Here at Clean and Green we have been delving yet again into the wonderful world of natural cleaning products for inside the house. It’s amazing just how much the large cleaning companies bombard us with advertising for their products. Switch the telly on at any time, night or day and you can guarantee their will be an advert for washing powder, squirty bottles to make your settee smell of spring, creams that claim to take the effort out of cleaning your cooker and things that can kill all known germs, (as well as friendly bacteria that cleans the septic tanks). I’ll stick my neck out here and claim that you could save yourself at least 10 euro a week by sticking to natural cleaning products (most of which would be used by the manufacturers on advertising costs) as well as doing your bit for the environment.
This week we are looking at a few very stubborn stains. One of the worst we find is curry. Curry often has cumin in it and this is can be used as a fabric dye. The deep yellow colour is beautiful, (but not if is a stain on your new white T-shirt). I had some details on how to remove this stain but unfortunately my notes were put into the washing machine by mistake and ended up as paper pulp (so if any-one knows how to get bits of dried in soggy paper off clothes…….).
Anyway. Here are some that we do have answers for.
Oil. A friend recently came back from holiday in Europe and found that they had tar on their beach clothes. This is known as tar oil or beach tar, which we thankfully don’t get around Inishowen. To get rid of this substance would require the same method of removal as any other heavy tar though. The secret is to clean oil stains with more oil. For heavy motor oil use oil of eucalyptus, which is lighter oil. This product is expensive though, so because we are tying to save the pennies this week we will recommend dripping. Any dripping will do, but we thought that chicken dripping would be just that little bit lighter. Tamp the dripping onto the stain and leave for a few hours. The lighter oil will break down the heavy oil. Draw the oil and dripping out with soapy water. Should there be any stain still remaining dust the area with talcum powder and leave overnight. This can then be brushed off.
Fruit stains. These can be a real problem but we think we have a few good ideas. For dark stains use white vinegar, dab on and leave to soak before you put the item in the washer. Hot milk poured onto the stain could be an effective solution too. It’ sounds good enough to eat!
Try using 1 ½ teaspoons full of borax (if you can get it) to ½ pint of water and soak the garment for an hour or two. If you can’t get Borax, you might like to give the Ecover bleach a try. This is 100% percarbonate, which is composed of salt, limestone and oxygenated water. Ecover claim that it is the most ecological bleach after the sun. The wholefood shops stock small boxes.
Dried fruit. Here’s an idea for you which sounds good but we would advise extreme caution if you were to attempt it. Stretch out the garment with the dried up stain and secure it over a container such as a bucket. On to this stain drop boiling water from a great height (not too high or the water would be cold!) so standing on a chair would probably be the limit. Again, be careful.
Check out the Green Book for more ideas on natural cleaning...
Banana stains. Here’s one you will be very familiar with, especially if you have toddlers. If the banana gets onto clothes don’t use soaps of any kind to get the banana out, this will set the stain. Wash the item in the hottest wash the fabric can withstand. This should remove any trace of the fruit. If the stain has dried, try soaking it for an hour or two in the Ecover laundry bleach, if the fabric allows it, before putting it into the washer.
Household.
This week we are looking at a few very stubborn stains. One of the worst we find is curry. Curry often has cumin in it and this is can be used as a fabric dye. The deep yellow colour is beautiful, (but not if is a stain on your new white T-shirt). I had some details on how to remove this stain but unfortunately my notes were put into the washing machine by mistake and ended up as paper pulp (so if any-one knows how to get bits of dried in soggy paper off clothes…….).
Anyway. Here are some that we do have answers for.
Oil. A friend recently came back from holiday in Europe and found that they had tar on their beach clothes. This is known as tar oil or beach tar, which we thankfully don’t get around Inishowen. To get rid of this substance would require the same method of removal as any other heavy tar though. The secret is to clean oil stains with more oil. For heavy motor oil use oil of eucalyptus, which is lighter oil. This product is expensive though, so because we are tying to save the pennies this week we will recommend dripping. Any dripping will do, but we thought that chicken dripping would be just that little bit lighter. Tamp the dripping onto the stain and leave for a few hours. The lighter oil will break down the heavy oil. Draw the oil and dripping out with soapy water. Should there be any stain still remaining dust the area with talcum powder and leave overnight. This can then be brushed off.
Fruit stains. These can be a real problem but we think we have a few good ideas. For dark stains use white vinegar, dab on and leave to soak before you put the item in the washer. Hot milk poured onto the stain could be an effective solution too. It’ sounds good enough to eat!
Try using 1 ½ teaspoons full of borax (if you can get it) to ½ pint of water and soak the garment for an hour or two. If you can’t get Borax, you might like to give the Ecover bleach a try. This is 100% percarbonate, which is composed of salt, limestone and oxygenated water. Ecover claim that it is the most ecological bleach after the sun. The wholefood shops stock small boxes.
Dried fruit. Here’s an idea for you which sounds good but we would advise extreme caution if you were to attempt it. Stretch out the garment with the dried up stain and secure it over a container such as a bucket. On to this stain drop boiling water from a great height (not too high or the water would be cold!) so standing on a chair would probably be the limit. Again, be careful.
Check out the Green Book for more ideas on natural cleaning...
Banana stains. Here’s one you will be very familiar with, especially if you have toddlers. If the banana gets onto clothes don’t use soaps of any kind to get the banana out, this will set the stain. Wash the item in the hottest wash the fabric can withstand. This should remove any trace of the fruit. If the stain has dried, try soaking it for an hour or two in the Ecover laundry bleach, if the fabric allows it, before putting it into the washer.
Household.
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