On-the-go stain remover
July 28th, 2008Have you ever worn white jeans and stained them five minutes into your day? You are not alone. In my case it’s the adorable welcome of little wet Yorkie feet that often soils my cream trench, white pants and white shirts. You love the look but Murphy’s Law makes it unlikely that you will keep a white or light garment stain-free throughout the day.
I’ve resorted to carrying Tide-to-go in my handbag. It’s an on-the-go stain remover in the shape of a felt-tip pen. Rub the tip of the pen on the stain and it’s as good as gone half an hour later. It works well on most types of food and dirt stains, but not as well on ink and excessively greasy marks.
Tide-to-go has saved my outfit a number of times. Keep it in the car, an office drawer and take it along when you travel. It’s a nifty little trick at $3 a stick.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Oh your puppies are so precious, Angie. What beautiful babies!
July 28th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Your Yorkies are adorable Angie! Thank you for the lovely photos!
I have had good experiences with Tide-pen. As you’ve mentioned, it doesn’t work too well on the ink stains. Any ideas on how to get rid of those? Here and there I end up accidentally writing on my pants, especially when I wear lighter colors - Murphy’s law
July 28th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Thank you ladies. Rosie and Jasmine are the loves of our lives. At almost 9 years old (middle aged ladies), they’re still as playful as they ever were.
I hear you Tanya. I’ve battled to have ink removed from garments at the cleaners. Blood is another hard stain to remove. I’m afraid I have no suggestions. But perhaps someone else will. Let’s wait and hear.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Great idea…Tide-to-Go! The yorkies are precious!
Tanya, try soaking the ink stains with a cheap hair spray, blotting, and reapplying if necessary. It will even do a good job of removing permanent ink. DH is always putting uncapped pens in his shirt pocket. Guess he needs one of those plastic pocket protectors LOL.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Blood stains? I swear by OxiClean Laundry Stain Remover spray. It also helps with the ink stains.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:16 am
Your pups are adorable Angie - thank you for sharing their photos with us. So much personality!
I’ve used nail polish remover to get rid of ink stains. Put some on a cotton ball and blot the stain, I usually put a folded up tissue on the other side of the fabric to absorb. Alas, it’s not one of those things you can really bring in your purse with you.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Not quite as portable, but works great on grease, is Dawn dishwashing detergent. I’ve recently converted to a green dishwashing liquid, but still keep a small travel bottle of Dawn for stain mergencies. It even does great with red wine!
Rubbing alchohol or hairspray are supposed to work on ink, but unless it’s a light mark, i haven’t seen 100% success…
P.S. What Yorkies? I see no Yorkies…
July 28th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Nancy, click on “Yorkie” in Angie’s message.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:28 am
I’m about to buy a white dress for everyday wear so thanks for this reminder about tide-on-the-go. I’m sure it’ll come in handy.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:30 am
A pre-soak in borox and water works on blood stains for me.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:03 am
I have a great tip for grease stains. Aparently if you put baby powder on the stain and let it sit over night then the powder absorbs the grease/oil and then you can launder as usual. I haven’t tried it yet but the cosmotologist at the salon I go to swears by it. She said it will even work on already laundered grease stains. If anyone tries it I would love to hear how it works.
I just bought two pr of white pants, one at Old Navy, and one at White HouseBlack Market. I am going to have to buy the oxi clean spray or the tide to go pen. I too have a yorkie and a yorkie poo and they always greet me when I enter the room. Angie your yorkies are adorable.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Plain ol’ hydrogen peroxide is great for getting blood out of clothing.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:39 am
I keep a bottle of Denatured alcohol to remove ink stains. It has always worked for me (has to be denatured.)
Thanks for the tip on the Tide pen, Angie. I didn’t know that was out there. I used to carry Shout little envelopes, but I don’t know if they sell those anymore. Shout sells a product called Shout Gel Advanced that you can leave on overnight, and it works well on a lot of stains. Spray ‘N Wash has a stick (like wax) you can rub on and leave up to a week. FYI, Woolite carries a special liquid for darks only-to help keep the color.
I love to hear any tips on laundering, so thanks so much for all the advice above.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:48 am
What a timely post! This just happened to me this morning. I dripped coffee on my white shorts when Brendan took a fast corner, but luckily I had my Tide pen with me. Worked like a charm. I love it and keep one in my purse at all times.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:14 am
A coincidental post indeed Ana. You lived it this morning!
Nice tips B, Joy, Marianna, Ola and Nancy. Insect repellent gets rid of grease marks extremely well too. I use to use ant repellant when we lived in Africa. It was great for greasy olive oil stains.
I can’t believe you have Yorkies too, Marianna! Such feisty little characters. Our girls have lived everywhere with us. The pics are a collection of more than 8 years in 3 continents. They adapt so well. Better than their Mother. I shan’t go on about our special baby girls anymore. Back to on-the-go effective stain removal.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Love the photos of the puppies!!! Thanks for sharing! I have friends that swear by the tide pen and take it everywhere. I have never tried it, but for $3, I probably should!
July 28th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I swear by my Tide pen. I’m a natural klutz with a penchant for spilling things. The Tide pen beats carrying around baby wipes.
July 28th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
I’ll definitely try this. Now I can bring out my white jeans
Rosie and Jasmine are adorable! Thanks for sharing these photos, Angie.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
The Tide to Go works well. I keep mine in my work bag, so it is with me a work and at home. You never know when the spill will happen to you or a friend… (And “off, off!” doesn’t always work with puppies excited to greet you when you come home.)
I will need to try Dawn on the grease stains. I wonder if it works when you caught the stain after you washed the pants?
Jasimine and Rosie are sweet hearts!
July 28th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I’ve carried one for years. My little Tide pen has saved many a garment!
July 28th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Angie–what cute little pups! In my case the daily clothing disaster is much more likely to be cat hair rather than wet paw prints, so I always keep a lint roller in my desk drawer at work and one at home. Our very thoughtful office manager keeps Tide to go sticks in the break room, and I do take full advantage of that.
What can be really tough to clean up is white-out stains. One of my favorite skirts is a dark plum colored knit that has a texture of tiny little ridges. One day I got a spot of white out on it which seeped into the ridges and dried. Nothing I have tried has gotten it out. I’ve tried Oxi Clean, Era plus, Shout, Dawn, and I’ve even tried scratching out the white out with a nail file. I’ve resorted to just coloring over the white out with a purple Sharpie pen which isn’t quite the same shade of plum as the skirt.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Angie,
I’ll try the stain removing pens as well, I am always battling stains these days…
your cute little dogs have stolen my heart! they are adorable
July 29th, 2008 at 6:03 am
For the past year, I have kept this pen in my purse at all times. I swear by this pen!! Quick tip ladies: keep a little pouch with all the necessities in your purse (tide pen, on-the-go medicine, chapstick or your fav lipgloss, lotion, hand sanitizer, gum/mints, kleenex, and whatever else ) so that when it comes it changing purses all I have to do is move a couple of things, instead of a million items.