I wanted to take the opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day! And, for those of you lucky enough to be indulged this magical weekend, here are some stain solutions for a few popular V-Day stains should you need them.

Chocolate

Like many, chocolate is a favorite of mine, and it’s a real shame if it spills anywhere other than into the mouth of a chocolate lover. With so many different chocolate versions, when a spill does happen, it can be difficult to decide how to treat it. Regular chocolate is usually a mixture of emulsifiers and the cocoa powder particles. Add milk chocolate and now we have milk proteins to worry about. This means, they’re both complex stains, but should be treated differently.

For the regular chocolate, you want to attack the greasy portion first, but with the milk chocolate, the protein portion should be attacked first. After these have been attacked, we hit it with the bleach to help get the color out. While a difficult stain to remove-the task is not impossible.

Regular Chocolate
First, pretreat with a good liquid detergent to help solubilize/dissolve those emulsifiers. Rub into the stain and wait 5-10 minutes.

Milk Chocolate
Here, you want to presoak the fabric in cold water and liquid detergent for about 30 minutes to help loosen the protein part of the stain.

Don’t forget, like any other stain, be sure to inspect the item before you put it in the dryer. If the chocolate stain remains after your initial washing, repeat the steps above prior to drying item.

Red Wine

I love a good red wine, but the spills that result from it are tough! From Two Buck Chuck Merlot to Rosenblum Zinfandel to Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon, red wines always find a prominent place in my Valentine’s Day celebration. While tannins help develop complexity to the flavor of the wine, they also add difficulty to stain removal. Here are some easy tips for saving your tablecloth or T-shirt:

First and foremost, quickly blot the spot as soon as possible after the stain occurs with a paper towel or cloth to absorb excess red wine. I like using club soda to bubble up the stain and help prevent it from setting. To help bubble off the stain, I recommend you pour the club soda from the back of the stain. Treating the stain immediately also greatly increases your odds that the stain it will be successfully removed. Bonus tip: Do NOT rub bar soap on a red wine stain. It may set the stain.
White Item: Now, rub it gently with Clorox® Bleach Pen™ Gel immediately before laundering. Then wash immediately in hot water with detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.
Colored/Patterned Item: Now, rub it gently with Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster and wait 3-5 minutes for it to start working. Then wash immediately in warm water with detergent and Clorox2®.
As always, before you toss the item into the dryer, check to ensure that the stain has been fully removed. If the stain remains, repeat the appropriate process above until the stain is gone. If you dry a stained item, the stain may be set into the fiber making subsequent removal much more difficult.

Lipstick
Lipstick is a combination stain of a greasy/oil part and dye, and you have to treat the oil portion of the stain first. Here’s the process:

From here, if your stained item is WHITE:
Wash immediately after in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular Bleach

If your stained item has COLOR/PATTERN:
Apply Clorox 2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster and rub into stain. Wash immediately in the warmest water recommended on the care label using detergent and Clorox 2®.

Finally, inspect the item. If any stain remains, repeat the steps above prior to drying the item

Again, Happy Valentine’s Day!

Q. I use Aveeno Daily Moisturizing body wash. All of the washcloths that I use with it have recently become discolored. I conducted an experiment to prove this: I color-coded two washcloths. One I used with the Aveeno, and the other one my husband used with his soap. So far, my washcloth is discoloring after three uses, especially in the area where I apply the Aveeno (I wash my wash rags after every use). My husband’s cloth does not seem to be darkening. Besides soaking, bleaching, and boiling, which I have already tried, do you have any idea what I can do to whiten the cloths?

Great experiment and I agree with your observations. The Aveeno body wash definitely seems to be different, and possibly contains something that reacts with bleach and dyes. Is the body wash colored? It could be the Aveeno dye that is reacting, since it seems to only be where the concentrated soap is placed.
A couple of ideas for you:
• Try doing a pretreat with Liquid Tide (apply; rub in; wait 3-5 minutes) before you wash the clothes. This may solubilize the "bad" ingredient and prevent a future reaction.
• Is it possible to try another liquid body wash? It certainly might be more economical than purchasing new washcloths so frequently.

Q. I'm using Clorox® Regular-Bleach containing sodium hypochlorite and a detergent for whites containing hydrogen peroxide. I have heard that hydrogen peroxide and sodium hypochlorite react with each other, and that it's best to choose one and not to use both together. So what do you recommend about the washing process? If your suggestion is that I use a detergent not containing sodium hypochlorite, will using the detergent for colorful fabrics be enough to remove the soils?

A. I'm glad to hear you are now using the Clorox® Regular-Bleach to whiten and disinfect the laundry. You are correct that the Clorox® Regular-Bleach and hydrogen peroxide react in the wash solution. The sodium hypochlorite is the stronger oxidant, so it creates oxygen and water from the peroxide. You did not specify, but I assume it is a powdered detergent (the liquid versions can not contain hydrogen peroxide, as it would react with the enzymes and cut cleaning performance even further).

So, my preferred laundry process for you would be:
• Use a powder detergent since it is a better cleaner than a liquid version. It is not necessary for it to contain the oxygen bleach, as this is such a small amount. You could replace this version with the regular version for all your laundry needs (plus you'll save some money since there are fewer uses for the detergent with bleach than the regular version).
• Continue to use the Clorox® Regular-Bleach for the white clothes. Add the recommended amount to the dispenser.
• It is NOT necessary to rinse the items since you will be washing them in detergent and Clorox® Regular-Bleach

Q. Does Clorox 2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster kill 99.99% of bacteria like the Clorox® Regular Bleach ?

A. The simple answer to your question is “no.” Unfortunately, there currently is not a product for disinfecting colored clothes. Our Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster contains hydrogen peroxide as its active ingredient. It is a much weaker bleach than the sodium hypochlorite found in Clorox® Regular-Bleach, and is not capable of meeting EPA disinfecting requirements.

As I have written previously, the best method for reducing germ count in (colored) laundry is:
• Use the hottest wash water recommended on the care label. You might also do more than one wash on these items to further reduce the bacteria count.
• Consider washing the items of concern separately so that the germs are NOT spread to more items. Transfer can occur in the washer and when transferring from the washer to dryer.
• Use the hottest dryer setting recommended on the care label and dry the items separately to maximize germ reduction. While the dryer isn't capable of completely killing, it will help lower the germ count.
• Also, check the items for Bleachability. It's surprising how many things labeled Do Not Bleach are actually OK to use liquid bleach on. Follow these instructions to conduct a quick Bleachability Test:
o Add 2 tspn Clorox® Regular-Bleach to 1/4 cup water
o Apply a drop on a hidden area like an inside seam or hemline for each color/area
o Wait 1 minute, then blot with towel

No color change will mean that it’s probably safe to use bleach on the item. If bleachfast, consider a quick bleach soak (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in a gallon of warm water for 5-10 minutes) before washing in the hottest water recommended on the care label.

Finally, to prevent further germ spread, I would do a white load using detergent and 3/4 cup of Clorox® Regular-Bleach after these items have been washed. It works kind of like a mouthwash for your washer, and prevents the spread of any leftover germs to future washes.

Q. I have a large bottle of Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner with Bleach® which shows a concentration of 1.84%. I have a small (now empty) bottle of Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface Daily Sanitizing Spray®, which shows a concentration of 0.0094%. Can I safely take the Clean-Up and dilute it 200:1 and turn it into the Anywhere spray, or are there other considerations?

A. While you have a good start on the dilution, and following this approach will get you your desired bleach concentration, it probably won't last long. The Clorox® Clean-Up Cleaner with Bleach contains surfactants and fragrance, which are not present in Clorox® Anywhere. We use proprietary technology to make a stable, low concentration bleach for Anywhere®. This simple dilution of Clean-Up® probably will end up turning into fragranced salt, water and surfactant relatively quickly.

Q. I have mold on my ceilings and walls. How do I dilute Clorox Bleach to spray on it and kill it?

A. Clorox has several ways for you to do this. Clorox® Regular-Bleach can be made into an effective solution and applied directly to the problem area. Or, potentially more convenient would be our Tilex® Mold & Mildew Remover (which has the same sodium hypochlorite active ingredient as Clorox® Regular-Bleach, and can be sprayed on the mold/mildew and then rinsed away after the appropriate contact time).

See below the instructions from our EPA Master Label for mold/mildew removal using Clorox® Regular-Bleach.

1. Make a solution of 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of warm water (2700ppm available chlorine solution) – best practices are to always pre-clean the surfaces of any visible material.
2. Mix the bleach solution using your gloved hands and apply to the affected area with a sponge or brush.
3. Allow it to sit in contact with the mildew for 5 minutes, then rinse with warm water. Allow to air dry.

You may need another application if the problem is severe. I would be hesitant to use a garden tank sprayer or regular spray bottle, especially if it has metal parts in the trigger assembly. They will react with the bleach, decreasing its efficacy and potentially corroding the metal.

Also open some windows and ventilate the area where you are working as this will promote drying and evacuate any bothersome fumes.

Since there is a very good chance that the bleach solution will drip onto you, make sure the clothes you wear for this are ones that you do not treasure; they probably will have some bleached-out spots, and should be washed right after you finish.

Q. Is it okay to do a dark load after I bleach my white load, or will there be bleach still in the machine that can damage the darks?

A. It should be OK to do the darks after you have completed the bleached white load. I'm curious why you are concerned—it’s as if something has happened in the past to give you concern about this approach. And I'm not sure what you meant by "...the bleach is still in the machine.” After the rinse and spin cycles of the bleach load, all the bleach should have entered and been used up. Check out my videos on the blog (http://www.drlaundryblog.com) and view the "Laundry 101" video which shows the various ways to add bleach to your washer.

If you are still concerned, I might suggest that you stage your loads by doing whites, then lights, and finally darks. This should alleviate any concerns about bleach carryover.

Ok, we had our annual Super Bowl party on Sunday and you guessed it…even Dr. Laundry wasn’t immune to those little spots and spills.

What a day! I always look forward to seeing old friends, eating, drinking and yelling our way through 4 quarters of really exciting pigskin. Our crowd’s other favorite activity is reacting to and rating each Super Bowl commercial, which didn’t seem up to par this year.

With that many people, there were plenty of opportunities to provide stain removal advice. While you may not be able to remove it all at the party, these tips will help you tackle the problem when you get home or after the guests leave.

General Stain Treatment Rules
1. Remove as much as possible as quickly as possible. Quickly blot or wipe away the excess.
2. If the stain has a greasy/oily component, always treat that first and don’t run water over the stain. Try rubbing some liquid dishwashing or laundry detergent into the stain from the back if possible. Wait 1-3 minutes, then rinse away with warm water.
3. Consider washing items when you get home, or if they are dry clean only, try to get them to the cleaners within 48 hours.

And here are some remedies for a few of the expected party favorites:

Beverages
• Adult beverages come in a variety of potential colors. We need to remove it:
o A cool water rinse from the back will help make the stain easier to pretreat.
o If the item is white or bleachable, try pretreating with Clorox® Bleach Pen gel™ before washing.
o If colored, try pretreating with Liquid Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster before washing.
o Wash in the warmest water recommended on the fabric care label using detergent and:
- Clorox® Regular-Bleach, if it’s a white or bleachable item OR
- Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster if it’s a colored item.
o Check before drying. Retreat item if needed.

Appetizers
• BBQ sauces, soy sauces, baked beans and salsa:
o A cool water rinse from the back will help make the stain easier to pretreat.
o If the item is white or bleachable, try pretreating with Clorox® Bleach Pen gel™ before washing.
o If the item is colored, try pretreating with Liquid Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster before washing.
o Wash in the warmest water recommended on the fabric care label using detergent and
- Clorox® Regular-Bleach, if it’s a white or bleachable item OR
- Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster if it’s a colored item.
o Check before drying. Retreat item if needed.

• Buffalo wings, meatballs and fried foods: Beware of greasy spots!:
o Pretreat with liquid detergent and wait 3-5 minutes.
o Wash in the hottest water recommended on the fabric care label using detergent and
- Clorox® Regular-Bleach, if it’s a white or bleachable item OR
- Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster if it’s a colored item.
o Check before drying. Retreat item if needed.

Main Course
• Chili, hamburgers, steaks: Again, beware of greasy spots:
o Pretreat with liquid detergent and wait 3-5 minutes.
o Wash in the hottest water recommended on the fabric care label using detergent and
- Clorox® Regular-Bleach, if it’s a white or bleachable item or
- Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster if it’s a colored item.
o Check before drying. Retreat item if needed.

Did I miss anything? If so, just drop me a quick note/question and I’ll send you a personal answer right away.

Good luck, and I hope you also had a great time on Sunday!!

Q. How can I remove dye from one shirt that was transferred from another? I’m not sure what to do because the stained shirt is not white.

A. I probably don't have very good news for you since the items aren't white and they probably have been dried in the dryer, which sets the dye on the new fabric.

I do find that a lot of colored items can be bleached. To find out if these items can safely be bleached, I recommend consumers do the quick Bleachability Test:

• Add 2 tspn Clorox® Regular-Bleach to 1/4 cup water
• Apply a drop on a hidden area like an inside seam or hemline for each color/area
• Wait 1 minute, then blot with towel

No color change will mean that it’s probably safe to use bleach on the item.

Any color change could also show you the amount of change in color that will occur if you proceed with the liquid bleach usage.

Want to proceed? I would do a quick liquid bleach soak (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in one gallon of cool water for 5 minutes), then wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the item’s care label using detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach. It might require multiple treatments to get the desired result.

If you can't bleach the item, try several washes in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and an oxygen bleach like our Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster, or even a short 30 minute presoak in the oxygen bleach before the wash. It might require multiple treatments to get the desired result. Also, repeated washing usually will very slowly remove a small amount of dye each time.

Q. My husband decided to help around the house, and accidentally washed a load of clothes with one of my lipsticks. He didn't notice until after the dryer had set the stains in good. Is there any product that will remove this mess from a whole load of his dress shirts?

A. Having been in the same position as your husband before, I have come to realize that volunteering is good, but clarifying about procedures is even more important. We don't know how you would do it, and we forget to ask. (Probably won't make that mistake again…)

Wow, if the whole load has gone through the dryer already, I probably would take a couple of examples to your local dry cleaner and ask if he could solve your problem. If it were just a couple of spots, I could give you some tips on removing them. However, you need lots of solvent and that's where the dry cleaner is your best shot.