Oh my giddy aunt, IT WORKS!

[Nohomemadecandles]

The sunlight bleaching out tomato pasta sauce stains thing!

Hung out some washing (thanks previous thread) about 7pm to dry overnight.

Noticed a white polo with orange stains. I was about to put it in the bin then I thought,

NO, HANG ON. LET'S SEE IF IT WORKS!

Just been out to retrieve my laundry and IT'S GONE! The stain, not the laundry

How could I have doubted you, MN?

I often get Furious with Laundry.
I should use the Overnight Spider Willy Service.

In Scotland (in 'Sunny Dunny' Dunbar anyway) there used to be 'Bleaching Greens' where the womenfolk would spread their linens out to bleach on the grass (when it wasn't pishing down, anyway)

How do people not know this already!

I always put some soap on the stain and add a bit of water so it foams a bit first. Then leave it out in the sun and the stain will disappear!

I learnt an Indian tip when holidaying in India a few years ago.If you put lemon juice on a turmeric stain and leave in the sun, it bleaches it out really well. Unfortunately you do need some sunshine so usually not quite as useful here!

@IAmFourEels

Will this get blood stains out of a white silk pillowcase??

I'm sensing a story here. Professor Plum and the candlestick? 😂

@LemonViolet

Not the point I know but ‘Nduja pizza sounds amazeballs too

www.vaporettopizza.com.

And any stray juicy dribbles are easily bleached out!

@WinterIsGone

but surely people don't throw away white items without giving neat bleach a go first. I'm amazed people throw anything stained away. Doesn't anyone wear old clothes for painting, cleaning, going to the allotment, walks in the country, lounging at home etc etc?

My 9 year old doesn't do any of the messy ones and I wouldn't ask him to go on a country walk or sit at home in a stained school shirt He had other clothes.

Ambre solaire, clear and protect+. The dry mist one that doesn't need rubbing in.

It's amazing (expensive) and didn't leave stains

Can I add another tip? For bike oil/ grease stains, use a mix of bicarbonate of soda with washing up liquid to form a paste, slather on, work in a bit, and leave for 5 minutes then wash as normal. I had zero faith this would work but it did! Managed to save dh's favourite shorts after he had worn them to put his bike chain back on.

Try using make-up remover to get make up stains out of sheets/clothing. It sounds like it shouldn't need saying but took me years to start using it.

With blood soak in cold water first and use salt if you don't have a peroxide type product. The key is not to 'cook' the blood and change the proteins from their raw state. No boil washes.

Tip learned from a quilting group. If you get a spot of blood on something (in this case expensive patchwork material) spit on it. Apparently only your own saliva works for this, but I've not gone around licking other people's blood-stained needlework. Seems to work on my own though!

Moon bleaching linen use to be an actual thing. The sheets of newly woven fabric were laid out in fields and the moon bleached it silver instead of the sun bleaching it cream. It's hardly done now except by high end fashion and costs ££££.

So you can bleach clothes at night as well as by day...

Some history on bleaching cloth Nerd Info Here. I grew up in an area with tenements and we had the old wash house complete with copper and wooden sinks and the title deeds specified your bleaching green rights. I’ve always done it (but agree about Asda polo shirts covered in red stains!)

I’ve had a brand new white Mini Boden t-shirt that had a juice spillage on the first wear out for a few hours now after cursing myself for spending so much on a sodding tee, however cute. 🤞🤞🤞

Wonder if this will work on a curry stain on a light blue work shirt?!

@noideawhatusernametochoose

Ah... but maybe it wasn't the sunlight. You left it out overnight. It was the getting darked on, and the spider willy treatment that got rid of the stain.....

I was going to say exactly this

@MissyB1

Can I add another tip? For bike oil/ grease stains, use a mix of bicarbonate of soda with washing up liquid to form a paste, slather on, work in a bit, and leave for 5 minutes then wash as normal. I had zero faith this would work but it did! Managed to save dh's favourite shorts after he had worn them to put his bike chain back on.

You can also use salt instead of bicarbonate of soda. Also if you spill oil or grease wipe up the worst of it then pour a lot of table salt on it, rub in and sweep up, repeat as necessary. Works so well and a lot faster than any other method I have tried. Thanks to Dd1 who was 15 when she told me about this after I had tried in vain to clear up an entire bottle of bath oil from a tiled floor.

@WinterIsGone

but surely people don't throw away white items without giving neat bleach a go first. I'm amazed people throw anything stained away. Doesn't anyone wear old clothes for painting, cleaning, going to the allotment, walks in the country, lounging at home etc etc?

People are more wasteful now by nature, it’s easier to chuck and replace and buy new with fast cheap fashion, especially kids clothes.

White / light stained clothes here get tie dyed. Coloured ones get bleach tie dyed or if they’re not salvageable cut up for cloths / rags for cleaning.

StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes I actually recently bought some vinegar spray to deal with the issue! It does seem to help freshen them up and stop more stains. It's just the ones that have already stained in the pits - and some down the side (ick) - that I'm going to try to tackle with some pre-treated soaking and sun bleaching.

Every time I see the “spider willies” cliche on MN the pedant in me wants to scream “ spiders don’t have penises!”

@NonagonInfinityOpensTheDoor

Every time I see the “spider willies” cliche on MN the pedant in me wants to scream “ spiders don’t have penises!”

It’s a joke.

My 74 year old neighbour didn't know this until she asked me why for years I've poured a hug of water over washing a few times a day. You would think she was a 5 year old at christmas when she first tried it

Back in the day ( DS is 43) I use to love when it was sunny. White Square Cloth nappies, even when boiled still retained stains from poo expolsions ( gasp, there were not even liners in those days).

I was very particular about my nappies as well. They had to be white. Natural always cast them a faint yellow shadow.

@armanted

Not everyone has access to outside space, but surely people don't throw away white items without giving neat bleach a go first.

It doesn't need to be outside, put it in a window that gets full sun or lie it somewhere the sunlight can hit it inside and it works just as well.

If it's very stubborn lemon juice in the final rinse helps, another tip from cloth nappies

@Maggiesgirl

Back in the day ( DS is 43) I use to love when it was sunny. White Square Cloth nappies, even when boiled still retained stains from poo expolsions ( gasp, there were not even liners in those days).

I was very particular about my nappies as well. They had to be white. Natural always cast them a faint yellow shadow.

My mum talks about the days when we were babies and she and the neighbours (other mothers) would have their gorgeous lines of white nappies out

I'm a big fan of sun bleaching. And vinegar as a disinfectant/deodoriser/fabric softener alternative.

@Furries that thread was hilarious!

Also for the oven I swear by Koh, I thought it was a gimmick but its been a total game changer for oven cleaning. I’ve recommended it to loads of people and they all love it!