DIY recipe removes stubborn stains
I never could wear white without collecting stains. Back in the ’80s when white pants were in style (for some unknown reason), I tried to look cool and ended up looking like a dalmatian from the waist down.
But when it comes to fishing, some of my favorite shirts are white — especially when the summer sun is beating down. And it’s almost a guarantee that some inconsiderate fish will bleed all over me.
Or I’ll get grease all over me simply by disconnecting the boat from the trailer. Or by simply hitching the trailer up before even leaving the house.
Yep, I’m the Pig-Pen of the fishing world, so I often fish with shirts that look like a trash bin exploded on me. However, I recently walked into the house complaining that I had once again stained a perfectly good fishing shirt by simply walking past my boat trailer — I honestly don’t know what I touched —and my wife came to the rescue.
“Try this new grease remover I found on Pinterest,” she said.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know: I could lose my man card for even considering anything found on Pinterest, but being as this was one of my favorite shirts, I decided to swallow my pride.
The first application and wash removed almost all of the stain. After a couple of cycles through the wash, the grease stain was gone.
Here’s the magic formula:
• 2 parts hydrogen peroxide
• 1 part classic Dawn liquid dish soap (you know, the good old blue stuff)
• 1 part baking powder
Pinterest lists a sample recipe as including 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide, half a cup of Dawn and half a cup of baking soda.
Mix these and then use a toothbrush to scrub the stain before tossing the shirt into the washer.
I let my shirt sit for about 10 minutes to let the mixture really soak into the stain.
One caution from my wife: Be careful on dark colors, as the hydrogen peroxide could cause fading if left too long.
The only problem is that I had to admit to my wife that Pinterest isn’t a complete waste of time.
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