The Best Stain Remover For Kitchen Linens, According to a Cleaning Expert

In my home kitchen, I worry less about spilled sauces or splashes of jus coating my apron, clothes, and kitchen towels since, well, I’m in the comfort of my own home. That said, I turned around one day and noticed that every single kitchen towel was dappled with stains of various sizes and colors, and that’s not even mentioning my cloth napkins or two beloved aprons. In an effort to avoid buying new kitchen linens and salvage my pre-existing towels, napkins. Aprons, I reached out to Scott Schrader, a cleaning expert and Chief Marketing Officer at CottageCare, a home cleaning firm with over 41 locations nationwide, to see if he had any advice on the subject.

OxiClean works well on cotton and most of the washable fabrics we use for our kitchen linens.” He as well says he loves just how accessible it is, so in the event of an unexpected last-minute stain, if he’s not stocked up on the stuff, he can easily run out and grab it: “Of all the stain removers, OxiClean has potentially the widest availability. You can find it in specialty and general grocery stores, as well as online.” Okay, but how does it work?

Using enzymes, solvents, polymers, and mannanase, the solution is able to break down thicker foods, lift foods from the fabric, and dissolve and trap grease and dirt as it pulls residue away from the surface. Essentially, the stain remover is able to penetrate the fabric and pull grease, fat, and particles from the fabric by suspending them within its own solution. Schrader explains he usually follows the instructions on the bottle, but that he “sometimes finds it’s best to pre-treat the stain by applying the product directly on the stain and letting the product sit for 10-15 minutes before washing.” Allowing the solution to sit on the stain for two to three times the label’s suggested five minutes, Schrader finds, helps it tackle tougher stains.

And, “for particularly stubborn stains,” he states, “you can try adding a small amount of liquid dish soap to your pretreatments with OxiClean to help emulsify grease stains even more.” Which is exactly what I’m going to do next time I have an oil or grease stain!