No one needs a stain remover until those moments when they absolutely need a stain remover right now. Let’s do our future selves a favour and prepare in advance. Here’s what you need to know to buy the right stain stick for that moment. Trust us, you’ll thank yourself later.
What are the Different Types of Stains and How to Manage Them?
As you might expect, the best way to remove stains from clothes depends on what caused the stain. There’s such a variety of substances you are likely to get on your clothes at some point, including food, household products, and anything else you encounter from day to day. Here are the most common types of stains and how to remove them.
Protein-based Stain
These are stains caused by anything with protein in it, including some foods, blood, urine, and sweat. The best stain remover for animal-based stains such as those pet owners might frequently encounter are enzyme-based cleaners, which contain helpful bacteria that produce enzymes which break down the stain-causing substance.
Pigment or Colour-Based Stain
These stains may come from spilled drinks, paint, crayon, grass, and foods. You can think of a pigment as a natural dye that has the ability to stick to clothing fibres. You can imagine that because there are so many different colours in the world around us, there are a huge number of pigments. So the best stain remover will depend on the specific type of pigment.
Oil and Grease Stains on Clothes
Grease, motor oil, makeup, moisturizers, cooking oil, salad dressing, and butter can all cause oil stains. Powerful detergents or multiple washes are the common way to attack these stains. Our Sustain Stick is another option, especially when it comes to removing old oil stains from clothes. We offer a step-by-step guide for how to remove oil stains from clothes.
The Types of Stain Removers to Know
With several stain remover products to choose from, it’s important to know what the best stain remover is for different situations.
Bleach-Based
When it comes to how to remove set-in stains, one of the most common types of laundry stain removers is bleach-based. A bleach-based stain remover is very effective for white linens and clothing. Bleach also may need to be diluted for certain synthetic fabrics.
Non-Bleach Based Removers
Some stain removers contain peroxides or other compounds that are also powerful pigment removers. Tide To Go sticks and OxiClean products fall into this category. They have the advantage of being safe on most coloured fabrics. (But as a rule, we recommend testing all stain removers on a hidden area of the garment to make sure it doesn’t harm the fabric.)
Prewash Detergent
Prewash detergents are designed to give your clothes a head start in the cleaning process before you put them in the laundry machine so that you don’t still have stains on clothes after washing.
To remove stains from clothes, apply prewash detergent to the affected area of the clothing to loosen the stain and make it easier for the regular wash to remove it. Prewash detergent comes in any form you could imagine, including liquid, gel, foam, sprays, and sticks.
Spray vs. Stick: What’s the Difference?
Prewash sprays and sticks both offer a solution for how to remove oil stains from clothes, but one of these has some advantages you should know about. A spray stain remover is not able to target a stain precisely, so may spray onto other parts of your clothing.
A stain remover in stick form, on the other hand, can target the stain and only the stain since you rub it directly on the affected area of the fabric. Plus, stick stain remover is lightweight and portable, making it convenient to carry on the go so you’re ready for stain removal anywhere.
CleanO2’s Sustain Eraser Removes Stains with Captured Carbon
CleanO2’s exciting new Sustain Eraser is a powerful stain remover that fits into the prewash category. However, it’s not a detergent; instead of using harsh chemicals as many commercial stain removers do, the Sustain Eraser is a natural soap that uses pearl ash created from captured carbon.
This environmentally friendly stain remover is incredibly easy to use in just a few simple steps and has been proven to be effective to remove stains from a variety of common products, including grease, pen ink, and oil-based food and drink.
The next time you need to remove oil stains from clothing, give the lightweight Sustain Stick a try and enjoy having your favourite items of clothing look as good as new…or at least as good as they did before you spilled on them!