When I was a little kid our neighborhood road would get tarred in the summer.  During the heat, there would be a zillion tar bubbles just waiting to be popped.  I could hardly wait to get out in the morning to play, but the rule was to wait until 10am to go outside.   It was extremely stressful for a kid to have to wait until 10am, especially when your best friend/neighbor was allowed out at 9am and just as excited to get started popping the bubbles.  Needless to say, this was some of my first encounters with learning how to remove stains.  As far as the tar…cold cream and lots and lots of toilet paper seemed to do the trick back then.

BLOOD

I have a few different options of getting blood out of clothing.  First, rinse with COLD water to get off the majority of the stain.  Just hold the stained area under the water so blood doesn’t get onto the rest of the clothing.

Option #1: Sprinkle salt generously on stain, rub in or tap in with a little brush, rinse with cold water and then wash as usual.  This can be used on dried blood, just dampen with cold water and then use the salt.

Option #2: Saturate in hydrogen peroxide, leave on over night and rinse. (Hydrogen peroxide works wonders.  It isn’t bleach, but can possibly take out the color on some fabrics, so check first.)

Option #3: Drench the stain with ammonia and let sit. (This will not discolor clothing.)

Option #4: Soak the area in milk over night then wash as usual.

GRASS

Option #1: Rub Murphy’s Oil Soap onto the grass stain with a small brush. Wash.

Option #2: Combine a few drops of household ammonia with 1 tsp. of hydrogen peroxide. Rub on the stain and rinse with water as soon as stain disappears.

Option #3: Use Karo syrup (white corn syrup).  Pour on stain, rub in, wash as usual.  This works really well on baseball pants.

Option #4: Drench area with white vinegar & use toothbrush to loosen stain.

MUD / DIRT

Option #1: First let the mud dry.  Then scrape off as much as possible.  Cut a potato…yes a potato.  Rub the cut side of the potato on the muddy section.  Rinse with white vinegar.

Option #2: Spray shaving cream on the mud, get it nice and foamy.  Let stand at least 20 minutes, then blot off with paper towels or rag.

TIRE MARKS / TAR

Rub peanut butter onto the tire marks.  Rinse and repeat if necessary.  Once the tire marks are gone you may need to use Dawn Dish Soap to get out the greasy peanut butter.

TREE SAP

Rub Purell or any antibacterial hand gel onto the area.  Scrape off.  Wash.  Make sure the sap is completely gone before drying.  If some is left on the clothing, the heat from the dryer can soften the sap and transfer it to other articles of clothing.  Hence, making more work for you.