Help me remove a stain.

July 1, 2008 4:10 PM

Stain Removal Filter: Help me get a rust stain out of a bathing suit!

I put my white printed bathing suit (women's, 90% nylon 10% lycra) in the washer and it came out with yellow, I assume rust, stains. Help me get them out without discoloring the (black) print!

posted by lunit to clothing, beauty, & fashion (7 comments total)

before you do anything else, try hand-washing it in the sink. it's hard to discolor swimsuit material like that; a good washing in a clean container should get it out.
posted by thinkingwoman at 4:51 PM on July 1, 2008

I've had really good success with the tips listed in the Shout stain solver. They recommend buying a commercial rust remover, or making a paste of salt and vinegar and rubbing the stains with it--just don't attempt to use bleach, as it will set the stain.
posted by halogen at 5:14 PM on July 1, 2008

Anything with iron in it I can get out with this. Including blood after it has dried. It gets all fizzy and the stain is gone. I'm no chemist but I think it reacts with iron. Try it on a small space to make sure it doesn't hurt the fabric or bleach it (but I haven't had any problems). It's essentially bleach, but not chlorine bleach. It's hydrogen peroxide, just like oxiclean, but I have it on hand for my cleaning my contacts and maybe you do too.
posted by Eringatang at 5:29 PM on July 1, 2008

If the stains are bright, almost fluorescent yellow, they may actually be sunscreen, not rust -- I learned the hard way that sunscreen stains appear after washing. There's a couple of suggestions for getting sunscreen stains out here.
posted by kate blank at 5:33 PM on July 1, 2008

I've used magica very successfully.
posted by BrotherCaine at 6:33 PM on July 1, 2008

Thank you all for your answers! I'll see what works and report back.
posted by lunit at 6:48 AM on July 2, 2008

Hey Eringatang, As you point out, it is hydrogen peroxide, but it is buffered and perserved and aseptic. All that is great if you are putting it in your eyes (indirectly, do NOT put it directly in) but it costs a lot more then just a bottle of hydrogen peroxide at the drugstore. It is also good for cleaning out small scrapes and things.
posted by d4nj450n at 10:20 AM on July 2, 2008