If you’re a smoker, or you just so happen to spend some time around someone who craves their cigars or cigarettes, then you may have experienced the consequence of carelessness in the form of an ash stain on your favorite clothing item.  Ash stains are a bit trickier than we give them credit for, but the good news is that they’re also quite removable, with little effort and time.

What Causes an Ash Stain?

What makes ash strains particularly annoying is the fact that ash is ultimately an ultra-fine powder.  The finer the powder, the more easily and quickly it can get deep into the fibers of your favorite garments rather than staying on the surface. 

How to Get Rid of an Ash Stain

Now, nobody wants to look down and see a smear of cigar or cigarette ash on their clothes – especially light-colored clothes, where the charcoal color might as well be visible from a mile away.  But, with some simple techniques that you can do at home, you can get the ash stain out of your clothes in no time, all while using eco-friendly cleaning products.  Just follow these simple steps below, which rely on non-toxic cleaning products to do all of the hard work for you.

Step #1: First, remove the clothing item and start shaking it vigorously.  This will help get any loose ash off of the surface of the clothing.  Trying to rub it off, or even brush it off with your hand, will likely just spread the stain, while also working it deeper into the clothes where it will be tougher to remove.

Step #2: Now, turn the clothing item inside-out, and run the stain directly under cold water from your faucet.  Doing this while the clothing item is inside-out will push the stain back out of the clothing, rather than deeper into it.  Keep doing this until the water runs clear, which means that as much of the ash has come out as it can.

Step #3: From there, it’s time to do some laundry.  We recommend pre-treating the stain with some natural dish soap, gently massaging the soap into the remaining ash.  We always recommend using an eco-friendly dish soap, so if you have one, grab it.

Step #4: Run your garment through your washing machine on the hottest setting permitted for the fabric.  If it’s a light-colored garment, consider using Grab Green Bleach Alternative Pods to brighten up the fabric and break up the stain.  This eco-friendly laundry pod is gentle yet highly effective.

Step #5: Before switching the garment to the dryer, check the stain carefully right after the washing cycle has completed. 

• If it’s still there, throwing it through a drying cycle can set it permanently.
• If there is still a mark remaining, grab a dish towel and some rubbing alcohol, and then start blotting alcohol directly into the stain – do this until the stain no longer remains.

Step #6: Finally, dry the garment as directed according to its care label, using either natural dryer sheets like Grab Green Classic Laundry Dryer Sheets or Stoneworks Dryer Sheets, or even Grab Green Dryer Balls to prevent the garment from clinging once you take it out.

Ash Stains are Removable with Just a Little Elbow Grease

No one wants their favorite clothing items covered in ash due to a minor mishap.  Fortunately, getting out an ash stain is extremely easy, as long as you follow the right protocol.  And, it can be done using nontoxic cleaning products you already have lying around at home, like natural laundry pods and natural dish soap.  Follow these steps carefully, and also try to act as quickly as possible, so that your clothing item can go back to looking as good as new.