It’s National Spaghetti Day
Time to Learn How to Tackle Tomato Sauce Stains!
Happy 2024! While I know a lot of you are doing your best to cut out carbs and shed pounds after any holiday overindulgences, today is also National Spaghetti Day. With over 1.5 million pounds of spaghetti sold in American stores every year, it is clear there are lots who love their pasta. Fortunately, today is our day! Sorry dieters, but we pasta lovers will rejoice!
Spaghetti and Tomato Stains Go Hand in Hand
While I’m a huge fan of any sort of pasta, including classic spaghetti with tomato sauce, I’m not a lover of the stains this dish so often leaves behind. In our shop, we spend a lot of time trying to get tomato stains out of clothing, tablecloths, and napkins.
Even more difficult is trying to get after those stains when any sort of flubbed stain treatment was attempted by the owner. We’ve seen combinations of salt and lemon juice making stains far worse. We’ve had items thrown into a regular wash and dry cycle where no stain treatment was done and where the heat has now set the stain for good. We often see a stain that was ground into the fabric in an effort to scrub it out.
Because of this, and in honor of National Spaghetti Day, we’d love to share our most effective, at-home remedies for eliminating the inevitable spot or stain from a tomato-based pasta sauce.
A Time-Tested and Proven Spaghetti Sauce Stain Removal Method
Our methods are used by experts around the world, including those of the American Cleaning Institute, the ever-fabulous Martha Stewart, Good Housekeeping, The Spruce cleaning team, and more. The best method has roughly nine steps and requires the use of a range of tools and materials, including:
A butter knife or spoon
Running water
Liquid dish soap (it will be diluted into a spray bottle)
As with any stain removal, there are a few basics that always apply, and they include:
Keep calm – most stains can be effectively removed, and if your tactics fail, a good dry cleaner can often save the day.
Never work from the stain and into the fabric. Instead, always flip the fabric over to force the stain out or away from the fabric. Otherwise, you are driving the staining materials deeper or wider into the fabric.
When applying any stain treatments or detergents/boosters, use a gentle circular motion and always begin on the OUTSIDE of the stained area and work INWARD. This blocks it from spreading.
Never, and please read this as NEVER, toss an item into the dryer if the stain is not fully removed. This usually seals it into the fibers and makes it a permanent stain.
Not all fabrics can be treated for stain removal. Anything made of silk, 100% wool, linen, and even rayon can all be damaged or bleed color when treated for tomato stains. If your item is a high-quality piece made of any of those materials, it may be best to head to a professional instead of attempting any stain removal.
To begin erasing any pesky tomato stains, just use these steps:
With the dull edge of the butter knife or the spoon, gently scrape or lift away any tomato or food debris that remains. The goal is to take off any solids without driving the stain further into the fabric or spreading it out further.
Flip the fabric to the reverse and hold this under running, cold water for 10-15 minutes. The goal is to do this as soon as possible after the stain, but even a while later can help to loosen and remove some of the material. Going from the back of the item forces the stain out of the fabric and does not force it deeply into the material. Essentially, you are washing it away rather than through.
Flip the fabric back over to the front and then take your spray bottle of diluted dish soap and gently spritz the area. You will work it very gently, using a circular motion, and always corral the stain by starting at the outermost edge and driving it inward towards the center of the stain. (Why dish soap and not detergent? Most pasta sauces have a lot of oil, and dish soap is your best friend in your fight to degrease the garment.) Allow the item to rest for about 10 minutes before rinsing gently and thoroughly with cold water.
You should see good results from this effort, but if not, repeat the application of the soap, allow it to soak in tepid water for another 10-15 minutes, and rinse again.
Next, you’ll need to deal with discoloration from the tomato sauce. This is the moment to use your white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide (but ONLY if the item is white and/or you have tested it for colorfastness). Just soak the area with a few drops of your preferred treatment and allow it to sit for a few minutes before gently rinsing from the back.
You can repeat steps 3-5 multiple times until the stain is no longer viewable when held up in strong light.
Even though you may not see any stain, we would still suggest a gentle application from a stain stick or remover that sits for only five or ten minutes before a wash with liquid or powder detergent and an enzyme or color-safe booster added. A cold water wash is the only way to go, and the item may do best if alone (yes, it is a terrible waste of water and energy, but most machines have a small cycle option).
Double-check that the stain is entirely gone once the cycle is finished. If anything lingers repeat the dish soap application and soak for 30 minutes. Rinse and do another stain remover application before laundering again.
If, after all of this, the stain lingers, allow it to air dry and then bring it to Oak Hill Dry Cleaner. If you let us know that you followed our instructions here to the letter, we’ll give you a 5% discount on the order AND use the professional stain removal options that can almost guarantee success.
As we said, some fabrics may be very difficult to treat. Silks and wool items don’t do well with stain removal and wet washing. That may mean the stain is impossible to eliminate, even by an expert. However, most of us know better than to wear that silk blouse in front of a heaping bowl of spaghetti or to lay out that bright white, pure linen tablecloth for pasta night.
Look at what their wearing! This is a fine example of how NOT to dress for a spaghetti dinner!
Disasters happen, but that’s no reason to avoid pasta…especially today. If you find yourself wearing a bit of your meal, don’t panic. Keep calm and use our proven methods for stain removal. If in doubt, just pop into the shop or book a free home pickup and delivery. Let us know about the stain, and we’ll do everything possible to get that item back into great shape for the next pasta night!
Sources
https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-remove-tomato-sauce-stains-1901051