The stain index · 13 stains · 6 families

Sorted by whatthey're made of.

Stains don't sort by colour, they sort by chemistry. Once you know the family, you know what lifts it and, more usefully, what sets it for good.

TN · 3

Tannins

Plant polyphenols from grapes, coffee beans and berries. Cool water and patience; heat and rubbing fix them into the fibre.

Cool water, then oxygen bleach

PR · 2

Blood and egg are proteins. Hot water cooks them onto the thread, so they go cold first and enzymes second.

Cold water, then protease enzyme

OL · 2

Fat doesn't dye, it makes linen translucent. It needs lifting with an absorbent, then a surfactant and the hottest water the cloth allows.

Absorbent powder, then surfactant

WX · 2

Candle wax and lipstick sit on top of the weave. Harden, scrape, then melt what's left out into paper; the dye comes after.

Freeze, scrape, iron through paper

DY · 3

Curcumin, chlorophyll and ballpoint ink are dyes that dissolve in the wrong things. Each needs its own solvent.

Solvent matched to the dye

MN · 1

Rust is iron oxide. It lifts with a mild acid and darkens with chlorine bleach.

Oxalic or citric acid