How to Get a Stain Out — and What Not to Do Before You Send It In

We get a lot of wine, coffee, curry and oil, and most of it comes out. The ones that defeat us are almost always the ones that were rubbed, heated or treated with the wrong thing first.

Four Things Not to Do

Do not rub. Rubbing pushes the stain deeper into the weave and abrades the surface fibres, leaving a dull patch that stays visible even after the colour is gone. Blot with a clean white cloth, pressing straight down.

Do not use hot water. Heat sets protein stains — blood, egg, dairy, perspiration — and cooks sugar into the fibre. Cool water only.

Do not put it in a dryer. A dryer is the most reliable way to make a stain permanent.

Do not reach for bleach or a household spray on anything coloured or delicate. We have seen more garments lost to over-the-counter stain removers than to the original spill.

What Does Help in the First Minute

Lift any solids off with the edge of a spoon, not the flat of it. Blot liquid from the outside of the mark inwards. If it is oil — salad dressing, curry, engine grease — a light dusting of talcum powder or cornflour will absorb some of it while you wait; brush it off gently before you send the piece in.

Then leave it alone and get it to us — drop it at an outlet, or leave it at your door for collection anywhere from Jurong to Pasir Ris. Speed matters more than technique: a wine stain treated within a day is routine, and the same stain a month later is a different job.

Tell Us What It Is

Stain removal is chemistry, and knowing the substance decides the treatment. "Something at dinner" is workable; "red wine, Tuesday, and I sponged it with soda water" is far better. If you have already applied something, say so — it changes what we can safely use next.

When It Cannot Be Saved

Some things are genuinely permanent: dye transfer on white silk, old iron-set curry on cotton, bleach spots where the colour is simply gone. We will tell you before we start rather than charge you for a job we cannot finish. Honesty is cheaper for both of us.