How to remove stains from fabric after washing. Stain removers in Bali

How to remove stains from clothes after laundry? If you've never been to Bali, you won't understand this question.

Periodically in Bali, we encounter the situation where light-colored clothes return from the laundry with cream-colored or rust-colored streaks that cannot be removed with regular detergent. Sometimes, such stains appear during handwashing. Some say these stains come from fungus in the water that the washing machine's filter can't stop. Others claim it's rust from the filters themselves. In reality, these stains occur on light clothing due to sunscreen. They become visible after contact with water. To avoid this, you can wash the item immediately after applying sunscreen in cold water, using dishwashing liquid or gall soap.

What to do if the stains have already appeared?

If the item is purely white, you can use chlorine bleach, which is available in most Bali supermarkets under brands like Proclin or Baylcin.

Of course, all precautions you take when working with bleach should be observed:

- Avoid contact with mucous membranes

- Ideally, avoid contact with the skin

- Do not inhale fumes

- Avoid contact with colored items

- Be careful not to leave the bleach for too long to prevent it from eating away at the fabric structure.

What if the laundry stained colored clothes? You wouldn't want to throw them away now, would you?

In such situations, Oxy Magic, a powder with sodium percarbonate, often comes to the rescue. It is sold in stores like Pepito, Carrefour, and can sometimes be found in Ace Hardware. It's effective! This product is suitable for both colored and white fabrics and won't affect the color of your clothes. The same composition is found in Vanish Oxy Action Powder, which became easier to find during the pandemic than Oxy Magic.

Sodium percarbonate was created by combining hydrogen peroxide with sodium carbonate. Production companies call this preparation persol.

Oxygen bleach (sodium percarbonate) is used for:

- Stain removal

- Whitening fabrics

- Disinfecting clothing and linens

Sodium percarbonate quickly breaks down in water into soda and oxygen, which whitens, cleans, disinfects, and eliminates bad odors. Soda raises the pH of water and reduces the activity of calcium and magnesium ions, softening the water and increasing the effectiveness of the detergent. Another ability of sodium percarbonate is to increase the negative charge on dirt and fabric, which, with an increase in pH, repels dirt from the fabric, increasing the effectiveness of cleaning and whitening.

This product is aggressive, so be sure to wear rubber gloves when handwashing.

How to use it:

1. Moisten the stained area and a little around it. You can moisten the entire item and wring it out.

2. Sprinkle the powder on top to cover the stain and lightly mix the granules with water. They won't completely dissolve, but that's okay. You don't need to wear gloves while mixing the powder with water, as this process will take less than a minute. However, it's important to rinse your hands afterward.

3. Leave the item for a couple of hours. Afterward, rinse it well and let it dry. Periodically check if the stains are gone, as leaving the composition on the fabric for too long can damage its structure.

Some housekeepers remove similar stains with Vanish liquid or lime juice. How have you dealt with such stains?