Coffee is a favorite beverage of millions of people around the world, and when it spills on your clothes, you might feel like crying out loud. However, there are many techniques and methods to remove coffee stains from your favorite garments like wool, silk, and tissue.
In this article, we have compiled some useful tips using common household items that will help you remove coffee stains from clothes easily and efficiently.
If your first thought after spilling coffee on your favorite shirt is, “this is the end for you, my friend,” worry no more. Coffee stains leave a deep brown mark on your clothes, but you can remove them with just a few simple household items.
Types of Coffee Stains
Following are the various types of coffee stains.
- Abrasive Stain: Coffee grounds are sharp and can scratch the surface materials of countertops, dishes, and clothes. This leads to the formation of an abrasive stain.
- Chemical Stain: The acids found in coffee can cause a chemical stain.
- Organic Stain: The organic materials found in coffee can stain your clothes.
Tips to Remove Coffee Stains from Clothes
Stain Removal Tip #1: Dilute Vinegar with Water and Dab Coffee Stains with it
Dilute vinegar with water and dab those stains with it before tossing the item in the laundry. This can usually get rid of even stubborn coffee stains.
Stain Removal Tip #2: Add Baking Soda to Your Regular Detergent
Add baking soda when you’re doing your regular washing routine by adding one tablespoon of baking soda to a regular detergent load. The baking soda will help remove the coffee stains without damaging your clothes, as well as make them smell like a fresh-baked pie!
Stain Removal Tip #3: Rub with Baking Soda, then Wash
Baking soda is a gentle abrasive that makes it easier for other products you put on the stain to work their way into the fabric. Once you’ve rubbed the baking soda into the stain with your fingers for about ten seconds, toss it in the wash and launder as you normally would.
Stain Removal Tip #4: Use Liquid Laundry Detergent, Rub with a Sponge, and Wash
When you use powdered detergent, you’re supposed to add water to create a foamy mixture, but if you don’t rub the foam into the stained area before washing it, you’re just adding more detergent without giving it time to work its magic on your garment. Liquid detergents already contain water, so all you have to do is rub them into your stained cloth and toss it in the wash!
Stain Removal Tip #5: Rub with Hand Sanitizer and then Wash
Hand sanitizer has a high alcohol content, which is effective at breaking down oil-based stains like coffee. Rubbing some onto stains before they go through a wash in the machine can really help.
Stain Removal Tip #6: Rub Salt on the Stain and Rub with a Wet Cloth Before Washing
The combination of salt and water can make it easier to remove that stain when you wash it out of the fabric later!
If the stubborn coffee stains still don’t go away after following all the steps I mentioned above, you can follow the ways below:
Try using a product called Spray’ n Wash. Spray this over your coffee-stained garment and let sit for 10 minutes. Then wash as usual. You should be able to see the stain fading away as you go.
- Powdered Oxygen Bleach
Finally, if all else fails, throw your cloth into the washer with some powdered oxygen bleach (like OxiClean). This can help make that coffee stain disappear!
Moreover, the best way to remove a coffee stain from clothes also depends on the clothes’ fabric. For example:
- For cotton
Soak the coffee stain in cold water and wash it as usual.
- For polyester
Wash the clothes as usual and use a small amount of detergent.
- For silk
Hand-wash it using soap and cold water.
- For wool
Soak the coffee stain in cold water and lanolin. Do not try to dry wool in a dryer.
Takeaway
Coffee stains can be a pain to get out of your clothes. It’s a good thing that there are so many tips to remove coffee stains from clothes. Some of the tips will work better than others depending on the material of your clothes, so do a test on an inconspicuous part of your garment for some of the more aggressive methods.
Coffee stains are tough to get out, but you don’t have to replace your clothes. There are simple ways to remove coffee stains from clothes that we have discussed above.
