Vitamin E Stain

Hi folks,

Happy New Year to you all!

I thought you might enjoy this recent exchange with a reader, who ended up solving her own problem.

Q - I just squirted vitamin E oil on my blouse. Is their any way to remove the stain?

A- Hmmm...that's a new one on me! Sounds like a person I know who squeezed a capsule and it popped, shooting the liquid into her eye. Turns out, it was her dog's stool softener, which led to plenty of joikes (at least her eye wouldn't be constipated, etc.), but it ended up being pretty serious and actually burned her retina. She's fine now. Anyway, your note reminded me of that experience.

Any oil-based stain is always best removed with a professional stain-removal product such as Shout. You could also try rubbing in a little water that has been mixed with a dab of Dawn dishwashing liquid or similar (any of the ones that promise to draw grease away from the dishes).

Let me know if neither of these approaches work and I'll take a look at some of my reference books for you. Is it really oily, or is that just what it's called? Because that could make a difference in how to treat the stain.

Follow up email - Thanks for your suggestions. I sprayed it really good with Shout and let it set for a while, then checked it and it was still there, then I put salt on it and let it set for several hours. I could still see the stain, finally I sprayed it really good with hair spray and let that set for a few hours and it finally came out.

My final comments - I was glad to hear back and to learn that the stain finally did come out. Though I wouldn't recommend using salt and/or hairspray on all fabrics, I'm glad it really worked out in this situation. Way to go!