The Stain Library

Material

Corduroy

Cut pile cotton where the ribs crush permanently under heat and pressure, so it is washed inside out and never ironed on the face.

  • SurfacePorous
  • WashingMachine
  • Colour run riskMedium
  • Reviewed7 September 2026

What corduroy can and cannot take

  • Heat Use with care
  • Water and soaking Tolerates it
  • Acids, including vinegar Tolerates it
  • Strong alkalis Tolerates it
  • Solvents Use with care
  • Chlorine bleach Use with care
  • Abrasives Use with care

Always test on a hidden area first and let it dry before you treat the visible mark.

General rules for corduroy

The ribs are made of cut pile standing up from a woven base. Anything that crushes them shows, and heat crushes them fastest.

Turn it inside out before washing, use a cool cycle, and do not iron the face. If it needs pressing, steam it hanging up or press it from the reverse over a towel.

The chemistry is ordinary cotton, so enzymes and cool soaking are both available.

Check the label

Corduroy is a cut pile fabric, so the risk is the pile rather than the fibre. Wash it inside out on a cool cycle, because friction against the drum flattens and marks the ribs, and never iron the face of it.

Stains on corduroy

Corduroy is cotton woven with extra weft threads that are cut to make standing ribs.

The pile is the whole appearance

Upright pile catches light evenly. Crushed pile does not, and a flattened patch looks like a stain even when it is clean. Heat and pressure together are what crush it.

Washing it inside out helps

The face of the fabric rubs against the drum and against other clothes throughout the cycle. Turning it inside out puts the base weave on the outside instead.

The base is ordinary cotton

So biological detergent and a long cool soak work exactly as they do on any other cotton.

It holds solids in the channels

The grooves between the ribs collect anything solid. Scrape along the ribs rather than across them.

Sources

What we checked and when. Where a manufacturer instruction disagrees with anything here, follow the manufacturer.

  1. How to remove stains from baby clothes, Persil UK manufacturer

    UK manufacturer guidance to act quickly on formula, blot when immediate washing is impossible, rinse under cool water, soak for at least 15 minutes where the care label permits, pre-treat with detergent and then wash to the care label.

    Checked 7 September 2026

  2. A guide to newborn laundry, American Cleaning Institute trade body

    Cleaning trade body guide to pre-treat breast milk, formula or spit-up with an enzyme stain remover, soak fresh marks for at least 30 minutes and older marks for several hours, launder, and keep stained items out of the dryer until the mark has gone.

    Checked 7 September 2026

  3. How to clean polyester and synthetics, Woolite manufacturer

    Detergent manufacturer guidance that polyester is washed, dried and ironed at low to medium heat only because excessive heat can melt the fibres, that air drying is preferred to machine drying, that nylon is washed in cool water on a gentle cycle because repeated machine washing causes discolouration and loss of shape, and that acrylic knits are laid flat or dried at low temperature to keep their shape.

    Checked 7 September 2026