It's always a bummer when you spill something on a freshly washed dishcloth, especially if you weren't planning on doing laundry that day.
Thankfully, Instagram user Nancy (@nancy.birtwhistle), a Sunday Times bestselling author of several books on cleaner and greener living from the UK, shared her quick and easy secret for removing stains from dish towels using one simple ingredient: boiling water.
🗣️ What motivates you to wash your clothes in cold water?
🔘 Saves money 💰
🔘 Saves energy 🌎
🔘 Gentler on clothes 👕
🔘 I wash my clothes in hot water 🙅
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
The scoop
You expect your kitchen towels to get dirty, but it's nice to get a few uses out of them before throwing them in the wash.
In the video, Nancy explains that if the stain is fairly recent and you have a durable fabric like cotton or linen, boiling water can erase even the toughest stains from red wine and juice. In her case, she used the trick to get mincemeat out of her tea towel.
All you need for the hack is a colander or cooling rack and a tea kettle or pot full of boiling water. Stretch the towel over the strainer, pour the water over the stain, and watch it disappear like magic in just a few seconds.
"This tip was originally passed to me by @fru_outram some years ago and has been used many times as a life saver," she captioned the video.
"It came from my mother in law, now 98 and still going strong and living independently. She's never used it to get a mincemeat stain out, (it's a British curiosity here in Norway) but there's many a red or blue fruit/berry stain been removed by this method," the OP's friend who gave her the kitchen hack replied.
How it's helping
There are few things in the world that hot water can't clean, and if you don't need anything else to fix a stain, it's even better. This hack saves time and money because you don't have to waste water and detergent doing a whole load of towels.
According to Whirlpool, older washing machines can use a whopping 40-45 gallons of water per load, whereas modern, high-efficiency machines use around 10-25 gallons. Still, that's a lot of water, especially if you're just washing a couple of towels.
Other than the colander and pot to boil the water, Nancy's tip is free, so you really can't beat it. The fact that you're saving water also helps the planet since water is becoming an even more precious resource because of worsening droughts caused by rising temperatures.
Plus, water is the most natural cleaning product out there, so you don't have to worry about toxic chemicals that can damage your health or harm the environment, all while saving money and reducing plastic waste that comes with store-bought cleaning products.
If you need to clean up messes, you can use the age-old vinegar and water combo, along with non-toxic soap, to create your own cleaning wipes. Combining vinegar and water, plus a hot iron and hydrogen peroxide, is effective in getting out red wine stains as well.
What everyone's saying
Commenters were grateful for the genius hack, and some attested to its effectiveness.
"Nancy — that's like watching a magic trick. Thank you," one commenter said.
"Works really well for red wine stains," another added.
"I love this tip — I got it from a friend who said it works with every fruit stain ever. It has never failed me!" someone else shared.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
