We all have at least some kind of cotton fabric in our home. From clothes to curtains and pillow covers to bedsheets, life without cotton is unthinkable. Online sites like apparel fabric by the yard have the best collection of cotton fabric. Cotton is one of the most purchased fabrics in normal households.
However, cotton is also among the most easily stained fabrics, which raises a question – what is the best (or better yet, effective) way to remove stains from cotton fabric?
If cleaning stains from cotton fabric is your biggest headache, we’ve got you covered. Read this article to know how to clean your cotton fabric effectively.
Before diving into the cleaning details, it’s important to know how cotton is extracted and the factors that will play a big role in cleaning.
Have a look.
Cotton – the Backdrop
Generally, cotton is defined as a soft fluffy, staple fiber. When it grows, it appears as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant. Unlike wool which is gotten from the animal, cotton fabric is gotten from a plant source.
The cotton plant is common in tropical and subtropical regions like the Americas, India, and Africa. The cotton fiber is spun into yarn to make textiles that are soft and breathable. Cotton fiber is the most common these days in the textile world for making garments.
How to Remove Stains From Cotton
Different kinds of stain removers have different reactions to different kinds of fabrics. Don’t you ever forget that these fabrics have different sources and, therefore, different chemical compositions.
It is this chemical position in these various fabrics that determine how they react to stains. This same chemical composition of each of the fabrics determines how these stains can be removed. This point is one thing that makes reading the label tag of fabrics very important since it will give you first-hand information on various ways of handling these materials.
Are You Treating Cotton Fabrics With Bleach?
It is important to note that it is not advisable to treat cotton fabrics with bleach. It is never the right thing to add undiluted bleach to cotton fabrics; since chlorine, which is the principal content of bleach, negatively affects cotton. So for bleach to be used on cotton fabric for the purpose of stain removal and whitening, it should be diluted.
Even though diluted bleach can be used on cotton fabrics, care should be taken not to use it too often. Consistent use of bleach (even when diluted) on cotton weakens the fabric. This, in turn, will cause the fabric to wear out and rip off.
Pay Attention To The Container
Even the container in which the cotton fabric is washed while trying to remove the stain must be carefully considered. If the container itself is dirty with stain, it will surely not help attain the desired goal of cleaning up the cotton fabric of stains; rather, it will add pretty badly to the stain we are trying to remove.
Cotton should be treated tenderly when it is being ironed. The best temperature at which cotton fabric should be ironed should be a rather moderate temperature since a high temperature can scorch the cotton’s cellulosic fiber. This burning or scorching appears when cotton begins to burn, and this will cause irreparable damage to the fabric.
The Ideal Water Type
The water used for washing cotton fabric needs not to be too hot. This has its own negative contribution to the outcome of the fabric. Unnecessarily high temperature has a way of making the fabric shrink; this will not be good for the fabric.
Final Word
Generally, it should be well understood that cotton fabrics require mild treatment. Any unnecessarily hard treatment affects them negatively. Therefore great care should be taken to treat them with as much care and gentleness as possible.
