I’m Gonna Wash that Stain Right Out of My Sofa

Everyone has different stain remedies—here are a few of ours, from the collective wisdom of families and Internet. Make sure you try each method on an inconspicuous spot first, so as not to make a bad stain worse.

Blood:

Soak it in hydrogen peroxide, rise, and repeat if necessary. Usually a soak and then wash is enough to get out blood stains—at least ones that haven’t set.

Food coloring:

Rub with toothpaste, then rinse in cold water.

Rust:

Alka-Selzter, apparently. This is more for rusted metal, although you could try it on rust stains on fabric.

Red wine:

Blot, douse with white wine, and then allow to air dry. I haven’t tried this one myself, but I did watch a convincing video of it working. Other methods include pouring on club soda, immediately covering with table salt, blotting with milk, and a few others.

Chocolate:

Remove any chunks of chocolate. Mix cool water with soap and lightly rub, then wash. Avoid hot water or drying in case you need to reapply stain remover. Hydrogen peroxide may also help persistent chocolate stains.

Grease:

This is a tricky one. Try rubbing detergent onto the new stain—dish detergent in particular is designed to cut grease—and let it sit before washing. If you can’t wash the item, pour on an absorbent material like corn starch or French chalk, let it cake, brush it off, and repeat until the stain is gone.