Cleaning Tips for Tablecloths and Linen Napkins

The kitchen and dining rooms are one of the most important places in our homes.  It is in these areas that we eat, bond with our family, and entertain our close visitors. They are rarely empty or unoccupied during the Holidays and Thanksgiving. That’s why we spend time to dress up and decorate them; we want to prettify things to impress people who matters.

 

Most likely, all of us have special linen tablecloths (usually with matching chair covers) that we save and put up for special occasions. We have something in handy to prepare our tables just in case our officemates or in-laws come over for dinner. Knowing how expensive and special they are, we cringe at the thought of them being ruined by stains or food greases. But we can’t stop our visitors from eating merely because we want to avoid beverage spills or sauce drips, can we?

 

Removing stains from linen is not an easy task. Because of its texture, we cannot apply the usual stain removal tricks that we have for socks and other textile material. There’s bound to be some special way to take care of our linen tablecloths.

 

To help you with this task, I have put together some tips that I’ve found Online.

 

Steps to Remove your Linen Tablecloths

 

Step 1. Don’t wait for the stain to dry. To avoid the stains from setting in the fabric, use a bottle of club soda to take care of spills.

Step 2. Get a clean white rage, soak it in a bowl of fresh club soda, and gently dub it in the spill area. Blot it gently and avoid rubbing in the linen as it will drag the stains farther. Do this as soon as possible to avoid the stain from setting in the linen. Otherwise, you’ll have a harder time dissolving these stains later.

Step 3. Continue dubbing until little to no traces of spills or drips are left.

Step 4. If you have ready effervescent cleaning tablets at hand, quickly dissolve them into half cup of warm water. In case you don’t have it at home, then quickly run to the nearest shopping store and buy at least two drops.

Effervescent cleaning tablets will be your best friend. Using it is one of the most effective ways to remove tough stains from your tablecloths.

Step 5. Get a basin or container and stretch out your tablecloth on top of it. Make sure to work on opposite side of the stains. Face the spilled area towards the bottom of the container.

Step 6. Slowly pour the solution over the affected area.  This will work to wash out the stain from your linen.

Step 7. Allow the solution to settle for 45 minutes, and then pour water over the fabric to remove remaining traces of stain.

If there are stubborn patches, repeat the process on the hard spot until the stains are completely removed.

Step 8. Get your linens and wash it with detergent afterwards.

You could also use these tips for your linen napkins as well.

 

Things to Avoid

Clothes Dryer. Avoid putting the stained linens in the clothes dryer, no matter how small its stains might be. If you do this, the stain will most likely leave its mark on your precious tablecloths forever.

Use the dryer after completely removing the stains and washing the linen.

Press Iron. Do not iron or steam the stained fabric. Stains will surely set in and ruin your linen if you use heat on the affected surface.