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Inside: Trying to remove tomato sauce stains may seem impossible, but there are easy ways to remove tomato sauce stains from carpets, clothes, and plastic. Find out exactly what you need to do to remove tomato sauce stains.
It’s Friday night. You and the family are ready for family pizza night. You grab the pizza and paper plates and head to the living room where the kids and husband are huddled on the couch ready to binge-watch Netflix.
That’s how Friday family pizza night is supposed to be, but tonight things didn’t go as planned.
On your way into the living room, you trip over the dog who strategically placed himself in your path. As you stumble to the ground your reflexes deem to protect you from falling face-first onto the floor. Your hands are now free and fully extended, and the palms of your hands make contact with the carpet, causing rug burn on your kneecaps from the friction of the fall.
Your family stares at you in disbelief at what happened. Their eyes flicker from you to the floor, back to you then the floor. You realize at that moment, that the pizza’s lying pepperoni side down on your carpet and it’s being dragged away in pieces by the dog.
Was this a plot by the dog? Only he knows for sure.
How to remove tomato stains from carpet
Aside from dog puke, one of the most difficult stains to get out of the carpet is tomato sauce. After years of hounding my father and brother, who owned and operated a carpet cleaning business for over 20 years, they finally gave me the secrets for removing tomato sauce stains from carpets.
Mind you, they didn’t give this up willingly. They were pretty much tired of coming to my house to remove the stains.
Do this before you even attempt to remove the tomato sauce stain on your carpet
The most important thing you need to do before attempting to lift any type of stain out of your carpet is to never rub.
When it comes to removing tough stains from carpets, human nature tells us to rub the stain. This is the one thing you won’t want to do.
Repeat after me. Rubbing is bad.
The key to stain removal is to ensure you’ll be lifting the stain and not rubbing it into the fibers. Once the stain is impregnated into the fibers of the carpet, the stains will be almost impossible to remove.
Sure you can call in the professional carpet cleaners, but once the carpet has thoroughly dried, the stain will come back.
The key to removing tomato sauce stains from the carpet
The key is to always use something white to blot the stains. The reasoning behind this is, that you don’t want the color from the fabric to bleed into the carpet. That would make matters worse.
Step 1. Using aclean white paper towel, dish towel, or rag, blot thestainto absorb any remaining liquid ortomato sauceresidue.
Step 2: Mix 1 cup baking soda with 1/2 cup cold water to form a thick paste. Dab the paste onto the carpet, until the stain is covered. You’ll want it to form a thick layer.
Let sit for 2 hours or until the paste dries, then vacuum.
If the stain isn’t fully gone, proceed to step 3.
Step 3: Mix 2 cold cups of water with 1 tablespoon of liquid dish detergent. Dawn works the best, but if you have something else, use it. You’ll want to avoid any dish soap that contains moisturizer.
Step 4: Soak aclean white rag in this solution and blot the stained area. Rinse thecarpetwith cold water and pat dry witha cleantowel.
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How to remove tomato sauce stains from plastic containers
Over the years, I can’t tell you how many plastic containers I’ve soiled with homemade tomato sauce. It never really bothered me that much, but it started to embarrass my boys when I would pack them a sandwich in tomato sauce-covered Tupperware. Over the years, I’ve struggled with how to get rid of the stains. Throwing out the containers wasn’t an option although believe me I was tempted.
Baking soda paste
The best way to remove tomato sauce stains from a plastic container is to make a thick paste of baking soda and water. Depending on the size of the container, you’ll want to start with 1/4 cup baking soda to 1/2 cup water.
Once you’ve mixed them, scrub the bottoms and sides of the container. Let it sit for 30 to 45 minutes, then rinse with water.
If it’s still slightly stained, you can add a drop or two of household bleach with water and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Bleach
Bleach is the wonder cleaner and one that typically works the quickest to remove all types of stains.
To remove tomato sauce stains from plastic containers using bleach, you’ll want to add one tablespoon of bleach per cup of water.
Let the container soak for 20 minutes to a half-hour. Rinse with warm soapy water.
Vinegar
What doesn’t vinegar clean? White distilled vinegar works the same as household bleach to remove tomato sauce stains on the plastic.
You’ll also want to use 1 tablespoon per cup of water; however, with vinegar and water, your plastic container will need to soak for an hour or so. When done, rinse with warm soapy water.
Denture Tablets
Denture tablets are made to remove stains, and this works amazingly well when it comes to removing tomato sauce stains out of plastic.
Fill your container with water, pop in 1 packet of tablets, and walk away. Although they work well, most times they’ll take up to 6 hours to pick away at the stain.
It’s best to leave it in the container overnight and rinse it out the next morning.
I will say, Efferdent, works way better than Polident. No idea why, but it just does.
Rubbing alcohol
When I first learned of using rubbing alcohol to remove tomato sauce stains from plastic, I didn’t think this was true, but it honestly works. Of course, I would use it as a last resort, since using rubbing alcohol should be used for more important matters.
If you don’t have any of the above-mentioned items available, then go for it!
The key to using rubbing alcohol to remove tomato stains is to allow the plastic container to soak in the alcohol for 10 minutes. Depending on the size and depth of the plastic container, it may be more efficient to drench paper towels in rubbing alcohol and put the paper towels in the container. You’ll want to make sure all areas that are stained are covered.
After soaking for 10 minutes, wash with warm soapy water.
How to remove tomato sauce stains from clothes
Peachy Stain Removal Tip!
Always run cold water through the back of the stain. This forces the stain back out through the fabric. If you run the water through the front of the stain, it will impregnate the stain into the fibers making it virtually impossible to remove.
Step 1. Scrap off as much of the excess tomato sauce as possible from the fabric. Using a napkin to wipe it off may only spread the tomato sauce.
Step 2: Avoid using pre-treatment sticks, gels, or brushes. They do more harm than good. Pour liquid laundry detergent into the stained portion of the fabric. In a gentle fashion using a circular motion rub the laundry detergent onto the stained area.
Step 3: Wash normally with detergent. If the garment is white, you can add some bleach to the wash.
Step 4: Before putting the garment in the dryer or hanging it out to dry, you’ll want to double-check the stain to make sure it’s out. If you dry the garment and the stain’s still present; it’s never coming out.
Step 5: If it’s still stained, repeat steps 1 through 4.
While there’s never any guarantee all tomato sauce stains will come out regardless of how they’re treated, and how quickly they’re tended to. Hopefully, this will have given you an idea of how to tackle those stains.
Now, I wish I could tell you what to do with that sneaky dog of yours, but I’ll give him credit. He’s one pretty smart cookie. Maybe you can train him to vacuum.
Have you been successful in removing tomato sauce stains using any other methods?
What methods have you used to remove tomato sauce stains? Share with a comment.
Stay Peachy!
