Stains, stains and more stains.

Last week we talked about the four types of stains. By the way, these are listed in detail on page 171 of Blind Dates Can Be Murder.

Today we'll talk about oil-stains. These stains are produced from products like auto grease, hair mousse and suntan lotion.

Start with a stain remover with enzymes such as Shout or Spray 'n Wash. Soak the stain and then launder as usual.

My assistant, Shari, uses dish detergent on vegetable and olive oil stains which 'mysteriously' appear her shirt when eating angel hair pasta and clam sauce. Just place the dish detergent (not dishwasher detergent) directly on the stain and let it sit a bit, then launder as usual.

Next time we'll talk about the tannin stains!

Let's talk about stains!

Stains fall into four simple categories

• protein
• oil-based
• tannin
• dye

We'll start with protein stains this week.

Protein stains (such as baby formula, eggs and urine) require cold water because hot water will actually cook the protein setting the stain even more!

So, be sure to use only cold water when washing out those protein stains.

Next week we'll tackle oil-based stain concepts!