Few side dishes are as essential at a summertime barbecue as baked beans, in all of their sweet and spicy glory. But, their messy nature makes them an enemy to your favorite summer clothing items, since it’s all too easy to spill them while you’re eating. The ingredients in baked beans can undoubtedly stain clothes, but fortunately, by acting quickly and following the right protocol, you can remove that stain quickly.
Even better, with the right nontoxic cleaning products already in your home, you can get rid of a baked beans stain with very little effort. Let’s go over the proper steps to removing the stain so that you can stop worrying that your favorite t-shirt or sun dress is ruined.
Getting Rid of a Baked Beans Stain
All that you need in order to get rid of a baked beans stain is some common (preferably eco-friendly) cleaning products that you have quick access to since they’re already household staples. Of course, you want to address the stain as soon as you notice it, and then remove the garment as soon as possible to get to work quickly.
Step #1: Scrape the Extra and Rinse
The first thing that you want to do is grab a dull knife and start scraping off the baked beans residue that’s on the surface. This will prevent the stain from getting worse as it absorbs into the fibers of your clothing item.
Step #2: Turn the Garment Inside Out and Run Cold Water Over the Stain
Doing this will push the stain outward rather than allowing it to spread further. Do this until the water runs clear, which means that you’ve washed out as much as you can.
Step #3: Time for a Pretreatment
Next, you will need to pretreat the stain to get a head start on the removal process. All you need is a natural dish soap that’s next to your kitchen sink. Our customers use the Grab Green Liquid Dish Soap, which is a non toxic dish soap that works hard to remove stains from clothing (not to mention leave dishes sparkling clean).
Pour some dish soap on top of the stain, gently spreading it to cover the entire discoloration mark without rubbing it in. Leave it for 15 minutes before rinsing it out with more cold water.
If the stain is particularly stubborn, you can pour some white vinegar directly onto it before moving to the next step.
Step #4: It’s Time to Launder
Now, grab your go-to natural laundry pods and wash the clothing item in the washing machine according to its care label. We prefer a non toxic laundry detergent like our 3 in 1 Laundry Detergent Pods, which are sustainable laundry pods with excellent stain-fighting powers. Now, grab your favorite natural dryer sheets like Grab Green Classic Laundry Dryer Sheets, sustainable dryer sheets like Stoneworks Dryer Sheets, or even Grab Green Dryer Balls, and then run the garment through a standard drying cycle.
If it’s a Dried Stain
Sometimes, we don’t notice a stain until hours or days after it’s fully dried. But, that’s okay. You can follow the same steps as above even if it’s been a while since the stain happened, and also are very likely to have the same results.
If the Clothing is Delicate
If you’re dealing with a delicate material that can’t go through a washing machine/dryer, don’t worry. For one thing, if you need to air-dry the garment, that’s fine and won’t have any effect on the success of the prior steps for stain removal. If the item has to be handwashed, just use the same detergent above to wash the item by hand. And, if you have to have a drycleaner handle cleaning your garment, let them know that you have a baked beans stain on the clothing item, and ask them if they know how to remove it.
To summarize:
- Cotton clothing will offer the most stain removal options.
- Wool is more delicate than cotton and cannot endure repeated washing and also needs to be spread flat to dry.
- For silk clothing, it’s recommended you take it to a professional dry cleaner, due its extreme delicacy.
