Ooops - spot stained my jacket - any hope?!

February 14, 2021 2:16 AM

I've spot stained my jacket - it was dirty in patches so I sprayed on some Tableau Spot Dry Cleaner which instead of drying to a powder and being brush-off-able, sort of soaked in and formed almost like a water ring stain - kind of the opposite of what it's supposed to do... Anyway I've put the coat through the washing machine at 30º on a delicates wash and whilst it's a bit better, I'm still left with faint white stains on an otherwise beautiful 'burnt orange' colour.

Any ideas what I can do?!

I've thought of trying to spot dye (don't think it will work as there's another inner liner fabric which would get dyed too when I need to rinse out the excess dye) or fabric paint - even if I get a match it doesn't look like it's massively permanent on clothing.

Any help much appreciated!

Thanks

posted by dance to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (4 answers total)

Are you able to tell whether these are stains (color added) or bleaching (color removed)?

If they’re stains, there’s plenty of physical or chemical techniques you could try.

If they’re bleaching, the color’s already gone and dyeing is your only option.
posted by mekily at 2:56 AM on February 14, 2021

Response by poster: hmmm, not sure - it's the exact same result as this amazon reviewer. Didn't know stain remover on top of stain remover had a hope in hell! Will try to see what the craic is.
posted by dance at 8:40 AM on February 14, 2021

Best answer: Image searching against the photo in your post, it looks like that coat is made of waxed cotton. Is that right? What are the care instructions?

If it is waxed, my guess would be that the propellants or other solvents in the spray mobilised the wax and created the tide line. You’re not going to be able to dye a wax cotton, and it will be difficult to paint it or get a good colour match. You could look up instructions for rewaxing a coat (eg Barbour) and try that on a very small area. You might also try asking the clothing company what they recommend.
posted by sizeable beetle at 10:39 AM on February 14, 2021

Response by poster: You're exactly right. It is waxed cotton. I've emailed the company and await their response. Thank you. Care instructions are wash at 30°C only.
posted by dance at 11:49 AM on February 14, 2021