Remove Pesky Grass Stains From Your Clothes With Simple Ingredients

There's nothing like spending time in the great outdoors, whether it be playing with your pets or a picnic at the park, but it can come with a big downside: pesky stains that find their way onto your clothing. Dirt, mud, and even seawater can stain fabric, but perhaps nothing is as panic-inducing as finding grass stains on a favorite outfit. Grass stains are one of the toughest stains to remove. 

As a senior scientist at Tide, Jennifer Ahoni, explained to Reader's Digest, "Grass causes stains and can be difficult to remove because the grass is rich in chlorophyll, the dye that gives grass its green color. That chlorophyll can also act as a dye to fabric."

You should treat a grass stain quickly to prevent it from setting into your clothing fibers permanently. Products like Tide pens and OxiClean are popular, but often require a trip to the store, which will give that stain more time to set in. Fortunately, there are convenient and simple ingredients you probably already have in your house that can remove grass stains from your clothing quickly and effectively.

Grass stains can be treated with many everyday ingredients. Style and fashion blogger Caroline Topperman told First For Women she recommends using white vinegar to remove grass stains from clothing. Topperman recommends three steps that include soaking the stain for 15 minutes in a mixture of water and white vinegar, using a white rag to gently pat in and around the stain, and finally washing the clothing with an enzyme-based laundry detergent. According to Annie Quigley at Food52, out of multiple simple ingredients trials, vinegar was the most effective. Quigley said, "Once I was done laundering, the test cloth was bright white again—no sign of green or yellow at all."

Utopia recommends using lemon juice for grass stain removal because of its natural bleaching power. The first step is to squeeze lemon juice over the stain and allow it to soak into the fabric for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, wash the clothing item using the highest temperature setting on the washing machine. This everyday ingredient is cheap, convenient, and effective. 

Removing grass stains from white clothes right away can be a whole other monster. Hydrogen peroxide is a simple ingredient most people have around their home and it is best used on white clothing because its strength can ruin colored clothing by removing the dye from the fabric. Hydrogen peroxide often can combine with a few other simple ingredients to work its magic. Maytag recommends mixing hydrogen peroxide with baking soda or dish soap and applying it to the stain for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, you should use a clean rag to scrub the stained area and then rinse the peroxide and baking soda mix off of the garment with water.

Ingredients Matter Clean recommends using some natural simple ingredients such as salt and lemon because they are safer for your clothes and skin. These are essential cleaning products that everyone should have on hand in order to be prepared for anything. These simple ingredient stain removers are all versatile and can be effective for different types of stains, as well as being less expensive than chemical-based cleaning products. 

Grass stains can be tough, but with the right simple ingredients, you don't have to be afraid to spend time outside in fear of those pesky grass stains.