How to remove the five most common stains (and when to leave it to us)
Coffee, red wine, grease, make-up and grass: what to do in the first ten minutes.
Martin Kowalski
Head of Dry Cleaning · Oct 2026
Most stains are only permanent because of what happens in the first few minutes. Rubbing, hot water and the tumble dryer set more stains than anything else. Here's how our cleaners deal with the stains we see most often.
Coffee and tea
Blot, don't rub, then rinse from the back of the fabric with cold water to push the stain out the way it came in. A drop of washing-up liquid worked in gently usually lifts the rest. Avoid hot water, which fixes the tannins into the fibres.
Red wine
Blot up as much as you can, then flush with cold water. Forget the salt and white wine myths; salt can set the colour on some fabrics. On washable cottons, a soak in cold water with an oxygen-based stain remover works well.
Grease and make-up
Oil-based stains need something to break down the grease. Sprinkle cornflour or talc to absorb what you can, leave for 15 minutes, brush it off and then treat with a little washing-up liquid. Foundation on collars responds well to the same approach.
When to stop and call us
Silk, wool, structured jackets and anything labelled 'dry clean only' should come straight to us untreated. Tell us what the stain is and how old it is when you book; it makes a real difference to how we treat it, and our success rate on fresh stains is above 90%.
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