My little berry harvesters are ruining their shorts

June 10, 2012 11:37 AM

How do you you get set mulberry stains out of clothes? I've tried pre-treating with Shout, Dawn, and just plain soaking (separate attempts).
posted by katyh to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (13 answers total)

I recently got a blueberry stain out of a white blouse using Cillit Bang (in the US it's called Easy Off Bam). It worked where everything else, including Vanish stain remover, had failed.
posted by essexjan at 11:41 AM on June 10, 2012

I got set red wine stains out of a pair of pale linen pants with an 18-hour soak in Oxyclean.
posted by KathrynT at 11:50 AM on June 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'd give Wine Away a try. It's absolutely miraculous at removing red wine stains from basically anything, and I've used it on other berry stains in the past as well.
posted by mostlymartha at 11:52 AM on June 10, 2012

Oxyclean soak, or make your own intense spot treatment by mixing up hydrogen peroxide with a good-sized glob of dish soap. Pour that on the stain and let it sit for a few hours, then wash. This always gets berry stains out of clothes for me.
posted by joan_holloway at 11:54 AM on June 10, 2012

If Zout doesn't do it, nothing will.
posted by Chekhovian at 11:56 AM on June 10, 2012

As a waiter and klutz, I've found OxiClean (or the store brand) to take care of organic stains pretty well. A good strong solution and a good long soak have taken care of all sorts of wine, tomato, and juice stains in my work uniform. I was also pleasantly surprised to see it take out a large, well set, blood stain from a favorite white t-shirt that I stupidly wore while getting a tattoo.
posted by piedmont at 12:02 PM on June 10, 2012

I've removed fruit/jam stains successfully by stretching the fabric out, and pouring boiling water from a height ( about 3 feet usually does it).
posted by NorthernAutumn at 12:06 PM on June 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

My grandmother swore by the boiling water trick for fruit stains.

Me, I like OxyClean for all these jobs. Nice strong solution, and let it sit for ... a while. Like most of a week.

Awesome for all sorts of kid organic stains.
posted by leahwrenn at 1:03 PM on June 10, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions! (Piedmont, my husband had a minor accident last week, and I'm still working on his white, bloodied dress shirt. Maybe I can save that one, too!)
posted by katyh at 1:08 PM on June 10, 2012

Someone brought a red wine base punch to a community dinner. It got sloshed all over a white tablecloth. Ordinary measures produced a pale purple gray stain. So I took it to the kitchen and made a solution of dishwasher detergent. That did it.
posted by Cranberry at 1:46 PM on June 10, 2012

In re. white shirt: boil it in dye remover. Pretty harmless stuff, much gentler to fabric than bleach. Alternatively/additionally: hang in bright sunlight for a few days (plus), especially if there's a remaining dinge after whatever stain-removing soaking/boiling.

(You can get packets of dye remover in discount dept or craft stores; look for it in with the fabric dyes)
posted by kmennie at 5:03 PM on June 10, 2012

Seconding the Zout, that stuff is awesome.

Kids & Pets (sold as a pet stain remover, but it works great on any organic stain) will also do the trick.
posted by kindall at 5:20 PM on June 10, 2012

What NorthernAutumn and leahwrenn said for the berry stain. Stretching the fabric out and pouring boiling water over it/through it is the time-honored gold standard. NOT FOR BLOOD stains however! My sovereign remedy for bloodstains is as follows: hie thee to the drugstore, supermarket or even a Walmart and purchase a bar of Fels-Naptha soap. Wet the bloodstain(s) with cold water only - never warm or hot as it will set bloodstains. Wet a corner of the bar of Fels-Naptha soap and rub it thoroughly into the stain(s) so that they are saturated with soap. Scrub with a toothbrush and rinse in cold water then rub the soap into the stains again. If it's a white garment, pour a bit of hydrogen peroxide, normal-strength, into each stain. Launder in warm water, cold rinse. If the stain is older or has been set, it may take a few treatments to get the blood out but I have always been able to get bloodstains out using this method.
posted by Lynsey at 11:39 AM on June 11, 2012