One of the favourite fixings for any holiday meal is cranberry sauce. If you are lucky, a stop at your local grocery store provides you with this beloved side dish. However, if you are like my family, cranberry sauce must be made from fresh cranberries.
Now the risk of stains increases increases from being put within the path of the of the cooking, and popping, cranberries. How difficult are cranberry stains to remove? They are definitely a stain that you want to get to as soon as possible. The fresher the stain, the easier it is to remove. Run the warmest water the fabric can withstand (check the tag!) through the stain from the back. If the stain is on a white article of clothing, soak the stain in a mixture of bleach and water (3 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of cold water) for approximately 5 minutes. Then launder as usual using your favourite detergent – my new favourite is Purex Detergent with Crystals Fragrance!
Piece of advice: wash the item that was soaked in bleach with other whites or on its own. Mixing with other coloured fabrics might cause bleach to be transferred from the treated article, forming bleach spots on your favourite coloured shirts.
If the unfortunate stain is on a coloured fabric, a good cleaning agent to use is Purex 2 Colour Safe Bleach. You can pour this directly on the stain and gently rub into the stain. Let the stain sit for five minutes and then launder as usual. Colour Safe Bleach is much milder than bleach that you use on your whites so you may have to repeat this process, especially if the stain has dried on your clothing. A random fact to keep in mind is that Native Americans used to use cranberries to make dyes, so you can imagine how persistent the stain can be when dry.
As always, happy stain fighting! And Happy Holidays to you and your family!
