NerdClean

Stain Guides

Practical, step-by-step treatment guides for common stains on clothes, carpet, sheets, and upholstery. Each guide tells you what to do, in what order, using what you already have at home.

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Most-used stain guides

The stains people fight most often. Start here if your problem is one of the classics.

How to Get Oil and Grease Stains Out of Clothes
Learn how to get oil and grease stains out of clothes with dish soap — from cooking oil and butter to greasy food spills — plus what to do before washing.
How to Get Blood Out of Clothes, Including Dried and Old Blood Stains
Learn how to get blood out of clothes using cold water, dish soap, enzyme cleaner, and safe next steps for dried, old, white, colored, and dark fabrics.
How to Get Pen Ink Out of Clothes
Remove pen ink from clothes without spreading the stain. What to do for ballpoint ink, gel ink, jeans and pants, and ink found after the wash.
How to Get Sharpie and Permanent Marker Out of Clothes
Remove Sharpie, permanent marker, or magic marker from clothes with rubbing alcohol. Learn how to blot safely, protect the fabric, and avoid spreading the stain.
How to Get Red Wine Out of Clothes
Remove red wine stains from clothing with cold water and dish soap. Act quickly — these steps work for fresh and dried stains.
How to Get Yellow Sweat Stains Out of Shirts
Remove yellow sweat and pit stains from white and light shirts. Why they form, what actually breaks them down, and how to keep them from coming back.
How to Remove Any Stain from Carpet
Removing a carpet stain depends on technique and timing as much as product. Use the right blotting method and cleaner for protein, tannin, oil, or dye stains.

Browse by stain type

Every guide, organized by what caused the stain. Pick the closest match. The treatment chemistry is what matters.

Food & drink stains

6 guides

Food and drink stains usually combine pigment with oil, sugar, or tannins, so the right first step depends on what spilled, and heat sets almost all of them.

How to Get Coffee Stains Out of a ShirtHow to Get Red Wine Out of ClothesHow to Get Tomato Sauce, Ketchup, and Salsa Out of ClothesHow to Get Chocolate Out of ClothesHow to Get Berry and Fruit Juice Stains Out of ClothesHow to Remove Mustard and Turmeric Stains from Clothes

Grease, oil & waxy stains

6 guides

Oil doesn't dissolve in water. These stains need a degreaser like dish soap, and the dryer will permanently set whatever is left behind.

How to Get Oil and Grease Stains Out of ClothesHow to Get Grease Stains Out of Clothes After Washing or DryingHow to Get Grease Out of JeansHow to Get Motor Oil Out of ClothesHow to Get Candle Wax Out of ClothesHow to Get Gum Out of Clothes

Ink, marker & paint stains

7 guides

Ink, marker, and paint need a solvent matched to the stain, and a dye test on a hidden seam before you touch the visible mark.

How to Get Pen Ink Out of ClothesHow to Get Ink Out of Clothes After DryingHow to Get Sharpie and Permanent Marker Out of ClothesHow to Get Sharpie Off JeansHow to Get Ink Out of a Dryer DrumHow to Get Paint Out of Clothes (Latex and Oil-Based)How to Get Crayon Out of Clothes (Including a Dryer Melt)

Cosmetics & personal care stains

7 guides

Makeup, sunscreen, and antiperspirant mix oils, waxes, and pigments. Each product leaves a slightly different stain with its own first step.

How to Get Makeup Out of ClothesHow to Get Nail Polish Out of ClothingHow to Get Hair Dye Out of Clothes and TowelsHow to Get Sunscreen Stains Out of ClothesHow to Get Deodorant Stains Out of Black ShirtsHow to Get Yellow Sweat Stains Out of ShirtsHow to Remove Shirt Collar Stains

Color & dye problems from the wash

1 guide

When the laundry itself creates the stain: dye that bled from one garment onto another, and the rescue chemistry that can still move it.

How to Remove Dye Transfer from Clothes

Blood, baby & biological stains

7 guides

These are protein stains: cold water only, enzyme treatment, and no dryer until the stain is confirmed gone. Heat cooks them in permanently.

How to Get Blood Out of Clothes, Including Dried and Old Blood StainsHow to Get Blood Out of SheetsHow to Get Blood Out of a MattressHow to Get Urine Out of a MattressHow to Clean Vomit Out of CarpetHow to Get Baby Poop Stains Out of ClothesHow to Get Baby Formula and Milk Stains Out of Clothes

Carpet, mattress & upholstery problems

11 guides

Surfaces you can't machine-wash need blot-and-lift technique instead of rinsing, and they come with their own failure mode: stains that wick back up.

How to Remove Any Stain from CarpetWhy Your Carpet Stain Came Back (And How to Stop It)How to Clean Stains from UpholsteryHow to Get Coffee Stains Out of CarpetHow to Get Red Wine Out of CarpetHow to Get Blood Out of CarpetHow to Get Grease and Oil Out of CarpetHow to Get Pen Ink Out of CarpetHow to Get Permanent Marker Out of CarpetHow to Get Ink or Marker Out of a CouchHow to Get Blood Out of a Couch

Outdoor, kids & messy stains

4 guides

Play stains have quirks of their own: mud wants to dry before you touch it, grass needs enzymes, and slime dissolves in vinegar.

How to Get Grass Stains Out of ClothesHow to Get Mud Out of ClothesHow to Get Slime Out of Clothes and CarpetHow to Remove Rust Stains from Clothes

Treating a specific surface?

Some stains behave differently on things you can't machine-wash. Jump straight to the surface-specific guides:

Blood on a mattressUrine on a mattressCoffee on carpetRed wine on carpetVomit on carpetUpholstery stains

Not sure what you're dealing with?

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