How to remove annoying stains from your tablecloth

It happens to us all at some point. After a long and cosy evening with friends or family we discover a stain on the tablecloth! It is the candle grease your mother always warned you about: “You’ll never get that out!” Read on and you can tell your mother how to get candle grease out of her tablecloth without spending a fortune at the dry cleaners.

Please note, if it is your favourite tablecloth, or one made of delicate material it is still better to avoid any risk and take it to the dry cleaners.

Step 1: Freeze the stain and scrape it off

  • Needed: spoon and freezer

Allow the candle wax to set before you attempt anything, otherwise you will only make the stain bigger. Put it in the freezer until the candle wax is completely hard and dry.

After a few days, take it out of the freezer and with a spoon scrape the majority of the candle wax from the fabric. You don’t need to be too restrained, but do be careful not to damage the actual fabric.

Step 2: Iron the stain away

  • Needed: tea towel, baking paper, scissors, iron and ironing board

Lay your tea towel across your ironing board and place a piece of baking paper on top that is twice as big as the stain on your tablecloth. Place the cloth so that the stain is on the baking paper and then lay another piece of baking paper on top. In this way the stain on the cloth is between 2 sheets of baking paper, preventing any damage to your iron. Next, iron at a low temperature over the stain, which will cause the wax to melt between the sheets of baking paper.

Now replace the two sheets of baking paper with new ones and iron again. Keep repeating this process until no more grease is released onto the sheets of baking paper.

Step 3: Dissolving the stain

  • Needed: soap, water, washing-up brush and washing machine

Now that the oil stain has disappeared we still need to degrease the tablecloth. Take a degreasing detergent, use it to dampen or wet the stain and then rub the grease away with a washing-up brush. Do this carefully as there is a real danger of damaging your tablecloth.

The tablecloth is now ready for the washing machine. Wash it according to the washing instructions on the label and then hang it in the air to dry. If you put it in the dryer there is a risk that the stain will become permanent due to the heat.

Stain gone? Good work! Now you can bring it out again at the next party as evidence. Does the stain still show? Follow the instructions one more time, as it was probably a really tough stain.

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