Dyes and Running Colors
As there are many different kinds of dyes, no one remover will successfully take out all dye stains. In fact, it may be impossible to remove some of these stains completely. Proceed as follows:
Water and sunlight.—If the material is washable, rinse the stains in cold or lukewarm water (soak for 10 to 12 hours if necessary), wash in heavy soapsuds, and then dry in the sun. Spots on wool or silk materials sometimes come out by soaking or washing in cold water.
Bleaches.—If a stain remains, try one of the following:
Hydrosulfite.—Apply one of the hydrosulfites available at drug stores as a color remover. Follow directions on the package.
Javelle water.—For stains on uncolored linen, cotton, or rayon, dip in Javelle water for 1 minute (no longer), remove the chlorine from the cloth with a sodium thiosulfate solution, rinse well in water. (See [p. 6] for more detailed instructions.) Do not use Javelle water to remove stains from silk or wool.
Hydrogen peroxide.—For stains on any white material, add a few drops of ammonia water to hydrogen peroxide. Soak the stains until they disappear and rinse thoroughly in water. One teaspoon sodium perborate added to 1 pint hydrogen peroxide makes a good bleach, but it must be made fresh, as it soon loses its strength.
Egg
Scrape away as much of the stain as possible with a blunt knife. Then sponge with cold water. Never use hot water—heat makes egg stains harder to remove.
Pepsin.—If cold water does not remove the stain completely, sprinkle pepsin powder over the spot. Work it in well and let stand for half an hour. Rinse well.