FOLD Blog · May 10, 2026 · 7 min read

How to remove the 7 most common laundry stains (oil, wine, blood, ink, grass, tomato, makeup)

Stain removal is a chemistry problem. Different stains respond to different solvents, and using the wrong one can set the stain permanently. Here’s the LA dry cleaner’s playbook for the seven stains we deal with most often.

The universal first rule

Cold water first, always. Hot water sets protein-based stains (blood, sweat, food) by cooking the proteins into the fabric. The only stains where hot water helps are oil-based stains, and you don’t typically know in the first 30 seconds whether you’re dealing with oil or protein. Default to cold.

Blot, don’t rub. Rubbing pushes the stain deeper into the fibers and spreads it across a wider area. Always blot with a clean white cloth from the outside in.

1. Oil and grease (cooking oil, butter, salad dressing, makeup foundation)

Oil-based stains repel water, so water-only blotting won’t work. The trick is absorbing the oil with a powder before applying detergent.

1. Cover the stain with cornstarch, baby powder, or talc. Let sit 15 minutes.
2. Brush off the powder.
3. Apply Dawn dish soap directly to the stain (Dawn is engineered to cut through oil — it’s the stuff used to clean wildlife after oil spills).
4. Let sit 5 minutes, rinse with hot water (this is the one stain where hot helps).
5. Wash on warm with regular detergent.

If the stain’s already dried into the fabric, it’s much harder. Repeat the Dawn-and-warm-water process 2–3 times before washing.

2. Red wine

The cliché is “pour white wine on it.” Don’t. White wine doesn’t fix the problem — it just dilutes a small stain into a bigger pale stain.

1. Blot up as much as possible immediately with a white cloth.
2. Cover the stain in salt and let it sit 5 minutes — the salt pulls the wine out of the fibers via capillary action.
3. Brush off the salt.
4. Apply club soda or cold water and continue blotting.
5. Pretreat with an enzyme stain remover (OxiClean, Shout) and wash cold.

If the stain is dried, soak the entire garment in cold water + 1 cup white vinegar for 30 minutes before pretreating.

3. Blood

Always cold water. Hot water cooks the protein into the fabric — you’ll never get it out.

1. Rinse the back of the stain with cold water as soon as possible (push the stain back out the way it came in, rather than driving it deeper).
2. Apply hydrogen peroxide (3% standard pharmacy stuff) directly to the stain — it foams up. Let sit 5 minutes.
3. Rinse cold.
4. If the stain persists, soak in cold water with enzyme detergent (Tide, Persil) for 30 minutes.

Hydrogen peroxide can lighten colors. Test on a hidden spot first if the fabric is colored.

4. Ink (ballpoint pen, marker)

Ballpoint ink is solvent-based. Hairspray actually works (it’s mostly alcohol) but rubbing alcohol is more reliable.

1. Place a clean white cloth or paper towel under the stain.
2. Apply rubbing alcohol with a Q-tip from the back of the fabric, pushing the ink down into the cloth underneath.
3. Replace the absorbent cloth as it picks up ink.
4. Continue until no more ink transfers.
5. Wash cold with regular detergent.

Permanent marker is much harder. Some respond to acetone (nail polish remover, but not on synthetic fabrics — acetone dissolves polyester and acetate). For permanent marker, send it to a dry cleaner.

5. Grass

Grass stains are protein and chlorophyll combined. Enzymes work.

1. Pretreat with an enzyme stain remover (OxiClean, Shout) and let sit 15 minutes.
2. Rub gently with a soft toothbrush.
3. Wash on warm cycle with enzyme detergent (Tide Plus, Persil ProClean).

For dried-in grass on white cotton, soak in oxygen bleach + warm water for 30 minutes before washing.

6. Tomato sauce / spaghetti sauce

Tomato has both oil (olive oil, often) and pigment (lycopene). You need to address both.

1. Blot up excess sauce immediately.
2. Apply Dawn dish soap to break the oil component.
3. Rinse cold.
4. Apply white vinegar to address the lycopene pigment. Let sit 10 minutes.
5. Rinse and wash on warm with regular detergent.

Lycopene is sun-activated — if you wash and the stain is gone but reappears after the garment hangs in the sun, that’s why. Repeat the vinegar step.

7. Makeup (foundation, concealer, lipstick)

Most makeup is oil-based with pigment, similar to tomato sauce.

1. Apply shaving cream (the foam kind, not gel) directly to the stain. Shaving cream contains soap surfactants and works well on oil-pigment combinations.
2. Let sit 10 minutes.
3. Blot with cold water.
4. Apply Dawn dish soap, blot, rinse.
5. Wash cold with regular detergent.

Lipstick is harder than foundation because of waxes. After the shaving cream, blot with rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip to break down waxes. Send to a dry cleaner if it’s on a non-washable fabric.

The mistake we see most often: people try one thing, give up after 30 seconds, throw it in the wash on hot water with regular detergent, and the stain sets permanently. Stain removal takes patience and the right chemistry. Five minutes spent on the right pretreatment will save the garment.

When to send it to a dry cleaner

• The garment is silk, wool, leather, or labeled dry-clean-only.
• The stain is on a tailored or structured piece (suit, blazer, dress).
• The stain is older than 24 hours and your home pretreatment hasn’t fully removed it.
• The fabric is delicate, beaded, or has any structural elements that wouldn’t survive a home wash cycle.

Don’t wait. A 24-hour stain is treatable. A 6-month stain is much harder — the longer it sits, the more the chemistry bonds to the fabric. Bring it in (or schedule a pickup) within a few days for best results.

The takeaway

Most stains are removable if you’re patient and use the right chemistry. The wrong move — hot water on protein, rubbing instead of blotting, throwing it in the wash without pretreatment — sets the stain forever. Identify the stain category (oil, protein, pigment), match the chemistry, and you’ll save most garments.