Stains happen – it doesn’t matter how careful you are or how many times you tell your children only to eat and drink at the dinner table. Your main focus should be how to remove stains, rather than how to avoid them from happening. After all, even the most cautious of people can have an accident – it’s what makes us human. Although you may initially be worried about the appearance of a stain, the good news is that the majority of them can easily be removed with simple household products. Here is a list of some common stains that can occur around the home and ways in which you can easily remove them. 

Rust removal from tiles

Over time, you may find that rust builds up on your ceramic tiles. This can be removed easily and cheaply with a combination of lemon juice and washing up liquid. Mix a few drops of washing up liquid with some lemon juice. Cut up a piece of cloth into small strips and place into the mixture until coated. Apply these mixture soaked cloth strips to the rusted tiles and leave for a couple of hours. You should find that the rust will easily wipe off. Remember to rinse with water afterwards as the build-up of product can lead to rust forming. 

Wipe clean wooden chopping boards

When you’re cutting up various types of fruit and veg, it is all too easy for some of the tannins in the food to stain the chopping board. While it is easy to replace a cheap plastic board, wooden chopping boards are more costly. The good news is, you can easily remove these stains and your chopping board will look as good as new. Use a stiff cleaning brush and hot water to thoroughly remove leftover food. Rub a handful of salt onto the stain and soak with the juice of a lemon. Leave for a few minutes and wash off with soapy water. 

Stained suede remover

If you have a suede sofa that falls victim to a spillage, don’t panic. It doesn’t matter whether it is blackcurrant juice or red wine that is the culprit, white vinegar will fix it up in no time. There’s no need to dilute it either – simply pour a small amount of the liquid onto the stain, wait a few minutes and wipe clean with a damp cloth. 

Banishing blood stains

It is perfectly normal to experience the odd nose bleed during your life. If you manage to drip blood all over your mum’s white carpet however, you’ll need to act fast. Blood is notorious for being difficult to remove so the quicker you work on the removal, the better. Rather than applying hot water to the area, you should use cold water to remove blood to stop it from being absorbed by the carpet fibres. Mix together two teaspoons of washing up liquid into a bottle of cold water. Spray the solution onto the stain – make sure you really submerge the blood stain. Using a paper towel or a dry tea towel, carefully blot the carpet. The blood should transfer from the carpet to the cloth. 

Do you have any secret tips for removing household stains easily?

This guest blog was contributed by Lesley Sampson a freelance blogger who is dedicated to bringing you the best home cleaning tips on behalf of chemdry.

Image credit: Stephani Spitzer on Flickr