Guides

The general skills behind every specific method: blotting rather than rubbing, why heat sets protein stains, testing for colourfastness and reading a care label.

White deodorant marks and yellow underarm stains are not the same stain One rubs off dry in ten seconds and the other is a chemical change in the fibre. Almost every failed attempt starts by treating o...
Why a period stain is not quite a nosebleed Menstrual fluid is blood plus several other things, and the differences explain why it is usually found dried, why it goes brown,...
Why body oil stains appear weeks later Skin oil goes into fabric colourless and shows up yellow long after the event. What changes in between, why heat is the thing tha...
Why heat sets a blood stain The one rule that decides whether a blood mark comes out, and the reason so much general stain advice gets it exactly backwards.
Why spilt milk smells days later The mark comes out and the smell arrives afterwards. What is actually happening in the carpet, why bicarbonate of soda works and...