Lipsticks are great, but only on the lips – not anywhere else. Don’t get me wrong, I love my red and rusts too, but finding lipstick stains on my shirt, pillow or bedsheet isn’t what I had signed up for when I started to wear lipsticks.
Finding lipstick stains on our clothes or in the washing machine or dryer is a worse feeling. The Fire-engine red, let’s be honest, can end up causing some serious damage if it slides into the wash and dry cycle. If it’s not you, it can be your teenage daughter who just forgot her new lip stain in the pockets of that expensive shirt you bought her last month leaving you wondering how to remove the lipstick stain.
If my blue jeans come out of the dryer all pink, that, to me is a real emergency. Most often it’s a real pain to get these stains out of fabric and may take multiple cycles of washing before they are totally done away with.
Source: instyle.com
But recently I have come across new and easy ways of removing stubborn lipstick marks and I figure you will love them too. So I list these ways down so you don’t have to toss your favorite Tee Shirt into the garbage bin after the lipstick had a good time ruining it. This article is going to be your one stop for knowing everything one might want to know about lipstick stain removal.
The very first problem with removing lipstick stains is that the raw materials used in the making of the products. You have to know the formula of your lipstick to ascertain how to go about removing lipstick stains.
Lipsticks contain a dozen of varied ingredients, most of which usually fall into these basic categories:
- Oils
- Waxes
- Pigments
No matter what the brand, whether it’s a drugstore product or a high end one it basically leaves some very difficult types of stains that call for much altered types of cleaners.
Oils can easily come out with degreasers, waxes are defeated by solvents while the arrogant pigments that stay back even after using solvents and degreasers do require oxidizers to be removed completely.
One of the main snags with lipstick marks is that they might not come to the eye right away. The stain takes time to set in and come to the eye only when it has set in pretty firmly.
As with most stains, even the lipstick stain must be tended to as soon as it comes to our attention to ensure its total removal.
Source: today.com
Home Remedies for Lipstick Stain Removal
Time now to get busy washing, cleaning and removing those ugly lipstick stains once and for all!
Step 1: Identify the fabric first. Before you start with your war against stains, check the label of the garment and also determine its fabric. If the lipstick is on silk, cashmere, wool or any non-washable item, we advise you send it to a pro, in most cases a dry cleaner. These sensitive textiles are organic and delicate and can get easily damaged if an untrained person tries to strong arm it.
Step 2: For regular washable fabrics like cotton or synthetics, first try and scrape off the excess lipstick using your fingernails.
Step 3: Now it’s time to work the stain.
Place the soiled part of the outfit on a hard surface on a couple of paper towels. Apply a milder grease-removing dish cleanser, like Vim Liquid, on the seamy side of the stain. Work the liquid on the smudge from the backside.
Now turn the garment inside out and, scrub a wet toothbrush gently on the spot to produce some lather. Start from the outer edge of the smudge and progress toward the inner circle. Now that the area is already soapy and wet, wash in a washing machine, in ‘Delicate’ setting. You can add the regular detergent you use and pour in water of the temperature recommended on the care label of your garment.
Rubbing Alcohol
Now who does not have a good bottle of alcohol at home? But who knew that alcohol can actually come to rescue your favorite but tainted dress too? Start with a cork full of alcohol that works well. Avoid rubbing as you will only spread the marks. Just take a clean, white cloth and dampen it with the alcohol. Now, blot the lipstick stain with this wet cloth. You will see it disappear eventually.
Liquid Dishwashing Detergent
Another effective trick is to use a milder metal washing liquid detergent. These liquids are often formulated with chemicals that are able to fight tough grease. If you don’t have a metal washing liquid you can also use your liquid laundry detergent or a shampoo. You may also make use of other similar types of cleanser but make sure they don’t contain any kind of brighteners, lighteners, or bleach as beach based cleansers will attack the color of the garment too.
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Ammonia
If you are surprised to see Ammonia on our list and wondering how to remove lipstick stain using this product, let me tell you that it is another amazing home remedy for getting rid of lipstick stains from clothes. Now I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have ammonia at home so I am guessing you too have it readily available. If not, just take a trip down grocery store and you will find a bottle of it at very cheap price. To work with Ammonia, again you have to start by blotting off the stain as much as you can, using running water. That done, moisten a cotton swab with ammonia and dab it on the stain. You will notice that the stain has begun to fade, once it fades to a great extent, wash the outfit with soap by hand in warm water.
Hairspray
Here’s the final and age old trick used my mom’s across the globe to get rid of lipstick stains. Hairspray used by women and men alike for years, more than often doubles up as a lipstick remover. If your fabric isn’t too sensitive like silk, spray the product right onto the mark, and allow it to sit for around ten to twenty minutes. Now use a clean cloth moistened with warm water.
Tell us if you ever thought that lipstick stain removal would be this easy? Yep, neither did I before I got these wonderful tips from a friend that I now shared with you.
Now get going and remove lipstick from those clothes!
