Clothing manufacturers are quick to sew “Dry clean only” labels into their creations, but is this always necessary?  Apparently not.  I’m not suggesting that you bung your precious threads into the washing machine.  Not at all.  But some “dry clean only” garments can safely have their stains removed and be hand-washed at home.  Saving a LOAD of money in the process.  Oh, and by the way, it’s way greener not to dry clean too.

Here are some tried and tested methods for getting stains out:

1. Cold Water

Top tip here.  Before you try anything else, try a little cold water.  Cotton wool and water, worked gently from the outside to the inside of the stain, on top of a folded towel.  The sooner you do this the better, and it won’t work on all stains, but it’s a good first port of call.

2.  To remove butter stains

Sprinkle on Fullers Earth, leave for an hour, then brush off well.

3.  To remove curry stains

Sponge with white vinegar (distilled) or a 50:50 lemon juice/water solution.  Then sponge with cold water.

4. To remove grass stains

To remove grass stains for wool or silk garments, dab with brandy on cotton wool (to save on the brandy, first soak cotton wool in water and squeeze out before applying brandy).

5. For washable fabrics

If you’re going to be putting your garment into the washing machine, E:Stain is an eco-friendly way of removing the stain.

Or if you decide that you’ll have to take your item of clothing to the cleaners, make sure that you take it to the green cleaners.