Don’t you just hate it when your perfect perfume stains your erstwhile perfect clothes? We understand the pain of choosing between ditching your perfume and risking staining your clothes.
Knowing the type and quality of your perfumes is essential to knowing whether or not it will stain clothes. For instance, oil perfumes are more likely to stain clothes.
So, we brought you a few tips to prevent perfume stains on your clothes.
A. How to prevent perfumes from staining your fabrics
- Test the perfumes to see whether they stain fabrics. You can do this test on an old shirt or inside of the collar of a shirt or the parts of your shirt that you tuck into your skirts or pants.
- Use perfume on your skin before getting dressed. This is even the most ideal way to get your perfumes to last longer. Applying perfume on warmed up freshly moisturized skin could even make the fragrance last longer.
- Perfume your wardrobe by adding some perfume in a water diffuser and placing it in your wardrobe.
- If you must spray perfume on your clothes, spray it from a distance of 10cm to 15cm or 6 to 8 inches away from the clothes. This helps spread out the fragrance and avoids stains resulting from concentration in any part of the clothes.
B. How to remove perfume stains from your clothes
If you’ve tried all these tips but your clothes still get stained, try these tips to remove the perfume stains:
- If the stain is on linen, cotton, spandex, polyester or wool; get wet wipes immediately and rub off that stain using light-handed patting movements. This works well with fresh stains because it prevents the stains from setting and spreading.
- For dried stains, prepare a solution containing one part glycerin, one part dishwashing detergent and eight parts water. Stir the solution thoroughly before applying on the stain. Place a folded paper towel on top of the same area you applied the solution. Allow it sit for about ten minutes. You should notice that the paper towel has absorbed the stain out of the fabric. Keep changing the paper towel and reapplying the solution at intervals until stain is completely lifted.
- If some stains still persist after using that cleaning solution, try applying some rubbing alcohol on a folded paper towel. Carefully place that paper towel over only the stained area.
- As a last resort, soak the fabric in water and baking soda for fifteen minutes before washing.
For silk or triacetate:
- Flush the stain with water. This will prevent the stain from setting and old stains will separate from the fabric.
- Then, add a few drops of glycerin to the stained area. It will soften old stains in preparation of removal.
- Rinse the clothing thoroughly under water while swiping at the stained area with your fingers.
- As a last resort, you could go further to dab at the stained are with a solution of one part white vinegar to one part water.
- Alternatively, you could put some denatured alcohol on a cotton ball after the glycerin treatment. Dab at the stain with the denatured alcohol and rinse afterwards.
For leather or suede:
- Blot any excess perfume with a dry paper towel using gentle tapping motions.
- Fill a bowl with lukewarm water and add some liquid soap into it. Swish the water to create suds.
- Scoop up some of the suds or bubbles with a clean sponge and pat the stain gently with it. Wipe the stain dry afterwards.
- If the stain still remains, lightly sprinkle some cornmeal over the stain and let it sit for thirty minutes. Use a dry stiff brush to gently brush off the cornmeal.
