Every woman has at least once encountered the problem of soiling a tablecloth. It would seem that nothing can ruin the mood after a successful feast, but traces of food or, worse, wine on a new, completely snow-white tablecloth will horrify any housewife. But there is no need to rush to throw it away and think that such stains cannot be washed off. This is possible, and your favorite tablecloth will delight you with its cleanliness for a long time!
Stains from different products: is it possible to remove?
Depending on what product got on your tablecloth and caused it to become dirty, there are various effective methods that will not present any particular difficulties for you to use and will help you deal with the problem quickly enough.
- Lemon juice can easily help remove traces of berries and fruits: just cut the lemon and thoroughly wipe the dirt with it. Also a really great remedy is regular citric acid mixed with water.
- To cope with such a scourge as greasy stains, you need to mix salt with water to form a thick, homogeneous paste, and apply it to the stain for half an hour to an hour, and then rinse with a small amount of warm water. In addition, a regular dishwashing detergent can be a good helper in this “war.” An excellent way to remove such marks is talc or chalk. It is enough to sprinkle the dirt with these substances, put a piece of moisture-absorbing paper on top and carefully iron it.If this does not help, then you should leave the tablecloth sprinkled with talcum powder or chalk overnight, and then repeat the same thing.
- Traces of wine, which at first glance are very difficult to deal with, can be easily removed with a mixture of glycerin and the yolk of one egg. An effective remedy is a solution that can be prepared from 5 grams of toilet soap, ½ teaspoon of soda and a glass of warm water. You need to soak the fabric in this solution and leave it to soak for a day, and after a while wash it in water at medium temperature.
- Tea, coffee or chocolate will not cause problems if the stains left by them are thoroughly moistened with hydrogen peroxide and left for 15-20 minutes, and then rinsed under the tap. Another recipe for removing such stains is a mixture of glycerin and ammonia, prepared in a ratio of four to one.
- Beet or tomato traces that are not so easy to remove can be removed with ordinary laundry soap. First, just wash the tablecloth with it in hot water, and then sprinkle citric acid on the stained area. After 10-15 minutes, rinse the tablecloth in warm water.
- This solution will perfectly remove traces of compote or juice: in one glass of hot water you need to mix 1/2 teaspoon of ammonia and the same amount of peroxide.
- Stains left from a wax candle should be removed in this way: first of all, you need to carefully scrape off the wax using a regular kitchen knife, and then carefully treat the area with an iron, after placing several napkins under the stained area.
- A solution of a teaspoon of laundry soda and one liter of water will do a great job of removing beer residue on the tablecloth. Ammonia also works well here.To do this, try simply wetting the area you want to clean with it.
- Grass and greenery stains can be removed with a warm solution made from soapy water and ammonia. An alternative is a saline solution consisting of half a tablespoon of salt in half a glass of warm water. If such traces have already become embedded in the tablecloth, then you need to treat the area of contamination with salicylic alcohol, and then rinse under running water.
How to get rid of old stains on a tablecloth?
There are many quite simple, but at the same time effective means for removing old stains on the tablecloth, which, it would seem, have been ingrained into the fabric forever. Here are some useful and proven ways to remove them:
- Mix potato flour with water so that the consistency resembles thick mashed potatoes, apply this mixture to the stain. Leave it to soak in for a few hours and then remove the flour mixture. Wipe the stain with a cloth previously soaked in gasoline, and then rub a piece of stale bread over the stained area. After the operation, it is enough to wash the tablecloth in warm water.
- Gasoline is a good stain remover and tackles stubborn stains. It is enough to moisten a piece of tracing paper in gasoline and place it under the stain, and wipe the stain itself from the edge to the middle. After this, you need to rinse the tablecloth in warm water.
- A proven method is to apply hot potato starch to the stain, wait and rinse.
- Don't forget about regular laundry soap. Apply soap to the stain, soak in warm water for several hours and rinse.
- For natural fabrics, the following method is considered effective: boil 10 liters of water and add to it one cup of washing powder and two or three tablespoons of bleach powder or stain remover. Next, you need to add two tablespoons of regular refined vegetable oil to the hot water. This mixture must be brought to a boil, and then soak the tablecloth in it and leave to cool. Finally, you need to rinse the tablecloth in water at room temperature.
How to remove stains from different types of fabric?
Not all remedies can be used in all cases. The fabric from which the tablecloth is made plays an important role, since the type of fabric determines whether one or another method of dealing with stains can be used, whether it will be effective and whether it will not completely ruin your tablecloth. Some products are great for silk fabrics, but completely unsuitable for stains left on cotton, while others, on the contrary, should never be used to remove stains from delicate fabrics.
For example, on a linen or cotton white tablecloth, after a certain time, yellow spots appear, which catch the eye and spoil the original appearance. In this case, milk will help, which must be heated to a warm (but not hot!) state. Just dip the tablecloth in the resulting milk for 8-9 hours and machine wash it with regular powder.
You can also restore the snow-whiteness of fabric using soda. It is enough to prepare a warm solution of soda and soak the tablecloth in it. After this, wring out the tablecloth well and carefully apply laundry soap on both sides.Next, you need to fold the tablecloth four times, wrap it in a roll and leave it like that for one day, and then thoroughly wash it by hand, dry it and iron it.
For linen fabric, a stain remover or a solution of water with hydrogen peroxide, in which you need to boil the dirty tablecloth, is also suitable. If the tablecloth is made of dyed linen, then stain remover soap will help.
You should pay attention to silk tablecloths, which require special care. To remove stains from such a tablecloth, under no circumstances should you use alkalis (for example, ammonia or baking soda). To remove a stain from a silk tablecloth, you need to place gauze or cotton on the back side, stretched over a block of wood. The tablecloth around the stain should be wetted with water and sprinkled with talcum powder. The stain can only be removed with a cotton pad in the direction from the edge of the stain to the center. To remove these types of stains, it is permissible to use alcohol, glycerin, hydrogen peroxide, talc and salt.
Useful tips!
Some practical tips in conclusion:
- If the stain on the tablecloth is very fresh, then try treating it with onion juice or curdled milk whey, and after a while wash it in warm water.
- A good way to remove stains from tablecloths is potassium permanganate. To do this, you need to wet the stain with a solution of potassium permanganate, and then wipe the stained area with a solution of hydrogen peroxide, which is prepared in the proportion of a teaspoon of peroxide to one cup of warm water.
- In order not to damage the fabric, you need to treat the stained area with a cotton pad or soft cloth in the direction from the edge of the stain to its center.
