Welcome to the first in our series of posts about stain removal. Before having children, things used to get stained ‘occasionally’, now, well lets say it’s a bit more frequent. It’s not deliberate on anyone’s part, more of an occupational hazard so to speak.

Parenting requires you to be an expert in so many areas: nurse; councilor; chef; teacher; dietitian; cleaner to name just a few. An expert in stain removal certainly comes as part of the role.

There are those moments, when you realise that no matter how hard you scrub that stain just isn’t coming out, but most of the time there is something you can do.

I had a mega stain situation just yesterday when one of the toddlers managed to flick spaghetti bolognese at the wall and hit a black and white canvas print of himself as a baby. I was speechless as it was one of those fluke shots but with a tiny bit of bleach and an old toothbrush I’ve fixed it.

Today I’ll be looking at how to remove some of the tricky drink stains you can find yourself having to deal with.

Red wine

Blot the stain with a good quality paper towel – I think Blitz is the best by Regina. Sprinkle with salt and rinse with warm water.

White wine

Run cold water over the stain, then spray with a washing up liquid solution – I prefer Fairy but any will do. You can then dab it with an enzyme detergent like Ecover.

Coffee

Boil some water and stretch the fabric over a bowl. Pour the water through the fabric, then apply a few drops of laundry detergent, rub into the stain and then rinse by pour water through the fabric once again.

Juice

Use a muslin square or good quality paper towel to soak up the excess liquid. Try not to scrub as you can spread the stain this way, apply a washing up liquid solution if on carpet, or a stain remover such as Ace if on clothing and then wash.

Do you have any stain removal tips? We would love to hear them!