What would you feel when something meant to clean and remove stains gives you stains? This happens often, yet, simple techniques can solve the problem. However, there are some precautions and ways to remove and at least minimize the effect.
The stains can be removed by rewashing detergent stain clothes in the rinse cycle without using detergent. A thorough rinse and spin will remove the residue powder left in the clothes. Using slightly higher-temperature water for rinsing may also help in this regard. And if a stain is oily, then using a little dishwashing liquid will help remove it. However, we must go through these steps if the stain goes with more than a simple rewash.
Different Ways to Remove Laundary Detergent Stains
Getting a detergent stain on clothes is annoying, especially on black or dark-colored outfits. Fortunately, we have some step-by-step solutions to remove the stains quite easily. So follow these steps to solve your problem quickly as well as prevent yourself getting them in the first place
- Re-wash clothes using water at a higher temperature
Generally, when the detergent is added to cold water, it does not dissolve quickly. Some undissolved detergent powder is left in the water even after the wash cycle in the form of white stains of soapy residue sticking on the clothes, giving a strong fragrance. In that case, you either wash your laundry load with plain water or, more precisely, with high-temperature water. This will help the detergent particles stuck in the clothes dissolve and rinse out, leaving the clothes stain free and clean.
Try washing clothes with warm water in the future to prevent your clothes from having stains but be cautious as some clothes are not washed with warm water, and treat them as per the care instruction written on their tags.
You can also premix the detergent and add it to the load if your washing machine lid does not lock when the wash cycle starts. Pour the water-dissolved detergent at the start, whether your machine accumulates water first, and then the wash load is added or just like the new smart machines in which the clothes are put first by which machine estimates the amount of water needed for a wash. In both cases, detergent takes plenty of time and water to dissolve before directly sticking to clothes.
- Re-washing the oily spots with Dishwashing soap
If the detergent stains are oily, not powdery, you can use a minimal quantity of dishwashing liquid which will remove any oil spots. This is beneficial for removing oily remains on the cloth, but be cautious about adding a very small amount of dish wash soap as it makes a lot of bubbles, and you might get soapy water with foam at the final rinse by the machine. To be safe, take out your stained clothe from the machine, put the dish wash soap directly on the oily spot, and scrub it with a soft brush or toothbrush rather than putting it in the washing load to save water. Now throw back the pretreated item for the rinsing cycle.
- Pre-soak In Vinegar
Vinegar has always been a savior for laundry stains. It can be used as a whitener and brightener for yellowed-white clothes. To brighten the clothes, you may add a half cup of vinegar to your wash load during the rinse cycle. But you need to be careful with it, as it may end up discoloring certain clothes. So, before you treat any clothe for stain removal with direct vinegar soaking or diluted, you must test a corner of that particular clothing with vinegar to check its effect.
Now the clothes that are tested vinegar safe, you can directly soak them in vinegar. You just need to wait 15 to 30 minutes soaking until they are washed again with plain water. Suppose you treat clothes individually and don’t want to expose them to straight vinegar. In that case, you can dilute one cup of vinegar to a quart of water and soak your desired clothing for 30 to 60 minutes. Now scrub the stain using a small brush by rubbing it against itself or with your fingers and toss it back into the rinse cycle.
What is the cause of detergent stain, and how to prevent them happening
It’s already discussed how to treat the detergent stain clothes. Now, its time to take a look at the factors causing these Stain from laundry detergents:
- Amount of detergent used
If you have tried the prevention methods mentioned earlier about using pre-mixed detergent and still it seems like nothing is working, it might be the case that you are using too much detergent. Smart machines nowadays estimate water according to the laundry load where you need to put detergent according to the recommendations provided by the detergent. But if the problem persists, you need to lessen the amount of detergent for future loads. It would be fine to use half of the measurement recommended.
- Number of cloths is greater
If there are too many clothes in a wash load, the detergent added may have very limited access to water, and the detergent may have residue on top of the clothes, and the only time it will get to dissolve is the spin cycle. This issue is addressed in two ways; first, do not overload your machine if you are using the old ones because the new smart machine requires clothes first, spin a bit to estimate the water to be used and mention on the led that the amount of load is good or not. The second way is, as mentioned earlier, to premix the detergent with water and pour it before putting the load in older machines and at the beginning when the water is accumulated in the new smart machines. Note that top-load smart machines have detergent and fabric conditioner drawers are right below the water hose, but still, you should add premix detergent to be on the safe side or use liquid detergent. However, this process may not work for certain machines, especially front-load machines.
- Water is too Cold
As mentioned earlier, detergent dissolves slowly in cold water, causing powder residue to stick to clothes. Use warm water to prevent this issue, or mix detergent powder in water at the beginning of the wash.
- Hard water
Hard water contains minerals that prevent detergent from dissolving properly. To deal with hard water, which causes detergent stains as well as mineral stains, use a water softener. The water softener helps your machine last longer, as it is both cost-effective and efficient where the time taken in every wash is reduced, and there is no need to perform extra rinse cycles to prevent stains.
The above-discussed methods and techniques benefit the conventional ways of doing laundry. Still, as the world is now getting more concerned about environmental health and is prone to using sustainable products, one must switch to such products that cause no or less harm to the environment. To take a step towards environmental health and sustainability, I myself put my share by using sustainable products. I tried “Dropps,” company’s sustainable product for different household cleaning, especially its “Laundry: Stain & Odor Detergent,” which contains Ultra Concentrated Pods. These pods are created with a balance of natural and synthetic ingredients to make them more environmentally sustainable. I really like this product and find it very effective and efficient yet with a relief of not causing any harm to our planet. I strongly recommend others to use this effective product and take a step towards the wellness of the earth.
