How to remove food stains from cotton clothes

Sometimes laundry washing by machine, even with a good detergent, may not be enough efficient in removing some stains from cotton clothes: a preliminary treatment with a specific product may be useful.  Non ecological detergents (as well as some ecological ones) do contain optical brighteners, tending to cover temporarily the stains with a glossy white coat; however, when clothes remains longtime in the dark into a wardrobe, optical brighteners are no longer stimulated by sunlight, the glossy effect vanishes and stains reappear…

Ecological laundry aim is washing well avoiding not biodegradable and long-term toxic substances, as optical brighteners; moreover, such chemicals are not able to clean, but only to “mask” the soil.

Some of the most difficult food to be cleaned are greases, mostly EVO (extravergin olive oil) and coloured fruits and vegetables, but wine, tea and coffee too.

The first recommendation is to clean as soon as we can: with each passing hour or even day, soil substances are liable to be oxidized by the oxygen in the air, so they change their chemical composition, generally becoming stronger and more difficult to remove.

Here some useful suggestions to treat the various stains:

• EVO: dip with lukewarm water, spray with liquid Castile soap and rub, then put into laundry machine;
• tomato sauce: dip with cold water, spray with Liquid Castile Soap and rub, then rinse thoroughly before putting into laundry machine;
• wine, fruit juices, tea/coffee, fruits: dip with lukewarm water, apply some Bleaching Powder and let work for at least half an hour, then put into laundry machine.

The Bleaching Powder must be applied only onto strong fabrics: it is not recommended its use onto delicate fabrics or worn-out clothes, as it gives off oxygen peroxide that may damage the clothes. For such fabrics we recommend to use the Liquid Castile Soap.

The treatments here described do not make any “masking” on clothes: if properly used, these products are able to remove most of the stains without optical effects, what you see is what really there is. And, more importantly, they do not leave any toxic residue.