Remove Stains From Plastic Laminate Countertops: Apply baking soda paste to stain – Stubborn stains on countertops can be frustrating, but they don’t have to be permanent. Standard household spray cleaners will remove most of them. Check the label and make sure any product you use is recommended for laminate countertops.
The secret to success with these products is patience; let the cleaner work for five minutes or so before you wipe off the countertop. A plastic brush is helpful on stubborn spots. If a standard cleaner won’t do the job, try baking soda.
The paste made from baking soda and a little water often removes stains left by fruit juices and other liquids. Baking soda is slightly abrasive and can leave fine scratches, so don’t scrub. Just let the paste work for one to two hours and then wipe it off gently.
Cold Water – It might seem simple, but Lauren Haynes, a cleaning expert at Star Domestic Cleaners says it works. “Run cold water through the front and back of the stain until you manage to clean it,” says Haynes. It should work well if the stain is fresh.
How to Remove Oil Stains and Grease Stains From Concrete Garage – You can’t scrub oil and grease stains away. The trick is to draw them up out of the concrete. To do this, mix trisodium phosphate (or a TSP substitute) with water and absorbent material to make a smooth paste.
The cleaner slowly soaks into the concrete and breaks up the old oil, and the absorbent captures it. Once the paste dries, the cleaning action stops, and you can scrape and sweep it away. Either throw it away or renew it with more TSP and water and reapply it for deeper cleaning. Use a nylon brush for cleanup. A wire brush may leave steel particles, which can cause rust stains.
Patience is the key. Old, long-neglected stains may require two or three applications for complete removal. And even then, some stains might still show, or the freshly cleaned area might look slightly different from the surrounding concrete.
How to Get Sweat Stains Out of Anything: The Stain Paste* – The first step in removing stains from clothing (dress shirt or T-shirt, dark or light colors) is to soak the garment in equal parts cold water and distilled white vinegar. If you have a light stain, then no other steps will be needed—just wash as usual!
If, however, your white tees still have some stubborn sweat stains, then it’s time to mix up some stain paste: 1 tablespoon hydrogen peroxide, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 cup baking soda. Apply the paste directly to the sweat stain with a toothbrush, let it sit for at least and hour, and then wash as usual.
*This paste should only be used on white clothing. For all your colors, replace the hydrogen peroxide with cold water and then follow the same steps.
How to Get Rid of Grease Stains on Clothing: Baby Powder – If you’re wondering how to remove grease stains from clothes, baby powder will be extremely helpful to you. Frying foods can be a dangerous business—especially for your clothes.
If you get a grease splatter on your clothing, try dabbing the stain with some baby powder on a powder puff. Make sure you rub it in well, and then remove and brush off any excess powder. Repeat until the mark is gone.
How to Clean Toilet Stains – To make your toilet bowl clean again and remove hard water deposits, start with a dry bowl so water won’t dilute the cleaner. To tackle difficult rust stains, skip your discount-store toilet bowl cleaner and head to the hardware store for a product containing diluted hydrochloric acid (also listed on product labels as hydrogen chloride, HCL or muriatic acid).
This is a common active ingredient in such brands as The Works Toilet Bowl Cleaner and Santeen De-Limer & Toilet Bowl Cleaner. And make sure you don’t use a bleach-containing product on rust—it will set the stain.
Be sure to use a toilet brush with stiff nylon bristles in a plastic base. Those old wire brushes scratch the bowl. Once the bowl surface becomes scratched or worn, stain removal becomes next to impossible.
Two cautions when cleaning with diluted hydrochloric acid. First, if you use an in-tank cleaner that contains bleach, remove it and flush multiple times to remove bleach residue. A combination of bleach-containing and acid-containing products (toilet cleaners) produces deadly vapors.
Second caution: Scrub slowly because droplets that splatter outside the bowl can harm carpet, tile, vinyl and your skin. Keep a rag and a bucket of water handy to wipe up spatters. Same goes for setting the bottle down on these surfaces—don’t. And make sure you flush and rinse the bowl immediately.
