Emergency Stain Removal – The Apollo Guide

Emergency stain removal

At the office there is nothing worse than spilling your coffee down your freshly ironed shirt, dropping your lunch on your dress or getting ink up your sleeve just in time for that important meeting. Hardly professional, but sometimes this can’t be helped. To take that element of stress every from your busy working day, the best thing you can do is be prepared. We’ve put together a helpful guide to make sure you’re ready for any accidental spills at work.

Supplies are essential for those last minute spills. Emergency stain removal wipes and pens are great to keep in your desk drawer. The most important tip to always remember is to never rub or scrub at a spill, always dab as quickly as possible. A white towel or white cloth is also essential to have ready, so you don’t transfer any colour to the stain and make it worse. For those stains that are too stubborn to remove, simply cover it up.  A spare cardigan or jumper could be a lifesaver when you don’t have the time to meddle with a stain.

 

Coffee

Coffee is the beverage that fuels the majority of our working days, an office essential we can’t live without but can cause serious staining and be a pain to remove from clothing. If you manage to spill coffee it will not ruin your appearance, if you treat it quickly.

 

Ensure that you dab the stain with a clean and wet white cloth, then treat with an emergency stain removal pen or wipe and dab the area with a clean and dry white cloth. If you don’t have a stain pen or wipe (Tide have a great stain removal pen), try treating the stain try cold water, initially, that’s all you may need. If the stain persists rub liquid laundry detergent into the patch and sit for several minutes, then rub with your fingers to gently lift the stain and soak in cold water, warm water if the stain is stubborn. Leave the item to dry and then wash and dry as normal.  This method works for the majority of tannin-based stains.

 

Ink

Ink is another common stain causer that we can’t avoid, but you can minimise the damage by not using permanent ink highlighters and markers. To remove water-based ink stains, apply water to the stained area and blot with a dry, white, clean cloth. You can also apply water to the stained area and sandwich it between two dry clean white towels to transfer the stain. For ballpoint ink stains dab rubbing alcohol onto the area and dab with a clean cloth, then apply liquid laundry detergent and let it sit for several minutes. Then wash the item on the hottest setting it can take.

 

Lunch

Lunch is the final culprit of common office stains, from oils to sauces, they are not ideal to sit on your clothes for the remainder of the day. For immediate removal scrape away as much a possible and rinse with cold water to lift the sauce. Dab dry and use a stain pen or wipe. To treat at home, follow these steps and then rub liquid laundry detergent, leave to sit for 10 minutes and wash as normal. For oily drips and spills, blot the area and add a substance to absorb the oil, for example, talcum powder or baking soda. Let this sit for several minutes and then dab the area to lift the stain. If the stain persists, your best bet is to head to a professional cleaner as soon as possible.

 

We don’t just give tips on emergency stain removal, we offer a vast range of services here at Apollo, for those office and building cleaning emergencies, you can always rely on us 24/7, 7 days a week, to provide you with prompt solutions.

 

For larger scale needs we provide a full laundering service, ranging from towels, robes, bath mats, tea towels, napkins and tablecloths. We also provide fresh bed linen services and specialised kitchen laundering. Contact us for a free quote.

 

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