How To Remove Grape Juice Stains
Tips For Grape Juice Stain Removal
Many years ago, when my kids were small - young grade-schoolers, upset tummies with flu-like symptoms were rampant. Seemed like someone was always sick with a cold, cough, runny nose, fever - you know the drill.
My kids were prone to fevers and would get up in the morning with the tell-tale signs - pink cheeks, glassy-looking eyes, grouchy, whiney and cuddly. Since it was usually the result of a new tooth or a passing bug, we didn't get too excited but dosed the sick kid with children's Tylenol and began forcing fluids.
Naturally, the ailing child got to curl up in mom and dad's bed so we could "keep an eye" on them. As long as they were really sick, I'd keep busy checking foreheads and temperatures, and serving glasses of Kool-Aid, apple juice, grape juice and popsicles.
One of them really liked grape popsicles and I could always count on her to obediently take what the doctor ordered. Gosh, wouldn't it be wonderful if all medicine was that simple?
Popsicles - Good Medicine, Bad Stain!
While there were many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip while the kids were recuperating in my bed, the one that made the most lasting impression was the grape popsicle. Little Shannon had an episode of upset tummy and nausea with the resultant upchuck all over the pillow. Grape popsicle was everywhere! While I was able to get her and the bed and the pillows cleaned up, the grape stain absolutely never came off the pillow!
Today, I'd have treated it more efficiently than I did twenty-some years ago.
Fruit Of The Vine
Grape juice, like red wine, has certain pigments in it that are very hard to lighten and remove. Way back when, all I knew to do was to dampen the item with water and dish soap, scrub it as well as possible (ever try to scrub a feather pillow?), rinse out the soap, and then let it dry in the sun. If I'd gotten to it in a timely manner, that might have worked. As it was, the soiled pillow was untouched until the next day.
Being an organic based stain, grape juice responds to organic based stain removers. Think of it in the context of fighting fire with fire. As with all stains, you should spring into action immediately and attack the stain.
First, flush with cold water. Then sprinkle lemon juice on the stain and let it sit in the sun - if you can. If not, go ahead and apply the lemon juice and scrub it in with an old tooth brush or other soft bristled brush. Allow to air dry. Do not put the material or the garment in the dryer as that will,, for sure, set the stain.
If the lemon juice is not successful, then use white vinegar right out of the bottle. Moisten a cotton pad or the corner of a household sponge with vinegar and dab it on the stain, repeatedly. Then put the garment in the washer and wash according to the manufacturer's instructions for the fabric.
Again, when the wash cycle is completed, do not place the garment in the clothes dryer. Allow it to air dry. It's possible you may still see some grape juice stain in the fabric and putting it in the dryer will only cook the stain to the fibers. If it's possible, allow the garment to dry in bright sunlight as the sun has the effect of pulling color out and is very helpful in stain removal.
Tips To Remove Grape Juice Stains
If you can get to it quickly, don't allow grape juice to dry on the garment. Once the fibers are dyed with the juice, it's very difficult to remove the grape juice stain.
There are a number of good products on the market that are quite successful in removing grape juice and other fruit juice stains. Clean-n-Brite is a dry granular stain remover than you mix with water and apply to the stain. The manufacturer claims it's the best for fruit juice stain removers. We haven't tried it.
We have tried Zout and Spray & Wash and found them to be effective if you apply it to the stain ASAP, and then work in either by rubbing between your knuckles or by using short quick strokes with an old toothbrush or other soft bristled brush. Allow to sit while the washer fills and then wash the garment per manufacturer's directions. I always air dry treated stains either by hanging on a hanger in my laundry room or by hanging the garment outside in full sun.
These days, I'm also recommending a treatment with white toothpaste - the kind recommended for whitening and brightening teeth. Moisten the stain and then squeeze out about a half inch of toothpaste directly onto the fabric. Scrub between your fingers; let the treated material sit for a half hour or more, then toss the garment into the washer and let the washer do the rest of the work for you.
These tips will also work for cherry, blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, other fruit juices, and red wine stains too.
