Lately, I've been obsessed with stains. This might be a metaphor.
It might also be because my bf mentioned that a lot of our cloth napkins have stains on them. I've been ignoring this for a while but when he suggested we could get new cloth napkins, the panic set in. We already have so many napkins - maybe if I could figure out how to get rid of the stains, it wouldn't be an issue. And in truth, there were also various other stains around the house that needed tending. But long gone are the days of the conventional plastic-enclosed stain stick and other toxic methods.
So I started experimenting.
Naturally, Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap was my starting place. I sprayed our diluted version on some napkins and let it soak before washing. This seemed to work for some stains but not all. I upped the ante by taking some baking soda and scrubbing it with an old bamboo toothbrush. Let that sit. And then poured some hydrogen peroxide on it in an attempt to lift the stain before putting the napkins or towel in the wash. Again, this worked really well (more stains gone!) but some stains remained. I have a feeling I needed to do a few rounds of this. P.S. - hydrogen peroxide only comes in plastic so please be mindful when using!
If you're in Los Angeles, I also have been experimenting with Sustain LA's Oxygen Bleach Powder that they offer at their refill station (along with Castile soap and many other household items). I sprayed Dr. Bronner's on and the scrubbed the stain with an old bamboo toothbrush after sprinkling on some of the powder. Let it sit before washing. This stuff works really well! More info here.
More stains:
Aforementioned, I drink a lot of tea. Often green tea. Often green tea with a dash or two of turmeric in it (plus black pepper, naturally!). All of this tea results in some very stained mug interiors. A very long time ago, I would use dollar store bought bleach to bleach out in the inside of a mug (what was I thinking?! ugh!) but now that we avoid such harsh chemicals like the plague and steer away from plastics as much as possible, that just isn't an option.
Enter Dr. Bronner's Castile soap once more. I fill the mug with water and a few squirts of diluted Dr. Bronner's and then let it soak overnight. I'm always amazed at how well this works! 99% of the stains are gone after a little scrubbing or no scrubbing at all if you're lucky.
For a stained bath tub, mix Dr. Bronner's with baking soda to create a paste. Scrub away and watch the stains disappear. This is very effective.
When I decided to take on the black mold in the grout between the bathroom shower tiles, I found this amazing formula. It's not mine but have to share. Check it out here. It's genius! I followed her steps pretty closely and 95% of the black mold is gone. Again, I think I need to do one more round of this to get 100% of the mold gone but I was pleased at how well her system worked.
Do you have any DIY stain removing tackling tricks? Let me know and thanks for reading.