There is nothing like a sunny, warm day outdoors! Adults and children equally love it. Not only it’s fun, but it also provides us with the opportunity to boost Vitamin D stores.
While everyone gets healthy and happy outdoors, protecting your children from the hazards of sunlight is important. Some of the must-haves for a nice day out at the beach or a garden are a parasol, a mat, and a sun cream. Getting adventurous and excited are essential to an outdoor trip. So, if your little ones end up having huge, stubborn sun cream stains on their clothes, then don’t be mad.
You may be the prim and proper mom who hates children getting all dirty. Or, the one who hates the idea of children being hyper. Relax! Accidents are sure to happen during the simplest of activities outdoors such as applying a sun cream. If they were wearing your favorite Khaadi clothes, then know that getting rid of sun cream stains are easier than you think. Actually, it is as easy as getting rid of chocolate of dirt stains. It is safe to say that it is just a piece of cake. Since many people are concerned about sunscreens staining their clothes, we are going to give you some simple and easy tips to remove them completely.
How Does a Sun Cream Stain a Fabric?
First thing’s first. If you are an adult, you can avoid these stains. Make sure the sun cream is not damp and is completely absorbed in the skin before you put on your clothes. Try doing it at home, if you already know you are going somewhere outdoors. And while reapplying, avoid contact with the clothing. Usually, for adults, the worst stain given by a sunscreen is an oily stain. It comes because the sun cream is not absorbed yet. These stains can be removed easily.
For children, the stains could be a little more than just oily marks. And if you are someone who has to do laundry and you only have the supply of hard water, it is going to be a little more difficult. Generally, sunscreens contain ingredients, which react in hard water. And the oily stains end up becoming dark brown. Even hard to remove! The culprit here is an ingredient called ‘avobenzone’. When it gets in contact with the minerals in hard water, it turns to rust-like, brown stains. The fiber type of fabric can further intensify the situation. For instance, synthetic garments are stained more easily than natural or cotton fibers. The level of hardness of water can also affect the staining intensity. Try avoiding the ingredient avobenzone in your sunscreen if you reside in a place with hard water.
Getting Sun Cream Out of the Clothes
Let’s begin with the easiest remedy. Get your hands on a laundry detergent that is made to cut through grease and oil. We say oil because sun creams essentially contain oils, which help in moisturizing the skin and replace the moisture. Pick a biological laundry detergent. It will provide brilliant cleaning because they are good at tackling oily stains such as hamburger grease, palm oil stains, mechanical grease, and so on. These detergents break up the oily enzymes and ease up the process of stain removal for your washing machines.
Don’t forget to take a look at the care labels on your clothes before you treat them for any kind of stain removal. Wash them at a slightly warm temperature but not very hot.
Do a Little Pre-Treatment
Before you throw the clothes in the wash, do a pre-treatment. Using a concentrated laundry detergent is a good idea. It is designed for stubborn stains. Take a few pinches and rub it directly to the stain. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then rinse thoroughly. When you are done, put them in the wash. This little hack will help you get rid of the sun cream stain completely. So, instead of bunging the clothes directly into the machine, do this little step.
Soak the Stained Area in White Vinegar
As mentioned earlier, most of the sunscreens are oil-based. Oily stains need a breakdown. White vinegar will do it for you. Just make sure you don’t soak the entire garment in this concentrated mixture. Because people don’t like its smell usually. Just soak the affected part of the garment for a few hours. And after that, just wash it in a regular washing machine.
Using Eucalyptus Oil
Do you know that Eucalyptus oil has some magical stain removing qualities? Especially, when it comes to stubborn greasy marks! And unlike white vinegar, it has an incredible smell. Coat the sun cream stain with this oil and leave it for five minutes. And that’s it! Just wash it as normal after doing this.
Bleach if the Stain is on a White Fabric
If the affected clothes are white, sun creams usually tend to leave a yellowish stain. It looks really bad. Here is the good news. You can get rid of it easily. Sunlight has its natural bleaching effects. The stain will just go when you spread them in the sun after regular washing. If it’s really stubborn, squirt a little lemon juice on it for bleaching. You can also pick a fabric whitener from the market.
If your stained garment is of silk, linen, or any other complicated fabric, don’t stress yourself to cleaning it at home. If it’s a fancy dress, simply head to a pro.