How To Remove Mildew Stains From Clothes
The appearance of mildew stains in your clothes can be the result of several factors, including moisture in your wardrobe or on your bedroom walls. Cotton and other organic materials are particularly perfect breeding grounds for mould or mildew. So, we must take special care with this type of clothing if we want to prevent this from happening. But, if moisture has permeated your clothes and you want to know how to remove mildew stains from clothes, in this OneHowto article we give you some very effective tips.
Steps to follow:
Mildew stains on clothes are very harmful, not just for your clothes but also for you. They can cause rashes, sneezing and other allergy symptoms. One way you can notice mildew stains before seeing them is through smell. When mildew stains are quite large, your clothes give off an almost unbearable strong odor of damp. Therefore it is important that you have control the moisture in your home to avoid the appearance of these stains.
A very effective way to remove mildew stains from clothing is to soak the garment in water and bleach. Add half a cup of bleach per litre of water and let the garment soak for an hour or two, depending on the size of the stain. Be careful not to use this method with coloured clothes as the bleach will discolour your clothes. Afterwards wash your clothes as normal.
If your problem is oil stains on clothes, check our tutorial.
Vinegar is another very effective product to remove mildew stains from clothing. Moreover, it is a powerful remedy against the smell of mould. Grab a bucket and add a cup of white vinegar per litre of water and leave the stained clothing to soak for an hour or two. Once this time has passed, wash with detergent as usual. If stain remains, repeat the process.
If you would rather try other home remedies to remove mildew stains from your clothing with more natural products you can use borax. You can buy a detergent that contains borax and wash your clothes with it and hot water or buy borax powder. Add half a cup of borax powder per litre of water and leave the stained garment to soak for one hour. You must use hot water for this. After an hour has passed, wash the garment as usual.
For small mildew spots you can mix vinegar and baking soda and spread it on the mildew stains on your clothes. Leave it on for about ten minutes and rub with a brush in gentle circular motions. Then wash the garment as usual.
Another option for smaller mildew stains is to mix lemon juice with a little salt into a paste and apply to the stain. Leave it to dry to absorb the mould spores. Then wash the garment as usual. For fabrics like cotton or polyester, this is very effective but for more delicate fabrics it can damage the clothing. For other household uses of lemon, check our tutorial.
To remove mildew stains from leather clothing or synthetic leather, the first thing you should do is rub the stain with a soft brush. Then leave the garment in a place where it can dry in the sun. Next, remove the mould stain with antibacterial soap and water or with alcohol.
To remove mildew stains from leather with alcohol, you should add equal parts denatured alcohol and water in a bucket and leave the clothing to soak. Gently rub the stain with a damp cloth and let the leather garment dry naturally.
For leather shoes, mildew stains are a common occurrence. To remove them mix equal parts vinegar and water. Dampen a cloth with this mixture and gently wipe the mildew stains.
For suede shoes use a suede cleaner and follow its instructions.
Mildew stains are difficult to remove but with these safe home remedies you will have no problems in eliminating them. Try one of these options and say goodbye to mildew stains on your clothing.
If you want to read similar articles to How To Remove Mildew Stains From Clothes, we recommend you visit our Home cleaning category.
Tips
- Read the labels carefully of any mould-stained clothes to ensure you wash them correctly.
- Remember to use latex or nitrile gloves when following any of these methods for safety purposes.