Tuesday, November 24, 2009

REMOVING CRANBERRY SAUCE STAINS AFTER THANKSGIVING DINNER

Keep an eye out for stains on your vintage linens at Thanksgiving dinner. Here are three suggestions for removing cranberry sauce stains. Immediately scoop up the spilled sauce and wash the linens as soon as possible with detergent and very hot water. (If you're using a modern tablecloth, read the directions about hot water.) Another solution is to scoop, rinse with cold water, pre-treat the stain with a commercial stain removal product, then wash. Here's one more suggestion--a very old one: Scoop, rinse with cold water, then soak the stain in a mixture of a tablespoon of white vinegar, a half-teaspoon of liquid laundry detergent, and a quart of cold water. Rinse. If the fabric is still pink, wipe the stain with rubbing alcohol and rinse again. If all else fails, wash your tablecloth using bleach (if bleach is safe for your tablecloth).

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've found that pouring boiling water from about 3' up does a nice job removing fruit stains, especially red ones. I put the cloth in the sink, sometimes resting the spot on an upside down colander, and pour a stream of boiling water on the spot.

Patti

Anonymous said...

I used a can of sprite. Hold the garment over the sink, have 2 people pull it open and pour the sprite slowly as it drains through the cloth the fibers are thoroughly cleansed. Wash as normal. This has worked on cranberry sauce, red wine, and a full can of red pop spilled on a white upholstered chair.
Pam

Anonymous said...

The best product we have found is amazing! Soilove in the green bottle. Soilove will remove ANY stain old or new. Our family continues to find new ways to use Soilove, it cleans stove tops, jewelry, pots and pans, amazing. It has removed rust stains, old wine stains etc. I just put it in a spray bottle. Do you have another use for Soilove?

Anonymous said...

The boiling water poured over the cloth from a 2 - 3' height has worked for my family for 3 generations. In modern times, I have restored many old table and bed linens, removing old "mystery" stains by soaking in powdered Oxy-Clean dissolved in hot (not boiling) water. I sometimes leave them as long as 36 hours if the stain is lightening. This process has never eaten away the old, fragile fabric the way bleach is prone to do. I have had a slight "fade" problem only on a modern colored fabric one time.

Anonymous said...

I've got one for you, the cheap equal anti bacteria hand soap( softsoap copy) I buy at Target is amazing on organic stains. It even removed a very old blood stain that had been washed several times. It's like it breaks it up then just rub and rinse it away. Works fast !

ss said...

Do not use hot water trying to remove a stain from good cotton or linen tablecloths! Hot water sets some stains. Use cold water, run so that the water goes freely through the cloth. White hand soap, such as dial always removes these red stains when they are fresh. Just rub the stain with the soap and scrub the peices of cloth together, rinse once again. Works with all kinds of cloth and stains. ss

Anonymous said...

I've used Oxyclean on carpet and it has easily removed cranberry stains.

Heather Masterton said...

I grew up at Blueberry Hill Farm in Vermont, a fine dining establishment. My mother, Elsie Masterton, set the guest dining room tables with lace tablecloths. Of course, blueberry stains were ubiquitous. We always had a teapot handy to process blueberry spills immediately after dinner. Same as other users - from a few inches, splash down into a deep pot. Best regards, Heather Masterton, Barn Swallow Antiques

Anonymous said...

boiling water from a tea kettle -- stretch stained linen over bowl, pour through, hey presto! red wine, red fruit stains gone. old, old method.
Probably not for synethetics.

Karina said...

Thanks for sharing, for those who don't have the time or effort to scrub it off, you can get one time table cloth usage and toss them out after. Here are some ideas that you can use http://www.pronto.com/thanksgiving-table-linens