Get out Those Summer Stains

June 27, 2006 — -- From grass to ice cream, summer is a season of nasty stains.

Kristin van Ogtrop, managing editor of Real Simple magazine, came to "Good Morning America" as part of its Summer Survival Guide series to explain how to best eradicate unsightly stains.

Stain Removal Basics:

Treat stains as early as possible.

Oxygen bleach is for colors and chlorine bleach is for whites.

Hydrogen peroxide acts as a mild bleach.

Make sure stain is gone before heating. Air-dry and inspect the garment to make sure stains are gone. The heat from machine drying and ironing tends to set stains.

Blot, don't rub. Avoid rubbing -- it can spread the stain, rough up fabric, and remove color. Blotting is usually best.

Van Ogtrop told "GMA" how to tackle specific summer stains.

Grass Stains: Apply a pretreatment product like Spray 'n Wash. Let the mixture soak in, then scrub lightly with an old toothbrush. Because a grass stain is a "protein" stain, launder using an enzyme detergent like Tide. If stain still persists, wash again with bleach.

Ice Cream: Apply cold water, and then soak in an enzyme detergent for a while. For old stains, let soak for 30 minutes. Then just machine wash.

Sunscreen: Pretreat with dish soap or laundry detergent then machine wash. Sometimes the stains can be so difficult to remove that it is better to leave the job to the professionals.

Ketchup: First put a napkin or paper towel under the stain and dab it with water right away. Use hydrogen peroxide or liquid laundry detergent and then machine wash.

Sweat: If you are sweating profusely, dry your armpits with paper towels to prevent over-wetting of the fabric. Treat the clothing with a prewash stain remover and then launder the clothing in the hottest water recommended using an enzyme detergent and an oxygen bleach.