4 Quick Steps to Remove Mustard Stains From Your Clothes

Mustard is one of our favorite condiments. We love this classic tangy yellow spread, but it’s frustrating when it stains our favorite clothes.

Removing a fresh stain from your white shirt is frustrating, and it’s even more challenging when it hardens on your non-washable coat and tie.

Why Mustard Stains?

The mustard seeds’ natural yellow pigment causes the stains in your clothes. Sometimes, turmeric is also to blame as most commercial recipes contain yellow aromatic herb, which is widely known for its ability to dye fabrics. This makes the mustard stains hard to remove.

But with the right ingredients and proper procedure, you can quickly remove the unwanted stains.

4 Quick Steps to Remove Mustard Stains from Your Clothes

Since mustard contains a natural dye, you must remove the stains immediately.

1. Check the Care Label

This is the first thing you should do before deciding to put bleach or throw it in the washing machine.

You must be aware of the type of clothes that you will work on. Is it washable or non-washable? Is it made of cotton, silk, or wool? Once you know what they are made of and how to treat them, you can easily find the best DIY or commercial stain remover to take those nasty mustard stains from your clothes.

2. Remove the excess mustard

Before washing your clothes, you must first remove the hardened mustard stain from your favorite shirt. You might wonder why we need to do this when we can just let the magic of running water do its job.

Scraping the solid mustard stain off your clothes is necessary. This is one way of preventing the stain from affecting the other parts of the shirt. You may use a butter knife to scrape it off easily when removing the stain.

3. Use a commercial stain remover

Using a stain remover is the easiest way to fix mustard-stained clothes. However, before you put or drop a stain remover in your clothes, you must test it first if it works well with the stained shirt.

Take note. Clothes are made of different materials. Some clothes are made of cotton, polyester, nylon, and leather. These clothes have different care labels and must be treated differently. Also, you need to check if the commercial remover works well with colored or printed shirts.

Otherwise, you may end up bleaching the fabric.

4. Wash and dry your clothes

There are two ways to wash it. You can put the clothes in the washing machine directly, or you can first drop a commercial stain remover to the shirt’s affected area. The only difference is that when you drop a commercial remover to the stain, it will soften it, making it easier to remove the stain.

After removing the stain, you can wash your clothes and dry them!

What Can Remove Mustard Stains?

Some people think that mustard stains are impossible to remove but not these methods.

When performing the methods below, it is best to pair this with warm or lukewarm water when washing them.

Warm temperature best works with removing stains, but it is advisable to air-dry them when drying your clothes. The reason behind this is, if there are stains left, you can easily rewash the clothes as the stains won’t hold to the fabric right after washing.

On the other hand, your dryer’s hot temperature helps the fabric magnet the stain immediately.

Glycerine and Cotton Balls Combo

Glycerine can soften and loosen the stain from your clothes. You can try removing the mustard stain by applying glycerine for around 30 minutes to 60 minutes.

Once done applying glycerine, dab the area with wet cotton balls.

Vinegar and Dishwashing Liquid

Vinegar is known worldwide as an excellent stain remover. But do you know that vinegar can quickly remove the mustard stain when paired with a liquid detergent?

Here’s how to do the solution:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid
• 1 cup of warm water

Procedure:

1. Drench the stained part with the solution.
2. Leave the clothes soaked for at least 30 minutes.
3. Try rubbing or dabbing the stain and see if it will come off.
4. If it won’t, leave it soaked for a couple of minutes more until all the stain is removed.
5. Wash and rinse with warm water.

Hot Water and Regular Liquid Laundry Detergent

This method best works if your clothes are freshly stained.

1. Mix the liquid laundry detergent and hot water. Make sure that they are thoroughly mixed.
2. Once done, you can apply the mixture to the mustard stain.
3. Leave the clothing with the mixture on for 30 minutes to 60 minutes to soften and loosen the stain.
4. Wash the clothes after, and see if the stains come off.
5. If the stain remains, soak it for another hour or until the stain is removed.
6. Rewash the clothes and air-dry them after.

What to Avoid When Removing Mustard Stain?

The ingredients and procedures listed above are the common and efficient ways to remove mustard stains. However, you must understand that the treatments on our list do not apply to some garments like non-washable clothes. Thus, if your stained clothing is for dry cleaning, you must bring it to the cleaning professional.

Only perform the above steps if you are ready with the consequences.

How to Remove Mustard Stains from Your Non-Washable Fabric?

If you decide and opt to remove the mustard stain by yourself, you may follow these steps.

1. Remove the Excess Mustard

This is the primary step when removing a mustard stain. You always need to scrape off the excess mustard. When scraping, make sure to use a butter knife and remove most of the excess mustard on the surface.

Gently scrape your non-washable clothes to avoid damaging them.

2. Apply the Dry-Cleaning Solvent

Since we can’t apply regular solutions for removing mustard stains, we will use the best dry-cleaning stain remover for your non-washable clothes. Like our solutions above, this will help to loosen the stains.

3. Gently Scrub the Stained Area

Machine washing is not an option for non-washable garments, and rubbing them might cause damage.

Instead, you can gently scrub the stained area using a soft-bristled brush. Once done, clean the stained area by dabbing it with a cloth.

4. Re-apply the Dry-Cleaning Solvent

Continue the process until you have removed the mustard stain from the fabric.

However, if the stubborn mustard stain persists, you may need to use hydrogen peroxide, an unconventional yet effective way to remove stains, especially in white fabrics.

Is Hydrogen Peroxide Effective in Removing Mustard Stains?

Using Hydrogen Peroxide when mixed with a liquid laundry detergent becomes efficient in removing a mustard stain. Though this is not a common approach, most people use this as their last resort when the vinegar mixture fails to remove the pesky stain altogether.

When it comes to the process, all you need to do is follow the steps below.

1. Create a Mixture – To create the mixture, all you need is 2 tablespoons of Hydrogen Peroxide and 1 tablespoon of your regular laundry liquid detergent. Mix it well.
2. Soak the Stain – You need to soak the stain for an hour to ensure it comes off from the clothing. Some events soaked the stained clothes overnight.
3. Wash and Dry – Wash the clothing with warm or lukewarm water. This will also help the peroxide effectively remove the stain from the shirt. Once the fabric looks clean and stain-free after you wring it, you can spin-dry the clothes.

Only air-dry the garment if you are unsure if there is some stain that remains and you have plans to rewash it.

What Mustard Stain Remover Works Well?

If you are not comfortable doing all the steps above, you may use any of these stain removers that you can find in any grocery store.

Dawn Dishwashing Soap

This dish soap is one of the favorites, as it is already proven and tested that can remove mustard stains. However, you may need to soak the stained cloth longer since its ingredients are lighter than a stain remover.

Also, the Dawn Dishwashing Soap may not work well with a hardened mustard stain.

Super Washing Soda

Although not commonly mentioned in most online articles, this is one of the best stain removers. Advertising with a tagline that says “gets out stubborn mustard stains.”, the Super Washing Soda can do 75% of the job.

You need to follow the instructions in the package and soak the fabric overnight. On the following day, you may wash and wring the fabric. But if you see still stains, you may need to soak them longer.

Summary 

Removing the mustard stain may be difficult. But not if you know your clothes’ material, care label, and how to remove the stain. Thus, do not panic if your favorite shirt or dress gets stained with mustard.

Just check your kitchen for some vinegar and dishwashing soap.