17 Jan Removing Vomit Stains from Clothes (Part 1)

It may have happened to all of us; A simple, contagious virus infects a family member and in the blink of an eye they all become infected. Symptoms of the virus include nausea and vomiting. Or when many mothers and fathers hug their beloved infants, they contaminate their clothes with vomiting milk and food. Now imagine vomiting on your clothe or carpet. Removing vomit stains from clothes and carpets isn’t a pleasant task, but it should be done anyway. Perhaps the best advice is to wash clothes immediately; Because the sooner you remove the stain, the better the results. But it isn’t always possible. You may be away from home and have no replacement clothing available. As a result, the stain remains on the clothes and dries. Therefore it’s better to get acquainted with the tips related to cleaning this unpleasant stain so that the work can be done faster and easier. Stay tuned to learn more.

Removing fresh vomit stains from clothes

Vomiting in humans and pets causes protein stains. These stains also contain other substances, but first of all, the protein in them must be taken care of. Of course, it’s better to wear rubber gloves to prevent the transmission of germs and bacteria. Use a dull knife or plastic object and remove as much solid excess as possible from the garment. Don’t wipe the stain with a towel as it will cause more particles to penetrate between the fibres. Quickly put the clothes under the cold water so that the vomit particles escape from the fibres. For best results, you should hold the garment from the back.

Keep dirty clothes away from your face and body when you put them in a tub or washing machine. If the contaminated clothing is white, you can also use bleach. Bleach completely removes stains and eliminates bad odours by disinfecting clothes. After using bleach, wash them as usual. But if the clothes aren’t white, use a strong detergent and wash the wet clothes. This cleanser should contain protein cleansing enzymes to better remove vomit stains. Repeat this step several times to make sure there’re no stains left.

Washing vomit stains with hot water is a big mistake. For fresh stains, be sure to wash clothes at low water temperatures (between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius) as higher temperatures stabilize the protein. So use disinfectants instead of hot water to kill bacteria. White vinegar is a useful substance that in addition to cleaning and removing stains has an antiseptic effect and is also effective in eliminating the bad odour of clothes. After washing the clothes in the usual way, check them thoroughly to make sure there’re no stains left, otherwise repeat the washing process.

Removing dried stains from clothes

To remove dried or old vomit stains from clothes, shave dry vomit shells off the clothes and then soak the clothes in a combination of oxygen bleach and cold water or a mixture of laundry detergent and cold water. Now immerse the garment completely in this mixture so that the material reaches all parts of the garment. Oxygenated bleach can be used for white and coloured clothes. However, using this liquid isn’t suitable for silk, wool and any clothes that use some leather. After soaking the clothes for 30 minutes, wash them according to the instructions on the clothes label.

This method is simple and doable. So you won’t have any problems so far, but what if the clothes that are stained are delicate such as silk and wool and can’t be washed with ordinary powders? What method should we use if the contaminated clothes can’t be washed with a washing machine? In this case, do the following:

• Do the first and second steps similar to the previous method. Remove the shells from the stain and rinse the stain with lukewarm water.
• Clean the stain with a mild detergent such as dishwashing liquid or vinegar or a combination of the two diluted with lukewarm water. But before you try something new on your delicate clothes, make sure that this material doesn’t harm the colour and texture of the clothes. Then follow the instructions written on the clothing label.