Food stains are pretty common considering that we need to eat multiple times every day. Getting distracted, eating in a hurry, or just having a clumsy moment here and there can lead to food stains on your clothes.
They are the most common when feeding a child or letting your children eat by themselves – we all know how messy it can get.
The good thing is, you don’t have to think about throwing away the stained clothes. There are ways to get rid of those stains and you will learn all about them in this article.
How To Get Rid Of The Food Stains
As much as it would be wonderful to have one product that magically erases all of the stains that can happen, that is unfortunately not the case.
Ways to remove food stains from your clothes are different depending on what food got on your clothing and how much time has passed since then. Let’s see what are some of the most common food stains and how to get rid of them.
Oily Food
If you’re eating spaghetti, fried food, or something similar, and a part of your meal fall on your clothes, you will have an oily stain that needs to be treated as soon as possible.
Your first reaction may be to put the garment underwater right away, but don’t do that. It would only make the stain worse. The first step should be to remove any pieces of food that are left on the garment.
Do this using your fingers or a spatula, but be careful not to spread the oil to the area of the clothing that isn’t affected. Only when you have done this, you can start removing the stain. There are a few things that you can do.
Dishwasher Detergent
There isn’t a product that will remove oil from your clothes better than a dishwasher detergent will. It is literally made to ‘fight’ fat and oil, so it is perfect for oily stains as well.
Moreover, it is safe to use for almost all the materials and fabrics, so you won’t have to worry about your clothes getting damaged.
Take a few drops of a strong dishwasher detergent, like Dawn, and mix them with a few more drops of water. You can put both directly on the stain. Take a piece of cloth or use your fingers to dab on the stain to help the detergent absorb the oil.
Leave it for around half an hour before washing the garment at the highest allowed temperature. When you wash it, use a regular laundry detergent as it will mask the smell of a dishwasher detergent and it will help with the stain removal process.
If the oily area is very big, you can make a solution of water and dishwasher detergent – put around an ounce of detergent into two liters of water and mix it. Soak the garment for around an hour before washing it regularly.
Cornstarch
Another product that is amazing at absorbing oil is cornstarch. Put the stained garment on a flat surface and put cornstarch over the whole stain. You want to cover the stain properly so there is enough of it to absorb the fat.
Leave it to work for around an hour. When an hour has passed, you should scrub the stain with a toothbrush or any other small brush you have. Be careful to stay in the lines of the stain while doing so.
After scrubbing, you will be able to see if the stain is removed. If it’s not, repeat the process once more. If it is mostly gone, you can treat it with a liquid dishwasher detergent as in the previous method.
If it is completely removed, feel free to wash and dry the garment as you normally would. If you don’t have cornstarch at hand, you can also use baking soda. The process is completely the same and it will give the same results.
Baby Powder
Another product that is amazing at removing oily stains is baby powder. If your child stained the clothes, you are most likely to have the baby powder in your home, so it is very practical. The instructions are similar to the previous method.
Remove any food that got on your clothes. Put the garment on a steady surface and pour the baby powder in a way that you cover the whole stain. Leave it like that for around an hour.
You will probably notice the powder turning into darker color of the food that made the stain. When an hour passes, scrape away any remains of the baby powder.
If the stain is still visible, pour liquid detergent on it – the amount depends on the size of the stained area. Leave it for around half an hour more and then wash at high temperature (check the label to see what temperature is the highest that won’t damage the clothing). [How to Get Rid of Food Coloring From Clothes]
Other Food
If the food you accidentally dropped on your clothes isn’t oily, the process of removing the stain is usually easier and quicker. All methods imply scraping off any food that is left on the garment before working on the stain itself.
Laundry Detergent
Before trying any of the more aggressive methods, you should try removing the stains using only laundry detergent. This can be especially effective if you react immediately.
Remove the food from the garment and pour some liquid laundry detergent on the stain. Leave it for around half an hour before rinsing it properly. If this method doesn’t work, proceed to try one of the methods listed in this article.
Rubbing Alcohol
Rubbing alcohol is a common household item, and it has different purposes, one of them being stain removal.
If you have it at home, you can even remove difficult stains, like those from ink. When it comes to food stains, they are usually a lot milder, so it will be a lot faster to treat them.
Place the garment on a flat surface so that you can easily see and access the stain. Make sure that you have removed food that stained it. Take a clean, white cloth and soak it with rubbing alcohol.
Dab with the cloth on the stain for a few minutes. Don’t rub or scrub it, just gently blot on it. You will see the stain slowly fading away. When you notice the stain is getting less visible, soak the garment in water – make sure the temperature of the water is as highest as possible.
Leave the garment soaked for another half an hour, and then wash it with laundry detergent.
Although rubbing alcohol is amazing at removing stains, be careful when using it. It is not suitable for some materials, like acrylic fibers, as it can damage them easily.
If you are not sure whether your garment can handle alcohol, test it on some invisible area of the piece of clothing you want to treat. If nothing happens, you are safe to use it on the stain as well.
White Vinegar
This is another great option for removing stains successfully. It’s also good that almost every house has it, so you can act quickly after you get your clothes stained.
Make sure that there isn’t any food residue on the garment. Pour a few drops of white vinegar on the stained area – the exact amount depends on the size of the stain.
Wait for half an hour to 45 minutes so it has enough time to work. When it is time, put an ounce of liquid laundry detergent into a container with two liters of water.
As in the previous methods, the water temperature should be as high as possible. Soak the garment for another hour before putting it in a washing machine or just rinsing it thoroughly. Let it dry out and the stain should be gone by the time the garment has dried.
Bleach
Bleach is the perfect option for stain removal, particularly if the stained clothes are white. In that case, you should make a bleach solution – mix one gallon of water with ¼ cup of bleach. Soak your white, food-stained clothes for around 15 minutes, and then wash regularly.
If your clothes are colored, you can buy bleach that is color-friendly and suitable for almost all materials. The process is generally the same, but always make sure to read the specific instructions on the bottle.
Dry Cleaning
Finally, if you stained some piece of clothing that is colored or especially delicate, and you cannot use any of the products mentioned here, you should get them dry-cleaned. It is, after all, the safest option.
Summary
Dropping food on your clothes can be stressful, more so if you are wearing something you particularly like.
Don’t get stressed too soon because there are many different methods you can use to completely get rid of the stains – whether they are caused by some oily food or something else. Feel free to try out one of the options listed in this article, and let us know how it goes!
Jessica Oliver is a fashion enthusiast with more than ten years of experience in the industry. She previously managed her own clothing store in New York before becoming a mother of three. With a passion for sustainability and a desire to share clothing care and recycling tips.