Get Tips for Busting Red Wine, Gravy, Berry Sauce and Other Pesky Holiday Stains
Tips for cleaning stains from red wine, gravy, cranberry sauce and more.
Nov. 15, 2010 — -- As the holidays draw closer, you may be preparing to have guests in your home. Food and wine will flow, creating the potential for spills and unsightly stains.
What's a host to do?
Good Housekeeping magazine is offering the solutions to some of the toughest stains that may crop up this season.
Here are tips -- from the magazine -- for quickly handling spills on linens:
The stain: Red wine.
The quick solution: Blot it up right away. Wet a cloth with cold water and sponge the stain. Put dry paper towels above the spot (and below, if possible). For small spills, apply a bit of table salt to absorb the wine.
To find out how to handle these tough stains the day after, click HERE. To get solutions for a specific kind of stain from the Good Housekeeping StainBuster, click HERE.
The stain: Berry spills.
The quick solution: Gently scoop up the berries with a spoon, then dab the spot with a cool, damp sponge. Pour a little rubbing alcohol onto the stain. Rinse.
The stain: Gravy.
The quick fix: Scrape up spill right away. Blot with dry paper towels -- or even a piece of bread.
The stain: Candle wax.
The quick fix: Put out the offending candle immediately. Scrape the hardened wax with your fingernail or a butter knife. Sponge colored-wax spots with dry cleaning solvent. Put paper towels over remaining wax, then apply a warm, dry iron.
The stain: Lipstick.
The quick fix: Put the stained fabric face-down on a paper towel. Using a makeup-remover wipe, dab the back of the stained fabric to work the color into the towel.
Good Housekeeping recommended Faultless Starch Plus Stain Resistance for ironing. In tests, the company said linens "looked crisp and spills beaded up."
Laundry Tips:
Before you wash your stained linens, it's a good idea to pre-treat them. Fill your machine with cool water and add liquid detergent with enzymes and a stain-fighting laundry booster, Good Housekeeping said. Soak the cloth for a few hours (or overnight) and then wash it in the hottest water that's safe. Add chlorine or oxygen bleach.