Today I decided to compare my two favourite cheap stain removers- Wilko soda crystals and Starburst power cleaner with ammonia. These are both less then a £1, and each last a while. I chose something with rather stubborn stains to test, my oven gloves!
Materials & Products
- Soda crystals or a cleaner containing ammonia
- Warm water
- Damp clean cloth
Method
- If using soda crystals mix with warm water to produce a paste and then rub gently on to the soiled areas of the fabric. For the cleaner with ammonia just simply pour on enough to cover the stained area and gently work in with a cloth.
- *Warning* if you haven’t used these products before I would suggest completing a spot check first- especially with the ammonia cleaning product.
- Leave product to soak into fabric for a few minutes, for more stubborn stains you may decide to leave for longer.
- Now using a damp cloth, rub stained areas- you may find that this is enough to remove stain completely.
- Pop your laundry or fabric into the washing machine for a wash! I did this on a 30 degree wash for economical reasons but you may want a higher temperature for more stubborn stains- read your garment labels for advice on washing temperatures.
- Once complete they should be stain free 🙂 if not repeat process.
Results
As you can see the ammonia cleaning product was more effective in removing the stains. Despite this I would always try to use soda crystals first to remove stains as they don’t contain harsh chemicals and are a more natural and economic removal method. Soda crystals are brilliant for whitening your whites with only 50g needed, and can remove makeup stains from white collars (which always happens on my work polo)! But for those more tough stains you may have to reach out for the products containing ammonia. I have used ammonia containing cleaners to remove ball point pen off leather sofas, and tomato stains off carpet.
Feel free to comment below with your successful attempts at stain removal or share on Facebook if you think it was a good tip! Good luck with your stain removal- Jottie
