Cotton

What cotton 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 cotton

Cotton takes water freely, so flushing from the back of the fabric is almost always the right first move on a fresh spill.

The fibre itself tolerates most household cleaners. The two real risks are heat, which sets stains before the wash can lift them, and chlorine bleach, which weakens the fibre with repeated use and strips colour.

Stains on cotton

• Baby sick Lift off any solids, rinse Cotton from the back with cool water, pre-treat with biological detergent, then wa...
• Blood Flush the back of the fabric under a cold tap until the water runs clear, work in a little washing up liquid,...
• Body oil Blot cotton, pretreat a permitted washable patch with liquid detergent, rinse and use a cool labelled wash. A...
• Breast milk Blot and cold-rinse a label-approved washable item. Use your compatible biological liquid detergent and a per...
• Bronzer Lift loose bronzer from cotton before it is rubbed in. Blot cream bronzer, follow the material or care label,...
• Coffee Blot first. If the label permits, gently rinse cool water through the back of the mark, supporting the fabric...
• Concealer Lift the concealer, flush Cotton from the back with cool water, pre-treat the oily residue with one drop of w...
• Cooking grease Lift and blot cooking grease from Cotton, absorb the oil, pretreat both sides with washing-up liquid for 10 m...
• Deodorant Rub a fresh white mark off dry with a cloth or a pair of tights before you put anything wet on it. For yellow...
• Hair dye Blot Cotton, rinse the back with cool water, pre-treat with liquid laundry detergent and wash it alone to the...
• Lipstick Lift lipstick from Cotton, work from the reverse with a drop of washing-up liquid, rinse cool, wash to the ca...
• Motor oil Blot motor oil from Cotton, absorb the residue, pretreat both sides with a little washing-up liquid, wash to...
• Nail polish Lift free polish without rubbing. A small mark on plain washable compatible cloth may respond to the linked l...
• Period blood Lift off anything solid, hold the fabric wrong side up under a cold tap so the water pushes the mark back out...
• Pet urine Blot up as much urine as possible, rinse the mark from the back with cool water, work in biological laundry d...
• Sweat Rinse the cotton item from the back with cool water, work biological liquid detergent into the damp mark for...
• Tomato sauce Lift tomato sauce from Cotton, flush from the reverse with cool water, pretreat the remaining film, wash to t...

Cleaners on cotton

• Bicarbonate of soda Yes, safe

  Cotton tolerates mild alkalis, and the powder is brushed off rather than washed in, so nothing stays in the fibre.

• Biological laundry detergent Yes, safe

  Cotton is cellulose, and a protease has nothing to act on in it. This is the standard treatment for protein marks on washable cotton.

• Hydrogen peroxide Only with caution

  Safe on the fibre and a genuine option on white cotton. On coloured cotton it can take the dye out along with the mark, so it needs a hidden test that is allowed to dry before you judge it.

• Washing-up liquid Yes, safe

  A mild surfactant at household dilution does not damage cotton fibre, and cotton can be rinsed thoroughly afterwards.

• White vinegar Yes, with a pre-test

  Diluted vinegar does not harm cotton fibre, but it can move some reactive dyes, so try it on a seam first on anything dark or brightly coloured.

Similar materials

• Bed sheets