How to remove gravy stains

The keys to removing stains from cloth items like napkins or tablecloths are to pre-treat them the minute the stains happen, and to make sure that stains are completely removed before you put the items into the dryer.

Here are the steps you go through to remove gravy stains:

1. Scrape or spoon off as much of the gravy as possible.
2. Then rinse with cool water from the back to the front.
3. If the stain is still not removed, then soak in cool water with liquid enzyme detergent for 5 minutes.
4. If the stain is still not removed, then apply chlorine bleach directly to stained area using an eyedropper. (Use a non-chlorine product like hydrogen peroxide if the stain is on a colored fabric.) Let sit for a few minutes.
5. If the stain is still not removed, then put the item in the washing machine.
6. Put it in the dryer only if stain is completely removed.

Hi I’m Julie Edelman, the Accidental Housewife, here with some ways to carve out all the stains you may face this holiday season on howdini. All right. One of the biggest ones: gravy stains. Well these are what they call combo stains, which I call pain in the A stains, so forgive me. They have so many different things going on them. They’ve got oil, they’ve got meat, so the first thing you want to do, all right, is you want to scrape off, and use plastic so you have a few less dishes, as much as you can. Or you can also spoon it off. But see that helps a little bit, right? If you get rid of it? If you want to lick it, you’re still hungry, go for that too.

All right once you’ve done that you’re then going to rinse it with cool water through the back. And that again will help get out a lot of the stain. Now hopefully you’re done by now, but if you have slobs like I do in the house, you’re not. Okay so the next thing is you would then let it soak in some cool water and you would add some liquid enzyme detergent. It’s best because it helps to break down even further all that stuff. So, we pour some in, let it sit for five minutes, and hopefully again you start praying that it’s gone. But, once again, should the stain remain here’s what you want to do. You take an eyedropper like this, you fill it up with some chlorine bleach, or let’s say you’ve got a color napkin you want to use something non-chlorine and that could be hydrogen peroxide or something like that, and then you’re going to just dap it and apply it directly to the stain and let that sit for a few minutes. And hopefully this will get the stain out. And remember all of these steps you do before you throw it into the wash which is what we’re going to do next.

Okay laundry number three hundred and fifty two today for me and I don’t know about you, probably you too. Anyway, back to remember that gravy stain? Well, look at that. Magico, there is no gravy stain left. So as you can see the key to getting any stain out are one, always pre-treat it, the minute it happens get that baby out, and two, never put it into the dryer until the stain is removed. Otherwise you may be wearing either a short-sleeved blouse if you’ve gotten that stain on your cuff or you’re going to be putting a broach over where that stain fell. I’m Julie Edelman here on howdini.