Q&A: DC Stain Removal Guide

The most frequent reason clothing items are pulled during inspection at the sales is because they have stains. We are SUPER picky, so even the smallest mark can get an item rejected. Here are a few tips and product suggestions from our stain guru, Leah to help you bring your best to Divine Consign.

Stains can be separated into organic and inorganic categories.

Organic stains are things like food, grass and mud. These products are perfect for those:

Oxy Clean – make a strong solution and soak the item overnight. Sometimes that’s enough to get the stain out on its own. If not, try making a paste with the Oxy Clean and water and scrub the stain with a toothbrush. Let it sit awhile and rinse.

Zout or Oxy Clean Max Force – great for spit-up and poop

Clorox Bleach pen – This is great for clothes with prints that have a white background since you can control it so well. Sometimes this works on inorganic stains as well.

Inorganic stains – These include paint, marker and pen. Try the products below, in this order, as needed to remove the stain

Glycerin – put some on the stain, rub with a toothbrush, let it sit, rinse, apply rubbing alcohol, sit, and rinse. Repeat.

Denatured alcohol – This is STRONG!  If the glycerin doesn’t remove the stain, try this, following the same steps as with glycerin

Hydrogen peroxide and bleach – apply this over the sink or put a towel between the front and back of the clothing to absorb the stain.

To apply these products easily, use squirt bottles from a beauty supply store.

And always consider the time it takes to remove a stain. It’s not worth your effort to spend an hour removing a stain from a $2 Target shirt. Just throw it out. If you’re selling a Cach Cach outfit, that’s worth going through more of the steps. In either case, if the stain doesn’t completely come out, don’t enter it into the sale!