How to Use Household Items to Pre-treat Stains

When Madewell got in touch with us to learn how to get stains out of white jeans, our co-founders Corinna and Theresa Williams were happy to share their knowledge!
In this reel Corinna and Theresa demonstrate how to pre-treat stains using household items like hydrogen peroxide, distilled white vinegar and bar soap.
They stained three pairs of white jeans with coffee, olive oil and lipstick (gasp!) to show us different techniques for tackling acidic, oily and waxy stains. Don't worry, the jeans were not harmed in the making of this tutorial. 😉
If you can't access Instagram to watch the video, read on for the tips they shared.
◼️ I spilled coffee on my white jeans. Help!
There's no need to panic. Coffee stains are acidic stains, in the same family as red wine, tea and fruit juice. What you'll need to do is fight like with like: douse the stain with acidic white vinegar (make sure you're using clear distilled white vinegar, and not apple cider vinegar) and let it sit for a couple minutes. You should see the stain start to lift fairly quickly. Flush under running water, then machine wash as usual.

You can use hydrogen peroxide the same way you would white vinegar to treat acidic stains. Repeat the douse-and-rinse process as many times as necessary before machine washing.
A third product that works wonders for acidic stains is oxygen booster. Not everyone will have this at home, but if you do, wet your stain with water and drizzle on the grainy powder to cover the stained area. Add a little more water to turn this into a paste. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. You should see oxidization happen almost immediately. If necessary, take an old toothbrush to work the paste into the stain and repeat this process before machine washing.
◼️ Can I use household items to pre-treat oil stains?
Yes! When it comes to oily and greasy stains, you'll also want to treat like with like. Wet the stain with water and use a simple, colorless oil-based bar soap (in the video Corinna and Theresa use this vegetable soap stick) on the stain. Use an old toothbrush to work the soap into the stain if needed. Oily stains can be tricky because you might not see the stain lifting but if you do a couple rounds of application before machine washing, you should be good to go.
Hand soap also works here (unscented, no essential oils). If you don't have bar soap, you can use liquid unscented castile soap.
◼️ Is it possible to get makeup stains out of white clothing?
Lipstick, eyeliner and other kinds of waxy makeup can be some of the toughest stains to get rid of. Luckily, we have a super effective trick: good ol' rubbing alcohol.
Take a clean cloth—not one of your nicer washcloths, but something you use for cleaning like an old towel or a cut up t-shirt—and use a gentle dabbing motion to slowly remove the makeup. Prevent color transfer onto your white clothing by using a light colored cloth.
Avoid rubbing motions, which could result in the makeup stain spreading. As you're dabbing, you should see the stain slowly transferring onto the cloth. Move on to clean areas of the cloth as you continue to dab.
Once the waxy pigment has almost disappeared from the garment, you can treat this as an oil stain (please refer to the previous section). Add water and use bar soap or liquid castile soap to gently work on the stain before machine washing.

A few things to remember about pre-treating stains:
Rule #1: Get to the stain as soon as possible
Don't put it off, and don't let it sit for days (or weeks). If the stain has time to set, it's going to be much harder for you to get out.
Rule #2: Don't panic
Identify the stain (acidic, oily or waxy?) and make sure you have everything you need for success. Don't preach for whatever's closest to you, like conventional dish soap. 🚫 Those often contain dye, which for white jeans might result in a faint blue or green stain that's even larger than your original stain.
Rule #3: Don't expect the stain to come out on the first try
With household pantry items, you may or may not need a few rounds of application. That said, a little elbow grease never hurt anybody! Once you see the stain lifting, you'll know that you're on the right track.
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In case you were wondering, Corinna and Theresa were able to save the stained white jeans used in the demonstration! Shout-out to Madewell for donating their white jeans to the cause (Fair Trade Certified from the Do Well Shop).
To read Corinna and Theresa's feature in Madewell's Ladies We Love series, published during Celsious' very first year in business, go here.
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Tips by Theresa and Corinna Williams
Words and photos by Mutia Adisoma