What Should We Do If Our Clothes Are Stained with Food Coloring?

There are many reasons why your clothes get dirty – food, beverages to ink stains, lipstick, and grease and so on. Each type of stain has a different cleaning method, which is partly influenced by clothing material. So what would you do if your coat, dress or your favorite shirt gets stained by food coloring? We make sure that it is not as simple as just tossing your outfit in the washing machine because the stain can spread further onto the garment. Instead, you should consider how to get food coloring out of clothes as soon as possible. Thus, the good news is that the article today could help you remove food coloring stains off of just about any type of fabric material, as long as you follow the crucial steps below.

It is clear that cleaning a fresh spot is always easier than one which has already set in. Therefore, you first should keep in mind that if a spill of food coloring just happens to your clothes, you should immediately hold the stained area directly under a cold water faucet. This aims to flush the stain partly out of the fabric as much as possible. In addition, you should not scrub with your hand or cloth if the coloring stains are powder or gel because this will accidentally push it even deeper into the fabric yarn.

After flushing under a cold water tap running fully open, let’s make a mixture by mixing water with a heavy-duty liquid detergent that contains the necessary enzymes in order to break apart the dye molecules and then pour into the stain. Later, using your fingers or a soft-bristled brush instead is the next step to remove the stain from the clothes. If it still remains, you could allow the item to sit for a minimum of 15 minutes and then launder the clothes as usual.

In the case of the old food coloring stains, getting it out requires some basic things you should prepare and follow. At first, for white fabrics, you can use bleach that is allowed by the manufacturer’s label to remove the stain immediately without any worry. However, the dark and brightly-colored clothing should be laundered carefully and followed step by step.

Step 1: To use a butter knife and scrape off as much of the food coloring as you can. Just remember to do this gently in order to avoid damaging the fabric, and the food coloring does not spread further.

Step 2: To fill a bucket with 1 liter of warm water and add one tablespoon of household ammonia and 1/2 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing detergent.

Step 3: If the stained area is small, you can use a white cloth and press it firmly against the stain to transfer dye from your clothing to the cloth and repeat several times. In this case, you should note that a white cloth is the perfect one because you can avoid transferring color from the cloth to the clothes.

If the stain has spread, you may soak the stained area in a bowl with the mixture above. Moreover, place the clothing in the bucket and wait at least 15 minutes.

Step 4: After that, to take the clothes out and scrub the stain by your hand. If the stain remains, continue to soak for fifteen more minutes.

Step 5: To rinse the clothing under a cold water faucet. The additional dye will be pulled out of the fabric thanks to the flow of the water. In this step, if the coloring stain is completely gone, you could launder as usual.

More carefully, you could fill the bucket with a mixture of 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 liter of warm water and then soak the clothing for 30 minutes before washing the garment as usual.

Step 6: If the coloring stain persists after laundering, then fill the bucket with 1/4 cup of chlorine bleach or oxygen bleach and 1 gallon of water. Submerge the clothes at least 30 minutes and rinse well as well as wash again.

In fact, most of us use multi-purpose bleach immediately after clothes get dirty. However, using the right kind of bleach from the famous brands as well as using according to the instruction manual will bring much higher efficiency. Here we will suggest some products in the market for you to refer and choose.

Clorox Concentrated Liquid Bleach Regular

This product with a concentrated formula is made in the USA, which gets all the cleaning and disinfecting power that you expect. The easy-to-handle liquid bleach is suitable for most types of fabrics such as bleachable fabric, silk, mohair, spandex and nonfast colors, leather and so on. With 1/2 to 1 cup of liquid, you can totally remove all stains including the stubborn coloring stains.

Furthermore, this kind of bleach could be used for disinfecting. Your floors, walls, glazed tiles, sinks, and so on will be clean with only a cup of Clorox Concentrated Liquid Bleach Regular.

OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover, 7.22 Lbs

This product is a color safe and chlorine free alternative to chlorine bleach. With a unique formula activated by water, OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover which works best in warm to hot water unleashes bubbling oxygen power for effective cleaning and safety.

The bleach can remove not only the coloring stains in your clothes but also the most problematic stains throughout your home. The grease or make-up stain on your shirt, juice on the couch or even the carpets could be eliminated by OxiClean that revitalizes your furniture and more.

To sum up, it is easy to encounter a food coloring stain because most of the foods and common things as sodas and colas now contain dyes in them. Although the food coloring is known as a common and sometimes difficult to remove, there are still various ways you might find yourself to get them out of your clothing. Let’s be calm and remove them in your own way as quickly and efficiently as possible.