It’s National Barbeque (BBQ) Day! You’re chilling in the garden and enjoying your BBQ! Suddenly you realise to see that there are BBQ sauce stains on your clothes.
Your emotions may shift from BBQ delight to BBQ despair but not to worry, we are here to show you that the BBQ sauce stains haven’t ruined your clothes and there are ways to remove them!
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Why are BBQ Sauce Stains Difficult to Remove?
BBQ sauce stains are great on our burgers and chips. However, when they drop on our clothes, they can be a cleaning nightmare because of their greasy nature. They can ruin the colour of your fabric and they contain oily residues too.
Having said that, it’s not impossible to remove the BBQ sauce stains. Much like tomato sauce, they can be removed.
How to Remove BBQ Sauce Stains
The first step in removing BBQ sauce stain is to act fast when you notice your clothes have a funny looking colour! Don’t let the stain settle in your clothes. With care, immediately wipe the stain off with a paper towel.
If you’ve spotted the stain a little late, don’t panic. You can still scrape it off with a fork, spoon, or butter knife. Removing the external stains is important because it prevents them from spreading to other parts of your clothes.
Pour Cold Water
Secondly, pour cold water on the stained parts for a couple of minutes because it helps makes the cleaning process as seamless as possible. You’d be forgiven to think hot water helps but unfortunately, this is a misconception as hot water will only make the stain difficult to remove due to the complex mix of ingredients in the BBQ stains.
Rub Liquid Detergent and Rinse
Proceed with care and start to rub a liquid detergent into the part that has the BBQ sauce stains. As we talked about before, due to the greasy nature, you need a strong liquid detergent that does the magic. After this, let the clothing sit for 5-10 minutes (always keep an eye out) before rinsing. Once you start rinsing, make sure you don’t stop until the stain is completely removed.
Wash and Dry
You’ve rinsed the clothes so now you need to wash and dry them. Simply put your clothes in the washing machine with the hottest water settings. After the cycle is completed, the next step is drying. It’s always best to be pragmatic and approach this with precaution so double-check once again the BBQ sauce stain is removed. Even if there is a little bit of stain remaining, this could still ruin the particles in your clothing. If there is none, then start drying.
We hope your National BBQ Day is full of joy, laughter, and plenty of BBQ but no BBQ sauce stains on your clothes!
Is there anything worse than dry food? Sauce, in all its incredible different varieties, has meant we never have to worry about our food being too dry again. These moist and flavoursome little bottles of joy do come with there own problems though.
It doesn’t matter if it is the bright red ketchup, golden yellow mustard, or the infamous brown BBQ sauce that your taste-buds desire most. All of these wonderfully tasty condiments can leave us in a state of panic every time we carelessly spill them onto our new white t-shirt. We are here to try and ease that panic. Next time you find yourself overindulging in a hot dog that is drowning in mustard and ketchup, make sure you know how to remove the stains once the inevitable happens.
Tomato Sauce
Mustard
BBQ Sauce
Mayonnaise
Chilli Sauce
Tomato Sauce
You can find this versatile vegetable (or fruit!?) in cuisine all over the world. Whether its ketchup on your fries, spaghetti sauce or bloody mary’s, sauces that mostly contain tomatoes can make it seem like the end of the world when spilt on our clothes.
The best thing you can do when spilling tomato sauces on your clothes is act as soon as possible. Try to use heavy-duty laundry detergent and make sure you use the hottest water recommended for the fabric on the garment care label. Always ensure you check the laundry symbols before washing the garment. To start with, gently rub the liquid detergent directly on the stain. Next, place the garment into the machine to be washed. Make sure to air dry after, as heat from the dryer can set in any remaining stain particles that have not come off in the wash.
Mustard
Like ketchup, mustard can cause most people to shriek when it’s spilt on your clothing due to its luminescent colour. Mustard contains a dye called Tumeric to enhance the yellow colour, which means it must be treated differently to other stains on this list.
If a mustard stain does not get treated quickly, the turmeric dye can remain on your clothing as a permanent reminder of your carelessness. Try to catch the stain while it is still moist and blot immediately. Make sure you do not rub the stain, as you do not want to spread the turmeric onto unstained parts of the garment.
Finally, mix a solution of three-quarters of dish soap and one quarter rubbing alcohol. Apply the mixture to the stain and allow to soak for 10 minutes, just long enough for it not to dry. The alcohol in the solution should turn the stain a dark colour, but not to worry, it will rinse right out! Rinse the treated area with hot water, and then launder like normal.
BBQ Sauce
Would a barbecue even be a barbecue if it wasn’t messy to eat? Most people attending a barbecue know the risks going in, but that still doesn’t make the BBQ sauce stains any less harrowing.
Removing the stain is a two-step process. Soak the affected garment just like you would soak a dirty dish in warm water with dishwashing detergent, this will help loosen the sauce from the fabric and help clean the stain. Once you have left to soak for at least ten minutes, pour some vinegar on the affected area and scrub with a kitchen sponge. After you’ve treated the stain, run the garment through the washing machine like normal.
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise is probably the least threatening colour of all sauces listed in this guide, but do not let its neutral colour fool you. Mayonnaise can leave oily spots on your clothing that are not always easy to remove.
When you spill a blob of mayonnaise on your clothing, use a blunt object like a butter knife or spoon to lift as much of the Mayonnaise off the fabric as you can. Never rub because this will push the stain deeper into the fabric, making it harder to remove. Seeing as the bulk of the issue is an oil-based stain, every Mayonnaise stain should be pre-treated using solvent-based stain removal products. If you don’t have any solvent-based stain remover at hand, apply a bit of heavy-duty liquid detergent instead. Then work it in by delicately rubbing with your fingers or a soft-bristled brush. Lastly, wash the garment in the washing machine on the highest heat it recommends on the label.
Chilli Sauce
Need some spice in your life, but don’t like it trickling onto your clothes? A good old fashioned spicy hot sauce is great for adding flavour to your dishes, but not so great for your new white work shirt. Most hot sauce ingredients consist of peppers, spices and vinegar. Assuming your favourite brand of chilli sauce doesn’t add too much artificial food colouring, the stains should be simple to remove.
Acting immediately is proving to be a common theme in this guide. You guessed it, don’t wait until you’ve finished your food to act on a chilli sauce stain, get on the job straight away!
First things first, run the stain under the tap for at least a minute. Do not rub the stain here, instead let the water flow do the work. We also recommend turning the item inside out and cleaning from the backside to remove it from within the fabric. After this, place the clothing in a sink filled with cold water, add a tablespoon of liquid detergent and vinegar, then gently scrub the stained area. Lastly, put the item in a washing machine and make sure to use warm water, never hot, as this will set the stain.
If you don’t have the time or patience to clean a worrying stain out of your clothing, why not let the professionals help you? Laundryheap is here to help by offering same-day laundry & dry cleaning collection with free next day delivery.
