Stains and Symbols

Dear Rissa,

I recently cleaned my closet because it was too packed not to mention disorganized! I separated my clothes into two piles: clothes to keep and clothes to get rid of. As I was neatly folding the clothes I couldn’t part with, I started to build a third pile: clothes that needed cleaning ASAP! I saw my coffee-stained oxford shirt, a pair of my favorite jeans with some mud on the frayed hem, and my favorite sexy tube top with something like a beer stain!

I’m hollering for help! What do I do to get rid of these stains? It would help me a million times too if you could advise me on what to do when I encounter other stains like ink, blood, tea, and even perspiration stains.

Can I also bother you with extra advice? Your column is always very informative and I was hoping you could educate me on the signs and symbols on the tag of my clothes. All those symbols on the clothing care label makes me feel like I’m reading some alien language! I’d really, really love to have a list of those symbols and what they mean. That way, I can take good care of the clothes I decided to keep. Looking forward to your next column! — Melissa

Dear Melissa,

It’s great that you’re concerned on how to take good care of your clothes. After all, great clothing only stays that way with careful maintenance.

For your pain on stains, you have to always remember that you have to properly identify the kind of stain before you attack it. Otherwise, the wrong kind of treatment just might worsen it. For those specific spots and spills, here are some techniques (from Secondhand Chic by Christa Weil) you can easily do at home yourself.

Coffee and Tea: Rinse in warm water, then wash in warm soapy water. On wools and silks, first apply glycerine (available at good drug or hardware stores), let stand, and rinse with warm water.

Mud: First let it dry completely. Then remove dry mud with brush or cloth. Presoak if fabric allows, then wash.

Alcohol: Even if the alcohol was colorless, the stain will turn brown if untreated. Sponge several times with white vinegar diluted 1:1 with warm water. Wash as usual.

Ballpoint Ink: Flush immediately with cold water, then treat the stain with soap. Soap is more effective on inks than detergent. Rinse and repeat if necessary. Traditional alternative method: soak the stain in sour milk. If you can’t wait for the milk to sour, try spraying with alcohol-heavy hairspray, then rinse with cool water.

Blood: Soak ASAP in (take note) cool, heavily salted water, then dab on liquid detergent and rinse. Wash as usual.

Candle Wax: Put the item in a plastic bag in a freezer for an hour. Peel the solid off the fabric. Wash as usual.

Egg: Scrape off any solids with a dull knife or spoon edge. Turn the garment inside out and place a towel underneath, then sponge cold water on the fabric. Never use hot water which will set the stain permanently.

Grass: Treat it with liquid detergent rubbed into stain. If the stain is persistent, follow by sponging with rubbing alcohol. Remember to test the alcohol on an inconspicuous area first! Dry-clean if necessary.

Mildew: Leather that is stored under the damp of humid conditions is especially prone to mildew. After testing in an inconspicuous area, apply anti-septic mouthwash on a cotton ball and dab gently.

Pencil: Rub gently with a soft white eraser.

Perspiration Stains: Sponge old stains with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar in 1 cup water. Or apply paste of 1 tablespoon cream of tartar, 3 crushed aspirins, and water. Leave on for 20 minutes. Rinse well.

Rust Marks: On white cottons and linens, stretch the stained fabric tight over a pan of boiling water and sprinkle lemon juice on top. After a minute, rinse well, and repeat if necessary. You can also spread the rust stain on cotton and linen with cream of tartar, hold over steaming kettle. Then rinse immediately.

Scorch Marks: Try rubbing the edge of a coin. If this doesn’t work, resort to the dry-cleaner. Note that bad scorches probably won’t come out.

Water Marks: Hold marks over a steaming kettle. Remove from steam and dab gently with cloth.

Cleaning clothes without knowing the symbols is like driving in a land with unfamiliar traffic signs. Most of us can manage without a wreck, but it makes better sense to be prepared.

Since 1999, clothes manufacturers are no longer obligated to provide written instructions along with the icons on care labels. In short, you can be faced with a bunch of symbols with no written guidelines at all!

If your garment was made before June 1997, any care symbols present may look slightly different. Some older symbols feature color-coding. Basically, a green symbol means proceed with confidence using warm settings. Yellow means proceed with caution using low or moderate temperatures. And red means don’t machine wash, dry, iron, or bleach, depending on the icon in question. At present, all don’ts are represented by an "X" through the icon. If you see this, pay attention because they aren’t kidding.

Here’s a list of symbols that should help you out. If you’re still confused, the dry-cleaners are the best experts for this.

* * *

For more fashion tips, watch The Kikay Machine daily on Juice TV (Destiny 47, Home 42, Dream 16, 8-10 a.m., 8-10 p.m., 2-4 a.m. and on Zoe 11, 8-9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.) For more on fashion and style, catch Fashion TV every Mondays at 10:30 p.m. on ABC-5. E-mail your questions and comments to rissa_ms@hotmail.com.