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Stain removal tips for around the home

Heloise, the well-known household hints guru, recommends mixing equal parts water, full-strength (nonsudsing) household ammonia, and hand dish-washing liquid in a spray bottle.

Simply spray stains with the solution (test for colorfastness first) then launder as usual. Heloise says that the difference between this homemade spot remover and a commercial spray - besides the cost - is that clothes should be laundered immediately after treating. Otherwise the custom-mixed spray could cause color loss.

Here are some tricks for treating some of laundry's most common (and toughest) stains:

Candle wax or crayon: Place the stained area between clean paper towels or pieces of a brown paper bag and press with a warm iron.

Blood: Cover area with meat tenderizer. Apply cool water to make a paste. Wait 15-30 minutes, sponge with cool water.

Red wine: Sprinkle the spill immediately with lots of salt. Dunk into cold water and rub the stain out before washing.

Perspiration: Soak the garment in warm vinegar water.

Dingy white socks: Boil in water to which a slice of lemon has been added.

Dingy work clothes: Add 1/2 cup household ammonia to the wash water.

Baby food and most food stains: Soak in cold water; launder in hot water using chlorine bleach. For presoak, use either a presoak product or a liquid laundry detergent, applied directly onto the dry fabric. For very stubborn stains, apply the presoak and place in a bucket of borax and water overnight. Then wring or spin out soak water, and wash.

Oil and grease: As above, only wash in the hottest water safe for the fabric to dissolve the oil.

To remove food grease spots off fabric, pre-treat them with a few drops of Palmolive dishwashing liquid, then toss in the laundry. Club soda removes grease from double-knit fabrics.

Collar stains: "Ring around the collar" can be removed by using a small paint brush to brush shampoo into soiled shirt collars before laundering. Shampoo is made to dissolve body oils. Or, apply a paste of vinegar and baking soda. Rub in and wash as usual. This method also removes dirt and mildew.

Grass: Rub detergent into dampened stain. Launder in hot water using chlorine bleach. If stain persists, sponge with alcohol and then rinse completely. Or, try rubbing margarine into grass stains before laundering.

Gum: Rub stained area with ice. Remove gum with a dull knife. Sponge with a nonflammable cleaning fluid, rinse well and wash.

Ink: Apply hairspray liberally to stain. Rub with a clean dry cloth and the stain usually disappears.