How do you remove a stain....if you don't know what the stain is? [more inside]
posted by EmpressCallipygos on Jul 5, 2009 - 5 answers

Laundry Filter: Help me get our yellow pillowcase white again (without bleach). [more inside]
posted by gchucky on Jul 5, 2009 - 19 answers

How do I remove dirt stains on pants? [more inside]
posted by otherwordlyglow on May 15, 2009 - 7 answers

What's the best way to remove stains from a shirt that has been washed over and over? (And anyone from NYC ever find that their shirts come out worse after washing?) [more inside]
posted by gchucky on Feb 12, 2009 - 10 answers

How do you clean hard water rust stains from plastic and rubber? The fridge front door where you get water and ice has nasty brown stains on the rubber levers and plastic drip tray.
posted by hardbop on Jan 25, 2009 - 10 answers

Ho do I remove confetti and streamer stains from hardwood floors? [more inside]
posted by Felicity Rilke on Nov 5, 2008 - 7 answers

When doing the wash, I refuse to mix my laundry with towels that our puppy has peed on, for fear that my clothes will somehow end up smelling like pee afterward, even if only faintly. My roommate, on the other hand, thinks this is completely irrational and that you can mix anything in the laundry because the soap and hot water get it all clean anyway. So, neutral third party, I ask you: who is in the right? [more inside]
posted by iamisaid on Aug 14, 2008 - 39 answers

What are these reddish brown stains on the floor of my "vintage" apartment? [more inside]
posted by Jess the Mess on Oct 19, 2007 - 12 answers

I have a nice All-Clad 8" skillet in which I made a tasty grilled cheese sandwich the other night. Now, the burned butter around the edges won't come off... [more inside]
posted by kaseijin on Sep 25, 2007 - 17 answers

Has anyone had any success with removing sweat / antiperspirant combo stains? [more inside]
posted by GleepGlop on Sep 8, 2007 - 17 answers

How to remove stains on my wall? [more inside]
posted by mateuslee on Jul 13, 2007 - 9 answers

Any 'real' success stories with getting water/mildew stains out of an oak hardwood floor? [more inside]
posted by zenpop on Jun 30, 2007 - 2 answers

Silverwarefilter: As much as I hate to waste a mefi question on this, but I feel I have to because it's driving me crazy. I have a set of stainless steel silverware and a set of cutlery also made of stainless steel (different brands/sets). We wash them in the dishwasher and they are constantly getting these orange like rust stains on them. How do I get rid of these? They can be rubbed off with some heavy scrubbing but I want the stains to stop recurring. Any ideas?
posted by wile e on Jun 25, 2007 - 9 answers

Dog + Pig Roast Charcoal Ashes = Dear God, how do I get this out? [more inside]
posted by onhazier on Jun 13, 2007 - 9 answers

I just bought a pair of sneakers that are made with white leather that has an unfinished feel to it (not glossy, but not suede either). My jeans are leaving blue marks all over them! How to remove the blue stuff, and how to prevent it in the future? Must I absolutely avoid wearing these shoes with jeans, or is there something I could treat them with, perhaps?
posted by freudenschade on May 29, 2007 - 8 answers

Gross-ness-filter: My teeth are in pretty bad shape in terms of stains and fillings, what are my options? [more inside]
posted by Anonymous on Apr 29, 2007 - 10 answers

Have you seen illustrated decals that embellish laundry stains and turn them into "creatures"? [more inside]
posted by gusset on Apr 10, 2007 - 3 answers

Do you have any solutions for the stains Pyridium leaves? [more inside]
posted by Anonymous on Dec 23, 2006 - 9 answers

Mysterious holes are appearing in my dirty underwear where there are, ahem, juices. This is probably not lunch-safe. [more inside]
posted by Anonymous on Dec 2, 2006 - 21 answers

What is the best way to get a light ballpoint ink mark out of a leather jacket without discoloring or otherwise damaging the leather? It's a black pen mark on a brown jacket.
posted by zembla3 on Nov 29, 2006 - 9 answers

Why do I get weird stains on my t-shirts, under the armpits? [more inside]
posted by PowerCat on Aug 8, 2006 - 21 answers

Why does my new stainless steel cookware come out of the diswasher covered with white splotchy stains that I have to hand wash? [more inside]
posted by AstroGuy on Jul 10, 2006 - 17 answers

I have several t-shirts that I can't wear because there are small oil stains on them. Can anyone tell me how to remove these stains without damaging the dye?
posted by leavens on May 3, 2006 - 12 answers

Help removing unknown black streaks from a 100% cotton white shirt. My friend works as a waiter and periodically black marks show up on his work shirts, particularly around the cuffs. They're not ink or food--are they sweat stains? They almost look like dark pencil streaks. They've come out in the past, but this time they're all up and down one sleeve and bleach and stain removal spray aren't doing anything. Any recommendations?
posted by schroedinger on Apr 13, 2006 - 17 answers

I purchased a brightly-colored, embroidered tapestry from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. It is certainly not an antique, but it is hand-made, delicate and somewhat old. My well-intentioned (but perhaps lacking in common sense) roomate threw it into the washing machine and, needless to say, the colors ran. Is there any way I can restore the tapestry to its former state or at least to some approximation of such? Would a dry cleaner be able to help?
posted by anonymous78 on Apr 6, 2006 - 4 answers

Screw-up filter: help me camouflage peroxide marks on a favorite greyish brown cotton tank top [more inside]
posted by junkbox on Mar 3, 2006 - 10 answers

AsSeenOnTVFilter: I have a lot of pee stains/smells that I need to remove from carpet and mattresses. I've looked up other threads, but what I specifically want to know is: Is Urine-Gone (or it's apparent twin, Urine-Off) worth buying? [more inside]
posted by Shoeburyness on Jan 6, 2006 - 8 answers

What's the best method for removing human semen stains from dark cotton bedsheets? Very hot washing machine cycles don't always work. Thank you.
posted by PenguinBukkake on Jan 3, 2006 - 24 answers

I have an awesome polo shirt with a white collar that got accidentally tossed in with a red shirt that bled all over everything in the load. Most of the other stuff was either jeans or house tees, but is there any way to salvage this collar without ruining the rest of the shirt?
posted by saysthis on Sep 11, 2005 - 7 answers

Anyone know a good way to get orange pop stains out of carpet? [more inside]
posted by northernsoul on Aug 29, 2005 - 9 answers

How do I remove a Pilot G2 ink stain from my pants? [more inside]
posted by redteam on Aug 12, 2005 - 12 answers

Anyone know how to remove blood stains from leather? [more inside]
posted by jamesonandwater on Jul 13, 2005 - 9 answers

Have I hopelessly stained my white formica kitchen counter? [more inside]
posted by CunningLinguist on May 12, 2005 - 18 answers

Does anyone have a tried & tested way of getting curry stains out of clothing please? [more inside]
posted by kenchie on Mar 26, 2005 - 7 answers

I have a nice J Crew lambswool sweater that I spilled a Starbucks Frappacino all over. What's the best way to clean the sweater?

Thanks.
posted by seinfeld on Dec 14, 2004 - 12 answers

In the small kitchen, the gas range is butted up against the refrigerator. After a few years of cooking, a brown stain mars the otherwise-white vinyl side of the refrigerator. How do I remove the brown stain?
posted by tomharpel on Dec 13, 2004 - 8 answers

It’s laundry day: After doing my second load of laundry, I discovered some not-so-tiny black spots on one of my favourite shirts, as well as many other items in the load. [mi] [more inside]
posted by genevieve on Dec 9, 2004 - 6 answers

RefinishingFilter: I am refinishing a vintage maple piece by hand, and am considering using gel stain. Has anyone here tried this combination of wood and finish? What did you use as a sealant? (I've never refinished maple, nor do I have experience with gel stain.) Success stories, product recommendations and do's/don'ts are welcome.
posted by MonkeyToes on Nov 21, 2004 - 14 answers

Upholstory: a new sofa my girlfriend and I bought about three weeks ago seems to have gotten 'bleached' by small -- really, very, incredibly small -- quantities of water. Is this normal? Is there anything we can do about it? {MI} [more inside]
posted by josh on Aug 21, 2004 - 2 answers

Cat urine and wood floors? Our cat didn't like our new house and left a mark that burned a spot in our wood floor. Any ideas on how to take the stain up?
posted by Macboy on Aug 3, 2004 - 9 answers

I'm gearing up to re-finish my hardwood floors this spring. My question is about stains and polyurethanes. Can I use an oil-based stain with a water-based poly coating over it? I can't seem to find any water-based stains, and I want to be able to put multiple coats of the poly down, and I only have about a week to do this (2 small rooms), so I need to take into consideration the quick drying times of the water-based finishes. The guy at the paint store said I could do the oil stain with the water poly as long as I let the floors cure first, but walked away from me when I asked him what that meant. Is a week enough time to sand and finish the floors of two rooms?
posted by archimago on Apr 27, 2004 - 6 answers

ULTIMATE USE OF ASK METAFILTER: Yellow pit stains on the white cotton t-shirts. What are the remedies? Throw the shirt out or do you have a proven bleaching/detergent technique?
posted by Peter H on Mar 4, 2004 - 24 answers