Stain Removal Cheat Sheet: Hot Water or Cold Water?

When Should You Use Cold Water?

On food: Common stain culprits like cheese, chocolate, jelly and mustard should be cold-water only. If you rinse immediately, the cold water should rinse out the stain and dry pretty quickly. It will be like it never happened!

On beverages: Easily spilled cups of coffee, tea, juice, milk and that Merlot on your white pants need cold water, too. Cold water will put a hammer to those bad boys.

On blood: If you end up with some blood on your clothes, a cold water rinse or soak should do the trick.

On water-based paint: Fight water with water, folks. Anything water based should come out with a cold water rinse.

When Should You Use Hot Water?

On gum: If your gum drops on your clothes, running the fabric under hot water should help separate the gum from the fabric. Tip: Use a butter knife to lightly pry the gum away from the fabric.

On dye: Add one cup of white vinegar to a cold water cycle in your washing machine. This trick will also combat clothing dye if garments bleed onto each other.

On egg: Egg protein will separate from fabric with hot water. Use about a tablespoon of dish detergent and, if necessary, a sponge or clean toothbrush to get all of the protein off. Then, wash the fabric in the washing machine on a normal cycle.

On lotion: Lotion should be removed with hot water. It’s best to apply a few drops of stain remover or laundry detergent directly to the problem area and scrub it out. Then wash the item in the hottest setting that is recommended.

More tips: http://bit.ly/Wx9DZK