Disclaimer: We were sent a selection of stain removal products for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.
We’re an average family, but perhaps an above average family when it comes to the amount of stains we find on our clothes. The washing machine is on most days and over the years we’ve developed tried and tested techniques for slaying stains.
There may only be three of us in the house, but we are a bunch of mucky pups. With an 8 year old in the house, his clothes are always covered in various foods he’s eaten that day; mud, grass stains, paint, felt tip, glue, everything and anything. My husband is a printer, and whilst it’s a much cleaner industry than it used to be, he’s often sloshing ink and chemicals over himself. Me, well I’m a grease-monkey. Baking and cooking every day mean my tops often have grease spots and splatters on them. I know I should wear an apron, but I don’t. As a result my clothes bear the brunt of the worse of it.
With my grease spots I’ve learnt to keep a small bottle of washing up liquid in my bedroom. I’ll squirt a bit of washing up liquid on my grease stains before throwing them in the laundry basket. I only wear cotton clothes and for the most part I’m not that precious about what I wear. What I’m saying is, don’t do this to your best silk blouse.
My husbands chemical soaked clothes are often washed separately at a fairly high temperature. The wash that goes in after that wash is usually something we’re not too precious about; dog bedding or old towels used to dry a soggy dog after a walk in the rain maybe.
My son’s clothes; a glorious collection of school uniform, cubs uniform, martial arts kit, PE kit, swimming gear and whatever clothes he wears in between. Well that’s a mixture of fabrics which often need a deal more special attention than my collection of grease splattered cotton tops.
His clothes often need more delicate handling, specialist stain removers and a bit more TLC. We’ve tried a lot of different stain removers over the years, some smell too strong, too chemically or too weird. Some just aren’t up to the job. My son is especially gifted at staining his clothes.
For the last few months we’ve been using some of the ACE Stain Remover range and honestly, they’ve ticked all the right boxes. Gentle on the clothes but tough on the stains. For individual stains, the ACE Multi-Purpose Spray and the ACE Power Mousse are really powerful. Plus they can be used around the house too. Kind of a two in one deal. Personally I like to save them for tackling the terrible state of his school shirts.
For more general stain removal and brightening whites and colours which are dulled by general grime; ACE for Whites and ACE for Colours are really effective and don’t have that bleachy smell that some laundry brighteners can have.
Whenever you encounter a stain, it’s always best to act as soon as you can so it doesn’t fix in the garment. Dabbing it or scrapping off any dried on food is a good start. Most stains need to be treated in special ways; but for general food, mud, and glass stains, a general stain remover is usually enough to tackle the trail of baked beans down a white school shirt.
What are your top tips for stain removal?
