How to remove stubborn stains
The red wine glass tipped over at dinner? The shirt is covered in grease splashes from cooking? There are numerous types of stains that the washing machine cannot reliably remove. It is therefore important to pre-treat heavy stains before throwing the garment into the washing drum.
1. The faster, 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 cause the stains to bond with the fibers and stick 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 enlarging unintentionally.
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 you have pre-treated 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
Gall soap helps quickly and easily against stains. The natural product consists of bovine bile and curd soap, which enables environmentally friendly washing. Moisten the fabric, rub gently over the stain with the soap, leave to work for a while and rinse. You can find them in drugstores, but also in retail stores - 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, gall soap is not suitable for delicate textiles.
6. Finger away from bleach and universal stain removers
Chemical bleach destroys deposits in the fabric, but is harmful to nature. Bleach in detergents (as well as in other cleaning products) can heavily pollute waste water due to halogen compounds that are difficult to break down.
Universal stain removers are also not a good choice. According to Stiftung Warentest, they usually work no better than a heavy-duty detergent.