Everyone can get into an unpleasant situation by contaminating clothes with paint. Circumstances may be different, but how to return your favorite thing to its original appearance? What improvised means can be used? We offer you some life tips on how to wash paint from clothes. Let’s consider most of the possible options, depending on the type of paint that got dirty, and the available means at hand.Paints can be divided into the following types:
- Oil paint
- Water-based paint
- Acrylic paint
- Watercolor, gouache
Each of us at least once in our life got into an unpleasant situation related to paint stains. There are many ways to get dirty:
- sit on a painted bench;
- getting dirty on freshly painted railings in the park or walls in the entrance;
- while drawing with a child or independently;
- in the process of repair, etc.
There are many ways to spoil some clothes with paint, and even more so a favorite thing, but to get rid of such stains you need to make an effort. The first thing to do when you discover that clothes are stained is to carefully examine the damaged area. It is important to correctly determine the type of pollution, because each colorful material has its own chemical composition, shades, and, accordingly, different means for removing stains should be used. A lot depends on how to remove paint from clothes, what the clothes are made of and what color they are, because each fabric has its own composition and density.
Oil paint
It is one of the most common types of pollution. Depending on the “freshness” of the detected pollution, it can be removed in several ways. Let’s consider handy and professional means to remove paint from clothes:
- Fresh oil paint can be washed off with sunflower oil. To do this, put a piece of white cotton or linen cloth under the contaminated area as a “soaker”, moisten a cotton swab in oil and rub the stained area. The method is quite time-consuming, but effective. Stains from sunflower oil can later be washed off with ordinary washing using household soap or dishwashing detergent.
- In addition to sunflower oil, you can use olive oil, margarine, and butter. Thrifty housewives recommend immediately treating it with dishwashing detergent, for better removal of greasy stains , and throwing it into the washing machine for final cleaning.
- Turpentine and acetone perfectly remove fresh oil paint. This method is more common, as it is faster than the previous one. Stains from turpentine, acetone and mixtures based on them can be removed with gasoline or kerosene. It is precisely household refined gasoline that is used, because ordinary gasoline can simply spoil the thing.
- Glycerin, heated to a hot state, removes stains from oil paint even from the thinnest and capricious fabrics. Glycerin is removed from clothes with a soda solution.
It is more difficult to remove old stains from oil paint, because they contain oil in their composition, which is not susceptible to organic solvents after drying. It is better to remove them with white spirit, an aqueous 25 percent solution of ethyl alcohol and ammonia, or mixed in three equal parts with purified household gasoline, trichlorethylene and turpentine.
Professional means for removing stains for oil paints are: “Agidel”, “Sopal”, “Vitsy”, “Minutka”, “Original”, “Sorbent”. The active substance in each of these means is organic solvents. When using professional stain removers, wash in gloves with a tampon soaked in the product. Removal is carried out in circular motions towards the center of the stain. Otherwise, instead of removing the paint mark, you can simply increase its size.
Water-based paint
Water-based paint can be washed off clothes in various ways. The fresher the stain, the easier it is to remove. Remove the clots from the fresh flame of the water emulsion with a pointed scraper or a regular spoon. Then treat the stain with a 1:1 water solution of cream-soap for hands or dishwashing detergent using a sponge.
Old stains from water-based paint can be removed with esopril alcohol or regular hairspray applied to a cotton pad or tampon. Rubbing takes place for no more than one minute. Then the composition is washed off the clothes with plain water. As a rule, removal of old stains requires two or three cycles.
Professional stain removers used to remove water-based traces should not contain organic solvents. Such means will only change the color of the stain, but will not remove it. After changing the color, and accordingly, the composition, it is almost impossible to wash off the paint.
Acrylic paint
The fresher the stain, the more effective it is to wash acrylic paint from clothes.
Blot excess fresh paint with a napkin, paper towel or piece of cotton cloth, removing as much of it as possible. After that, it is treated with esopril alcohol (the liquid is poured on the stain), hold for 5-15 minutes (depending on the density of the fabric), and then wash the clothes in the washing machine.
A fresh stain can be treated with hairspray or glass cleaner, left for 1-2 minutes, and then removed with a cotton swab. It is important not to allow the agent to dry on the clothes, therefore immediately after cleaning, the item must be washed thoroughly.
Dishwashing detergent mixed in a ratio of 1: 1 with warm water helps only in getting rid of fresh spots of acrylic paint on jeans and other dense fabrics.
If the acrylic paint has time to dry, it is necessary to soak the thing in a container with cold water (no more than 30 degrees) for 1-5 minutes so that the thing is nicely saturated with moisture, squeeze it slightly and treat the stain with a swab dipped in a solution of 9% vinegar and ammonia 1: 1 with a pinch of salt. Tampons should be changed as they become dirty, and then washed in the washing machine. If the remains of acrylic paint are still visible, the procedure must be repeated.
The use of professional stain removers and organic-based products for stains from acrylic paints is not recommended.
Watercolor and gouache
Watercolor and gouache from clothes can often simply be washed in a washing machine with intensive washing. But these are only fresh “wet” spots.
To remove stains that have managed to dry, it is necessary to first clean the fabric of paint clots and soak the thing in a warm soapy solution (we are talking about household soap only). After that, try to wash the clothes using a washing machine. In 99 cases out of 100, the watercolor will be displayed. As for gouache, here the ratio is approximately 50:50.
- If it was not possible to wash off the gouache in this way, then you should try a 1: 1 solution (rubber alcohol and glycerin). Treat the stain with this solution using a cotton swab, applying the product from the edges to the center, and then leave it for 1 hour, after which wash the thing in a machine or by hand.
- For dense fabrics, you can use a mixture of gasoline and vinegar or ammonia with oxalic acid. In both cases, the stain should be treated only with the use of gloves. It is important to remember that stains should be handled with care in these ways, and they themselves must be carefully removed from the clothes afterwards.
No matter which of the above methods of removing paint you choose, it is important to remember that you must first test any product on a piece of this fabric. After making sure that there is no change in color, shedding or delamination of the fabric, you can start removing the main stain. If you did not manage to cope with the problem, do not worry, perhaps this is an excellent reason to update your wardrobe.