For grease stains and stains on regular laundry, rely on Super Laundry Sauce and Dawn liquid!

But what about your special cold-water delicates? And what about upholstered and padded items that can’t be soaked or put into a washing machine? Don’t despair…rescue them from tough stains and odors with enzyme treatment…and patience! Basically, this method involves: spray, wait, and repeat!

We keep handy 1) a bottle of Nature’s Miracle Advanced Stain and Odor Remover enzyme liquid (available at Amazon, not just for pets…also available at pet stores for a *lot* more money!), and 2) a bottle of OxiClean enzyme liquid (purchase pre-made, or mix up your own recipe), and just refill spray bottles from the larger bottles. Nature’s Miracle has several excellent varieties that all work well. I think OxyClean is faster at removing tough stains, but Nature’s Miracle is better at removing tough odors, especially from carpets, mattresses, upholstered furniture, stuffed animals, etc. There are many other enzyme products available, but these are the 2 that we have tried, with great success!

For cold water wash delicate fabrics with significant armpit stains, yellowing, old perspiration odor, urine odor, blood stains, ring-around-the-collar, grass, mud, or tough food-based tomato sauce, ketchup, or mustard stains, you are lilmited in what you can use without putting the delicate fabric at risk. No hot water or rubbing (will damage fabrics), and no peroxide or bleach (may cause color fading). Some cold water delicates with metal buttons or clasps will rust if soaked overnight. What to do to save that special garment?

1) Spray the liquid enzyme product directly onto the stain…then hang or lay flat, and wait, allowing at least a few hours time for the enzymes to break down the stain/odor particles that are embedded in the fabric.

2) If applicable, spot-rinse at the sink, gently, with cold water, to remove loosened stain particles, as needed.

3) For significant stains with excess particles embedded in fabric, gently work in a bit of white bar soap (we use Dove because it’s handy) to the spot to loosen particles, while the spot is wet, then “spot-rinse” under the faucet to rinse away excess stain particles. Then continue enzyme treatment. It will work better with excess particles removed.

4) Re-apply enzyme spray, hang item or lay flat, and wait again. Repeat until the stain and odor completely disappear. Just briefly check for progress, and give a quick spray…only takes seconds to do this. For the toughest stain problems, allow hours or days. Re-apply enzyme spray a couple of times/day as needed. You will see the stain gradually fade.

5) Then launder the “rescued” garment as usual, good as new! Don’t put it in the dryer until you are sure the stain is gone!

What if you need to remove a tough stain or odor from carpets, upholstered furniture, mattresses, stuffed animals, shoes, spot-clean-only pillows, etc.? If you have an indoor pet, or young children, or if you care for a handicapped or elderly person in your home, you don’t have to live with stubborn old odors! We’ve had amazing success with Nature’s Miracle enzyme liquids. Removing tough stains and odors from things like carpets, mattresses, etc., usually take longer than working with laundry items, especially in the case of a urine stain that has soaked into the underlying padding. First remove excess surface debris, then press a clean, dry, absorbant rag or towel onto a liquid stain repeatedly to remove as much liquid as possible. Then spray the area with liquid enzyme cleaner, and wait. May take repeated applications of enzyme spray, up to 2 weeks for complete removal of tough pet urine stains and odors, but your patience and efforts will pay off! The enzymes biodegrade the offending material to permanently eliminate odor, rather than just cover-up with perfumed products!

OxiClean successes at my house: complete rescue of cold-water-wash delicates from huge dried-on yellow mustard stains, deep grass stains, blood, old and new armpit stinks. Nature’s Miracle successes: safe, healthy pet clean-up, and keeping the living area for an elderly, handicapped person smelling fresh and clean, without use of harsh chemicals that can irritate breathing and cause allergy problems and headaches.

For rust stains, apply lemon juice and set item in the sun, then launder as usual.