with your life and excited about the day ahead. Your hair turns out looking fabulous and you remember the new body lotion you purchased over the weekend that smells delightful. You decide to go with a simple white top, tweed gray trousers and black patten pumps. Just as you imagined, you look clean and sharp. Your beautiful mood is radiating from the inside. You stop for your regular Starbucks on the way to work and treat yourself to an extra yummy latte. As you slip back into your car and take that first sip of espresso it happens. In one instant your perfect outfit becomes trashy as, to your dismay, you dribble three giant brown stains down the front of the blouse. The feelings of being sharp, put together and immaculately dressed have flown out the window in a matter of seconds. For some, stained clothing is a tricky subject. We are told that the stain will come out, or if it is white we can bleach it. When this does not happen we wonder, "What is wrong with me? Why can't I get the stain out?"

Accidents happen to everyone, but some more than others. For example, a person who works in the food industry is no stranger to red wine, coffee and marinara sauce stains. In this situation or any food-related incident, it is best to dab at the stain, while it is still wet, with soda water. The fizz from the soda helps to keep the stain from setting. In the restaurant business some say that the best quick fix for a red wine stain is to apply white wine on top of it. From my experience this is a myth. For small spot-treating incidents it is wise to carry a shout bleach pen for white clothing or Clorox wipes for colors. An artist has an entirely different familiarity with stains, as they are frequently dealing with different paints. An automotive repairman may be accustomed to oil damage and a nanny to finger paints and so on. Then there are us clumsy people for whom keeping a white shirt clean is a rarity.

More important than keeping the stains from setting is removing the ones that have set up shop on our favorite white shirt. Some people simply bleach their whites with ease, never revealing a yellow armpit. Others settle for yellow armpits. Textile and stain experts recommend specific stain removal tools for each component of the stain. For example, eyedroppers and cue tips to apply the first chemical directly to the stain. Bleaches break up stains by way of oxidation, sucking the color out of the stain.

So, it is important to get the oil part of the stain out first, which you are doing with one solvent, and then taking out the color part of the stain, which you are doing with another solvent. To remove the oily part you need to find an oil solvent stain remover (K2r, Afta, etc.). Bleaches will take care of the color that the stain leaves behind. The cotton swab can also be used for this part. For spot treating there are mild bleaches such as lemon juice or white vinegar to be applied directly on the spot. And for that white shirt, wash it with a capful of bleach and hope for the best. If it does not come out the first time repeat the process. This is where I think that I mess up, as I lose all patience after the first time and give up.

It is recommended to use non-chlorine oxygen bleach because it is gentler and not as toxic as regular bleach. I think that the "sure" people walking around with crispy white shirts use the harsh stuff.