Stain Solver Cleaning Tips

If there was one room in your house that takes up an outsize portion of your cleaning energy, it’s probably the bathroom. For a room that’s dedicated to keeping you clean, it can sure get dirty! One common (and unsightly) issue that can arise in a bathroom is toilet stains, especially yellow toilet bowl stains. These pesky stains can resist the efforts of traditional toilet bowl cleaners, and leave you scratching your head while you try to keep your toilet clean. Luckily, Stain Solver has you covered. We’ll go through the causes of these yellow stains, and how you can use Stain Solver to easily remove them. Let’s get started! What causes yellow stains in toilet bowl? There are a few things that might cause a yellow stain on your toilet bowl, but it’s actually very unlikely that urine is one of them. Urine Stains might cause issues on clothing or other fabrics, but they’re unilkely to get left behind on your toilet, despite how similar in color they are to the stubborn stains that you may be seeing on your toilet bowl. The yellow staining that you’re noticing is likely something else! In fact, one of the most common causes of yellow stains in a toilet bowl is hard water. Hard water contains high concentrations of minerals such as calcium and magnesium, which can accumulate in pipes and fixtures over time. When these minerals are present in the water, they can leave a yellowish residue behind on the surface of the toilet bowl. Another cause of yellow stains is iron deposits, which can occur naturally in well water or because of corrosive metals or plumbing materials that have begun to break down over time. When these deposits accumulate, they can leave behind a yellow hue on the surface of the toilet bowl. In some cases, this hue may be a sign that bacteria are growing inside your pipes as well. Finally, yellow stains in toilets may be caused by mold and mildew accumulation beneath the rim or underneath the surface around seals and joints due to moisture build-up from frequent flushing. The growth of mold and mildew can contribute to an accumulation of yellow film on your toilets surfaces. Okay, now that we know why these yellow stains occur, we can figure out how to get rid of them! How To Remove Yellow Stains From your Toilet Bowl Luckily, with Stain Solver it’s not very difficult to remove yellow stains from your toilet bowl. All it takes is a little bit of patience, and a very nominal amount of elbow grease. Follow these steps and you’ll have a clean toilet bowl in no time! All you need is some Stain Solver and a toilet brush. Here’s what a toilet bowl in our basement looked like previously: Not a pleasant sight! These hard water stains were well stuck on there, and our normal cleaning routine didn’t get rid of them. Step-By-Step Process To Remove Toilet Bowl Stains Here’s the cleaning method we used to remove the stubborn toilet bowl stains. Fill the Entire Toilet Bowl with Stain Solver Powder We used around a cup of Stain Solver and found that it yielded excellent results, but you could use more if you felt so inclined. Once you see the bubbles forming in the toilet water, you know that the chemical reaction has been initiated, and that Stain Solver is working to clean the stained areas! Be Patient! Now you simply have to hang tight and let the Stain Solver do its work. We let the solution sit for three hours, but leaving it up to six hours will further reduce the effort you have to expend to remove the yellow stain. Use a Scrub Brush to Finish The Job Once the Stain Solver has had a chance to loose all of the hard water stains and other ickiness on the toilet bowl, you just have to give it the final push it needs to make the stains disappear.   A quick scrub with a stiff bristled toilet brush should remove all of the stains, and get your toilet back to tip top shape. Here’s what our toilet looked like after all the stains were gone: To remove the stains from the toilet rim we would use a spray bottle to apply the Stain Solver solution to that part of the toilet. Other Considerations For Cleaning Toilet Bowls We’ve found that this is the best way to remove yellow stains from toilet bowls, but there are still some things to be aware of. First, if you have brown or red stains in your toilet bowl, they’re likely the result of rust stains, which is not something that Stain Solver is good at getting rid of. In this case we recommend muriatic acid. But this is a MUCH more dangerous chemical than Stain Solver is, and it’s critical to use PPE like rubber gloves when dealing with that sort of cleaning product. If you’re regularly seeing this sort of staining it could mean that you have very hard water, or even pipe corrosion. If this is the case, we recommend talking to a qualified plumber to see if they can help you get your plumbing fixtures up to snuff. Finally, regularly cleaning your toilet properly is the best way to avoid this kind of buildup, so make using Stain Solver on your bathroom surfaces a regular part of your routine. Final Thoughts Stain Solver is an excellent toilet bowl cleaner, and can be use to whiten surfaces all over your bathroom, and elsewhere in your home as well. Check out our full library of cleaning tips to see how it can help to amplify your best cleaning efforts and make your whole home sparkling clean!  

Red wine stands at the top of the mountain when it comes to notoriety. Not only is difficult to get out, it always seems to find its way onto the white fabrics in our lives! Well have no fear, Stain Solver is your silver bullet when it comes to getting rid of your toughest red wine Stains. In this article we have a video about how to get red wine stains out of napkins, and a case study for how to remove them from a white shirt.

It’s Joe from Stain Solver here, and I’ve got a story for you… one that’s important if you wash your dishes in a dishwasher. I moved into a new apartment recently, and was on the lookout for places where I could use Stain Solver to keep things sparkling. One of the places that I knew food debris and grime could get trapped was in the filter of dishwashers, so I went to check it out. It was so much worse than I thought it would be. Brace yourselves… I was horrified! The plates, pans, silverware, and glasses that I eat off of go through that dishwasher, and who knows what kind of germs were growing in there. It was a hardened mass of food particles, dirt, hair, detergent residue, a banana sticker, and who knows what else. Be glad that the geniuses over in silicon valley haven’t figured out how send smells over the internet because it was… not nice. Luckily, here at Stain Solver we figured out the best way to clean your dishwasher filters, so you’ll never need to worry about food bits, calcium deposits, unpleasant odors, or other grossness lurking in your dishwasher. So without further ado, let’s talk about how to clean your dishwasher filter with Stain Solver.   Do Dishwashers Have Filters That Need To Be Cleaned? As you can see from the above photos the answer to this question is a resounding YES! Dishwasher filters are a critical part of the appliance, and are what makes it possible for it to get rid of the left over bits of food that stay on plates when they go in the dishwasher. Just like any other part of your home, a little bit of maintenance goes a long way, and staying on top of keeping your dishwasher filter clean can help you avoid a situation like the one that I encountered with a truly disgusting filter that I had to clean. A Telltale Sign Your Dishwasher Filter Needs Cleaning Luckily, you’ll get a big clue that it’s time for a cleaning. It’s pretty obvious when your newly cleaned dishes aren’t getting as clean as they used to. If your glasses are starting to look cloudy, or food debris isn’t coming off of plates, it might be time clean the filter. The filter is a big part of how your dishwasher cleans your dishes, and if it’s not cleaned properly it can impede the ability of the machine to clean dishes. Why Is It Important To Clean Your Dishwasher Filter? It’s important to clean your dishwasher filter for a few reasons, but the most important one is cleanliness and safety. The warm, moist environment full of food particles that a dirty filter creates is the ideal breeding ground for bacteria and mold. Not the kind of things you want near plates and glasses you eat and drink from. Outside of the health concerns, we’ve already mentionde how a clogged filter can seriously impede the cleaning ability of your dishwasher. If your dishes aren’t coming out as clean as they used to, a dirty filter could be to blame. Finally, a dirty filter can small BAD! If there’s a nasty odor coming from your dishwasher, a gross filter might be the cause. How do I know what kind of dishwasher filter I have? Dishwashers will have one of two kinds of filters in them, a self-cleaning filter, or a manual filter. Older dishwashers (those made before 2010) will have the self-cleaning variety. There is one pretty important caveat here, as the self cleaning filters don’t really do that good of a job of cleaning! The dishwasher that held the mess you saw above was a self cleaning one, so even if that’s the kind you own, you should still clean your dishwasher filter. Newer models will have manual filters that are explicitly designed to be taken out and cleaned. Manual filters require cleaning on a regular basis to keep your dishwasher working at top capacity, it’s just a part of the routine maintenance of those appliances. If you’re not sure what kind of filter your dishwasher uses, a quick google search or perusal of the owner’s manual should be able to help you find out. Finding and Accessing The Dishwasher Filter For self-cleaning models you’ll have to remove the spray arms in order to get to the filter. Here is where I located mine: In newer models with manual filters you should be able to see it at the bottom of the dishwasher when you pull the lower dish rack out. Take the filter out of the dishwasher (in some older models you’ll have to remove the center part from the circular plastic grid that surrounds it) and get ready to clean! How to Clean Your Dishwasher Filter Now for the fun part, the cleaning! When I first pulled the filter out I tried to take a sponge to the outside of it and break up some of that dense junk on the inside with dish soap, but to no avail. This is where Stain Solver came to the rescue. Step-By-Step Instructions to Clean a Dishwasher Filter Here’s how I used Stain Solver to give my dishwasher filter a thorough cleaning. Filled up a large bowl with hot water and added a half cup of Stain Solver, and stirred until completely dissolved. Removed the center portion of the flat filter from the apron and submerged it in the Stain Solver solution. Let sit for an hour, then removed from the solution. If your filter isn’t as gross as mine was this might be all that you need to do, but this first soak was enough to get the gunk loosened, but not removed. Here’s what I did next. Used a sponge, hot soapy water, and the end of a fork to dislodge some of the debris from the center of the filter. I also was able to use a soft bristle brush (you could probably use an old toothbrush if you’d like) to start to remove some of the gunk stuck on the outside. Avoid using a wire brush here as it could damage the filter. Poured out the old Stain Solver solution and made up a fresh bowl, and put the filter into the new solution. Periodically rinsed the filter with warm water as new debris got dislodged, until all of the gunk and foreign objects were gone. Used a sponge with dish soap to gently scrub the remaining bits of gunk off (sometimes a little elbow grease goes a long way!) and then rinsed with warm water. The Results It’s a few more steps than some folks might like to take, but once you see the results I think you’ll agree it was worth it! Check out how clean the filter looks: It looks like a brand new filter! I’ve noticed a serious difference in the cleaning performance of my dishwasher as well. More Dishwasher Cleaning Tips While this article focuses on a deep clean of your dishwasher filter, there are some other things that you can do to ensure that you don’t have to do this sort of manual cleaning as often. Scrape food left over off of your plates before you put them in the dishwasher. This helps avoid the kind of buildup that you saw in my filter! Extra points if you rinse your dirty dishes completely! It takes just a few minutes, but can really make a big difference in getting your dishes clean and and keeping your dishwasher running at its best! We might sound like a broken record, but rinse your dishwasher filter often! A little bit of effort every few weeks helps you avoid a big job like the one I had. Give your dishwasher a vinegar bath! Fill a bowl up with distilled white vinegar and place it on the top rack of your dishwasher, then run a wash cycle using hot water. Final Thoughts We hope that this helped you figure out how to clean the filter on your dishwasher, or maybe just inspired you to take a look under the hood and make sure there wasn’t a gross mess lurking there!

WARNING: This article is kind of gross! We’re not going to sugarcoat it, this is one of our least pleasant cleaning tips, but if you need to get rid of dog vomit stains, this is the article for you. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into this Stain Solver guide to cleaning dog vomit. All pet owners know the joy that a dog can bring into your life, but they can also bring some pretty unpleasant messes too. One of the worst parts of having a beloved pup is when they throw up on your rug! Cleaning up this mess can be an odious task, but thankfully with the right tools and products, you can make the job easier. Let's talk about how to remove pet puke stains efficiently, restore your rug to its former glory and keep your pup safe in the process. In this blog post, we will walk you through a step-by-step guide for using Stain Solver to clean up pet messes on rugs and carpet without having to call a professional carpet cleaner, saving you tons of money! Why Do Dogs Get Sick? If you wake up one morning to pet vomit on your carpet your first concern is probably for your dogs health! Here at Stain Solver we’re cleaning experts, and not canine health experts, so we’ll refer you to this page from the American Kennel Club for more information on how to keep your pooch in good health. Once you’ve made sure that your beloved pup is okay we can turn our attention to cleaning up the stained area. What to Do When Your Pet Gets Sick! Before we go into our step-by-step process we want to go over a few general best practices for cleaning up pet stains. Act Quickly! Acting quickly to remove dog puke stains is super important. Just like any other stain, the longer that you let pet vomit sit on the carpet, the more difficult it will be to remove. We recommend that you hold your nose and try to get the vomit out of carpet or rugs as quickly as possible. Cleaning fresh vomit is going to be a lot easier than waiting until it’s become a set in dried vomit stain. But if you’ve been putting off this unpleasant job for a little while, you don’t need to give up hope! It’s still possible to save your rug. Remove Fresh Vomit First We told you this article was going to be gross! You’ve got to make sure that you get as much of the icky solids and excess liquid off of the carpet as possible before you start the process below. Use a paper towel or a old towel you don’t mind throwing out to remove fresh vomit from the carpet. We also recommend that you wear gloves, but that’s a personal choice. Why Are Dog Puke Stains So Hard to Get Out? Dog puke stains can be difficult to remove due to the acidic nature of their vomit. The acidity can cause the stain to set in quickly and bind to carpet fibers, making it hard to get out without damaging the material. Additionally, dog puke often contains food particles which further compound the problem by creating a stubborn, sticky mess. Proper cleaning techniques and products are key to successfully removing these stains. How To Use Stain Solver as a Dog Vomit Carpet Cleaner Luckily, Stain Solver is the perfect cleaning tool for these kind of unpleasant messes. We’ll show you the step-by-step process to remove vomit from carpet and make your rug or carpet look like new. Here at Stain Solver world headquarters we dealt with this very same problem recently, and we’re going to show you exactly how we got some great results removing vomit from carpet. We’ve included a picture of the culprit, Tucker, when he’s being majestic and doesn’t have an upset stomach: But this is what he did to the rug in the middle of our living room: Not the prettiest sight, and it had some unpleasant odors associated with it as well. Luckily it was pretty easy to get rid of this vomit stain. Step-By-Step Instructions Materials Here is what you’ll need in order to clean vomit off your rug. Stain Solver Hot water Paper Towels A soft bristled scrub brush. Optional materials: A spray bottle Dish Soap Now that you’ve got all of the stuff you’ll need, it’s time get cleaning! Note: Stain Solver is safe to use on most fabrics, but can be damaging to wool or silk. We recommend conducting a spot test in an inconspicuous location to ensure that no discoloration occurs. Prepare The Stain Solver Solution First you’ll need to prepare the cleaning solution. For jobs like this you’ll want between a half-gallon and a gallon of water, so you’d mix a ½ cup to a cup respectively. Consult this chart for information on how to scale this if you want to use less or more water. Mix the Stain Solver powder and hot water together, and stir until completely dissolved. Apply The Stain Solver on the Affected Area Pour the solution onto the stained area, and let it soak. You’ll quickly start to see the stains lift from the carpet fibers, as Stain Solver does its work. This is where you can use a spray bottle if you see fit, though we gently poured from a cleaning bucket like this one and found it to work well. Lightly Scrub and Reapply as Needed We’ve found that for this type of job it often works best if you reapply the solution a few times over the course of a few hours to see the best results. What we found was that we’d see a lot of the dried vomit and stubborn stains rise to the top, but just kind of hang out there. When this happened we would take some dish soap and a soft scrub brush and lightly brush the stained area, removing the vomit stain more effectively. After a light scrub we re-applied some more Stain Solver and found that it took care of all the vomit stains very effectively. Rinse and Dry Once you’ve gotten all of the stains out of your carpet, we recommend rinsing with cold water and letting it dry out. Once that’s done, your carpet should be looking good as new! Check out the results that we got using this exact method! Why Is Stain Solver Such an effective solution for Cleaning Vomit? You might be wondering how exactly Stain Solver is so danged good at removing pet stains, and if there’s anything in it that could harm you or your pup. The secret to Stain Solver’s cleaning power lies in a safe chemical reaction that occurs when it’s mixed with water. The active ingredient in Stain Solver, sodium percarbonate, turns into hydrogen peroxide, a common household chemical you probably have in your medicine cabinet right now! Hydrogen peroxide “decomposes” (which is just a fancy chemistry word for turns into) into water and oxygen over time. Because of this Satin Solver is safe to use around pets, plants, and children, much safer than many commercial carpet cleaners which use harsh chemicals for their cleaning. Final Thoughts There you have it! Stain Solver is the best way to clean dog vomit, but works well on all kinds of pet stains, from cat vomit to all sorts of other spills, Stain Solver will make it easy to clean up all your toughest messes, without the need to call a professional carpet cleaner.

It's happened to us all; the dreaded coffee stain. If you're the kind of person who needs a cup of coffee in the morning (like us here at Stain Solver) then you've likely spilled at least one cup of coffee all over yourself, your carpet, or your dog. While we can't help you get coffee stains out of your dog (seriously... don't use Stain Solver on a dog) we can definitely help you get rid of your toughest coffee stains on all of your favorite clothes. Yep, even dried coffee stains that have been there for years. Yep, even on colored fabrics. Yep, even that white sweater that you LOVE but you dumped an entire mug on that one morning. Let's get started on our Stain Solver guide to coffee stain removal. Why Are Coffee Stains So Hard To Remove? Let's start with a quick discussion of why it's so danged difficult to remove coffee stains in the first place. It all comes down to something called tannins. Tannins are the compounds in coffee that give it its dark color, which is beautiful to look at in a mug, but not so nice to look at when you spill coffee on yourself! These kinds of compounds are present in notorious stainers like red wine, which Stain Solver also happens to be excellent at cleaning! These tannins, along with the lipids (or fats) in coffee are what causes the coffee stains to be so persistent. It begs the question... Can Coffee Stains Be Removed? Luckily, the answer is a resounding yes! While a standard laundry detergent or the leading stain remover (we won't name any names...) might not be able to take care of your toughest coffee stains, Stain Solver is up to the task. Step-By-Step Process for Coffee Stain Removal Now that we've talked about why it's difficult to clean coffee stains, we'll go over a step by step process for removing coffee stains, and show you what kind of results you can expect when using Stain Solver to clean up after your coffee spills. A Coffee Stained White Sweater Before Check out this white sweater that was badly stained. This is what we'll be using as our case study today. Check out that big ugly coffee stain right in the middle of it! This stain had been dried for over a week too, and was firmly stuck in there. Some people might assume that this sweater has seen its last days, but not us! Let's show you how to remove coffee stains. What You'll Need to Remove Coffee Stains One of the best parts about this project is that all you'll need is Stain Solver, hot water, and a sink! Step 1: Prepare the Stain Solver solution Fill up a sink or large basin with HOT water, then add a cup of Stain Solver powder. Stir until completely dissolved. Note: you can use warm or cold water, but it will slow the dissolution process substantially. Use hot water if at all possible. Step 2: Soak The Garment This is the easy part! Simply put the stained garment in the solution and let it sit for two to three hours. This is even on the safe side, and if the garment has a fresh stain, or one that isn't very pronounced it could take even less time. Step 3: Wash and Dry as Normal After soaking for an hour, you can take your garment from the cleaning solution and gently rinse it with warm water. After you've done that, you can put it through the wash using whatever is your preferred laundry detergent. The Big Reveal Three easy steps to remove coffee stains from your clothes! Now, are you ready to see the difference that Stain Solver made on these dried coffee stains? Boom! The stain is gone! And not like kind-of-sort-of-you-can-hardly-see-it gone, gone gone! Additional Tips For Removing Coffee Stains Now that we have looked at how to use Stain Solver to clean set in stains, let's discuss a few more tips that we've found to be useful in our quest to find the absolute best ways to remove coffee stains. Act Fast! While Stain Solver is great at getting rid of even really old coffee stains, there's no doubt that coffee stains come out much easier when you tackle them right after spilling coffee. If you act quickly you likely won't need a full soak to remove the stain, just mix one quart warm water with one quarter cup of Stain Solver and apply to the stained area. You can use a wet cloth to apply the solution, or simply pour it on. Be Patient! Allow plenty of time for the solution to work its magic before washing and drying as normal. If you take your garment out and some stain remains, don't fret, it's just a matter of time! Make yourself (another) cup of coffee, pick out a good book, and let it sit for a little while longer. Before you know it you'll take it our and viola! The stain is gone. Some Important Fabric Safety Notes Stain Solver is incredible at removing a coffee stain from synthetic and cotton fabrics, but you SHOULD NOT use it on silk or wool. It can seriously damage these fabrics, and we don't want that! If you're trying to clean stains from wool or silk, we reccomend either taking it to a dry cleaner, who will have specialized tools and equipment, or using a very mild liquid laundry detergent specifically made for those kinds of fabrics, such as Woolite. Why Is Stain Solver So Good at Removing Coffee Stains? You might be wondering why Stain Solver is such an effective stain remover, and we don't blame you! Luckily there is no hocus pocus, and no magic in what makes our product so effective, just science! It all comes down to the use of our active ingredient, sodium percarbonate. The Power of Peroxide When you mix Stain Solver powder with water, a safe and natural chemical reaction occurs, leading the percarbonate to become hydrogen peroxide, yep, the same hydrogen peroxide as you probably have in your medicine cabinet right now! When that peroxide is created, the oxygen bubbles are what lifts the stains from the clothing, allowing you to safely and effectively remove coffee stains. Even better, it's safe to use on colored fabrics as well as whites, unlike traditional chlorine bleach. Stain Solver can help you restore all kinds of stained fabrics, not just coffee! Check out some of our other cleaning tips for more advice and inspiration. No matter what kind of stain you're trying to solve, we've got you covered. Final Thoughts! Well, there you have it! We hope that you've found this guide useful, and that its given you some insight into the best way to use Stain Solver in conjunction with your regular liquid laundry detergent to solve even your most persistent coffee stains. Stain Solver is the best way to get coffee stains out of your favorite clothes, whether they're made of cotton or synthetic fabrics. The next time that you have a coffee spill, don't freak out! Just reach for Stain Solver and watch as it removes the coffee stain quickly and easily.

If you're lucky enough to have bluestone on your property - whether it's a walkway, patio, or other feature - you know that it's a beautiful and durable material. But like any stone, bluestone can get dirty over time. In this blog post we'll go over how you can clean even the most stubborn stains from your bluestone patio and landscaping features using Stain Solver, a safe and effective natural cleaner. We'll talk about what bluestone is, why you should clean it regularly, how to use Stain Solver on your bluestone, and why Stain Solver is such an effective blue stone cleaner. Let's jump into our guide on cleaning bluestone!