May 26, 2009

Removing blueberry stains the eco-friendly way

"Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!"
- Lady Macbeth

I just read an article about green ways to remove clothing stains, and thought I'd share my most-used stain removal technique.

Blueberry stains are a killer, and C eats about a pound of blueberries a week, so we've had a lot of stained clothes! The best way to get rid of berry stains is with boiling water.

Boil a kettle, and place your clothes flat in your sink. Then lift the kettle into the air and pour a thin stream of boiling water onto the stain from a distance of 1 or 2 feet (the higher you hold it, the more force the water will land with). Repeat if necessary. Be careful not to splash yourself! When the garment cools, wring it out and throw it in the washer, or hang it on the side of your laundry hamper and wash it with your next load. This works best on clothes that have not yet been washed in the washing machine, but I've had some success removing old stains on clothing as well!


Blueberry Girl - Neil Gaiman
A beautiful book with whimsical illustrations. Wishes and prayers for our girls. This lovely book was a gift from my friend Gillian when we went to Nova Scotia last weekend.

4 comments:

MaryAnne said...

Thanks for the tip - my kids love blueberries too, so we'll probably be using this trick a lot over the summer!

Glad your road trip went well too - sounds like you were well-prepared and it paid off!

Jenny said...

Great tip! My daughter loves berries too!

Now, any ideas of how to get chocolate or dry erase marker stains out?

JM - The Princess said...

Thanks for the tip! I am sure this one will come in handy over the summer.

Stop by, I have an award for you on my blog:
http://princesswithahalfpricetiara.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-secong-blog-award.html

Kirsten said...

Jenny - We've only had minor chocolate stains to deal with so far, but I've had success with rubbing the stain with a bar of soap, scraping the stain with my fingernail to get the soap right in, letting it sit in a sink of cool water and repeating. By that time it's usually so faded that it comes clean after a spin in the washing machine. Apparently the sun will fade the stain after the garment has been washed, too.
I don't have a clue about dry erase markers, though!

Thanks for the blog award, PrincessMommy!

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