How to remove stubborn stains
The red wine glass tipped over at dinner? The shirt is covered in grease splashes from cooking? There are many types of stains that the washing machine cannot reliably remove. That's why it's important to pre-treat heavy stains before you throw the garment into the washing drum.
1. The quicker the better
If you wash out the stains immediately, you have a better chance of getting the textiles completely clean again. Waiting too long will result in the stains bonding with the fibers and sticking to the garment. Therefore: Even if it is tedious, you should treat fresh stains quickly.
2. Protect your clothes
Rubbing vigorously may help to remove stains from the fabric. However, it puts a lot of strain on the fibers and makes your clothes look less attractive more quickly. Rubbing is not absolutely necessary for fresh stains: Apply a little water to the stain and carefully dab it away with an absorbent cloth.
3. From the outside in
If you treat a stain before washing, you should work from the edge inwards. This will prevent the stain from unintentionally increasing in size.
4. Soak with Washo
Even old stains are difficult to wash out of the fabric. In this case, leave the garment to soak in water overnight after pretreating it with gall soap. To increase the effect, you can tear up half or a whole Washo and let it dissolve in the water, depending on the amount of water.
5. Miracle cure gall soap
Bile soap helps to remove stains quickly and easily. The natural product consists of bovine bile and curd soap, which enables environmentally friendly washing. Moisten the fabric, gently rub the soap over the stain, leave to work for a while and rinse. You can find them in drugstores and retail outlets - make sure that the soap does not contain palm oil. If you want to avoid animal ingredients, you can use a vegetable curd soap as an alternative.
But why does bile soap work so well against many types of stains? Bovine bile contains enzymes that are normally required for digestion and therefore easily remove stains that contain fat, protein or dyes. However, bile soap is not suitable for delicate textiles.
6. Finger away from bleaching agents and universal stain removers
Chemical bleach destroys deposits in the fabric, but is harmful to nature. Due to poorly degradable halogen compounds, bleach in detergents (as well as in other cleaning products) can heavily pollute wastewater.
Universal stain removers are also not a good choice. According to Stiftung Warentest, they usually work no better than a heavy-duty detergent.