There is nothing worse than spilling red wine on your new white shirt and thinking, how am I going to get this out? Follow best laundry practices, and use a natural DIY stain remover.
Little did you know, natural at-home stain removers actually work better than some of the chemical ones. DIY stain removers and cleansers are better for the environment and your home. Spraying your home and clothes with chemicals is unleashing non-biodegradable and toxic elements when you could be choosing an organic option that works just as well or better.
Get the stains out of your clothes, fabrics and even tough stains on furniture and appliances with these natural stain removers and cleansers.
Baking Soda And Vinegar
Baking soda and vinegar are a classic combination, it is non-toxic and biodegradable and gets out all kinds of tough stains. With baking soda, you can use apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar. Later this article will describe some of the additional uses of distilled white vinegar.
If you spill red wine on your white shirt, squirt some vinegar, then add the baking soda on top and give it another squirt of vinegar. You will see the chemical reaction bubble up on the material, let it sit for at least 5 minutes before putting it in the washer. This method is completely safe for washing with other clothes.
Although for a really tough set-in stain, you can put the shirt in a bowl of 1 part vinegar, 3 parts water and a tablespoon of baking soda (or 2) overnight, then throw it in the washing machine, it works like magic.
For removing stains from fabric, on the couch for example, take that same 1 part vinegar, 3 part water and a tablespoon of baking soda (or 2) and use a cloth to rub out the stain. For a more intense treatment, treat the stain similarly to the stain remover on your shirt, but wipe it off after with a cloth.
Taking that same mixture from before, you can put it in a spray bottle and use it as a cleanser for cleaning all surfaces from the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room. You can't go wrong with vinegar and baking soda. It works great for adding shine to your appliances and getting out tough stains in the kitchen and shower.
Lemon
Lemon is like a natural bleach, you can use it to remove stains, and it is particularly perfect for making white clothes whiter. When you find armpit stains on your white T's you can use 100% lemon juice to whiten the yellowed fabric.
If you are using 100% lemon juice to remove stains on colored clothes, you will need to remove the juice with water before washing or it could actually bleach your clothes. For white clothes, it is perfect for brightening clothes.
Distilled Vinegar
Back to distilled vinegar, it can be your natural fabric softener. Ditch traditional fabric softeners, they actually tend to be overkill which causes product build-up on your clothes.
Put the distilled vinegar in the section of your washing machine where the fabric softener would usually go, next to the detergent pocket. You will notice softer and brighter clothes after just one wash. The vinegar also acts as a natural cleanser for your washing machine, to fight off the mildew smell over time.
This same vinegar is the one that you can add to your at-home organic cleanser, it removes residues and makes the bathroom and kitchen appliances shiny.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Now for attacking more stains around the house, make your own biodegradable cleanser. There are many options such as the ones discussed before, and even throwing in some lemon for a good smell and bleach factors, but hydrogen peroxide is sure to kill bacteria and remove tough stains like no other at-home cleanser.
In a plastic bottle (that is clearly labeled!) you can mix hydrogen peroxide and you can dilute it with one part water.
Make sure to only use this for getting out tough stains in the shower, kitchen, and tiles. Keep it away or use it with precaution on shiny appliances as it could potentially stain. Also, with clothes it can remove some tough stains but similar to the lemon needs to be deactivated to avoid discoloration or over bleaching.
With hydrogen peroxide, you can count on a clean home free of bacteria and safe for your home and loved ones.
Using natural cleansers, whichever one you end up choosing, is a choice to keep your home non-toxic and generate less harmful toxins into the environment. It is a sustainable practice for an eco-friendly home and lowering your impact.
