Life happens and mess is a big part of it. That’s probably why we risk it all for a good ol’ bowl of pasta, even though the aftermath on our clothes might not be as pretty.
If you’ve got yourself into a little spag bol situation (we’re talking saucy splashbacks), read our handy guide on how to remove pasta stains from any fabric with our Powder Booster or similar alternative so you can enjoy one of life’s greatest pleasures (yep, that’s spaghetti bolognese) without worrying about your favourite fits getting dirty.
Let’s get started…
The ingredients you need for the best clean
To remove tough stains like pasta sauce, you’ll need a laundry product that contains both bleach and enzymes. When we say ‘bleach’, we mean oxygen bleach, not chlorine bleach which is commonly used in hospitals and public pools to kill bacteria.
Oxygen bleach is the safer, more natural and biodegradable kind, and can be found in our Powder Booster. It’s important to note that you should always check the garment care instructions, if it says ‘Do Not Bleach’, seriously don’t do it. To find out how to bleach safely, go here.
Enzymes can also be found in our Powder Booster and are actually more important than oxygen bleach when it comes to stain removal, as they’re responsible for catalysing the reaction between stains and the water solution. This enzyme action breaks down the stain into smaller molecules, which results in a targeted and more efficient clean.
How to treat stains with our Powder Booster
Our Powder Booster is a multi-tasking master that was designed to tackle life’s mightiest messes. To treat stains with our Powder Booster, soak your stained garment for 30 minutes (if it's white you can go for upto two hours) before popping it into your washing machine for a regular spin and letting it dry in sunlight.
How to treat stains if you don't have our Powder Booster
If you don’t have our Powder Booster on hand, don’t stress! Use a laundry detergent like ours or an enzyme-based stain remover like Sards Oil & Grime, which contains similar enzymes to those in our formula.
Follow the same steps as you would with our Powder Booster above to remove unwanted stains.
The three most important things to remember
Pasta sauce stains are generally of the tougher variety of stains. Regardless of what you use to tackle it, keeping these top tips in mind will give you the best chance.
- Get to the stain straight away. If you can't wash it - but you can get it wet and keep it wet (ie throw it in a bucket of water until your next load), do that.
- Agitate agitate, agitate. These stains are sticky and layers deep. You need to penetrate the different levels of fabric, and the best way to do it, is just rub the fabric together.
- Repeat if necessary. Some stains are like onions, they peel off layer by layer.
If the stain is not completely gone, rather than drying it, just treat it again when you do your next load. You can throw it in a bucket of water, as per point one if you're not planning on washing again that day.
Dry in the sun
This, we'd call the finisher. Utilising the power of the sun to help fade away your saucy stains. Yep, it’s free, natural and works, kind of.
Before you get too excited, this is a temporary solution and in time, your stain might return as a greyish patch but that can also be fixed. Simply spot treat it with a little extra detergent when needed and hang your garment outside to dry in sunlight.
Find out more about the science behind sunshine stain removal here.
And there you have it, everything you need to know about removing tough-as-nails stains such as pasta sauce from your favourite clothes, with and without our Powder Booster. Keen to find out more about our best-selling stain removal hero? Discover our top three favourite ways to use it here.