Remove Milk Stains - Milk Stain Removal

Milk stains are inevitable if you have kids, or perhaps even if you don't.

And it seems like kids always get milk into the most unlikely places, especially when they carry their sippy cups all over the house.

You may have a spill on your clothes from the cereal milk, or even a spill on your carpet or couch from that late night cup of milk with your cookies.

Below are instructions for milk stain removal for fabric, upholstery and carpet, so you don't have to cry over spilled milk.

Remember, however, that the quicker you treat the stain caused by the milk the better.

In addition, do not use warm or hot water in treating the stain, but only cold so you don't basically cook the proteins in the milk, which will set the stain.

Removing Milk Stains From Fabric And Clothing

Step 1: Run the fabric, inside out, under the cold (not warm or hot) water to flush out as much of the milk as possible.

Step 2: Pretreat the stain with liquid laundry detergent containing enzymes, soaking for 30 minutes in cold water, or in the alternative pretreat with an enzyme pretreater. Do not use hot water.

Hint: If the stain is older, you may need to soak even longer, perhaps even overnight.

Step 3: Launder the item.

Hint: Make sure the stain is gone after washing, but before you place in the dryer or you may set the stain. If the stain is not gone let the item air dry and pretreat again with a prewash stain remover. Repeat laundering if necessary.

Oxidized And Yellow Stains Caused By Milk

Over time clothing that looks clean when it comes out of the washer and dryer can get yellow stains on it. This is especially likely to occur with old baby clothes that are put up, generally in a hot garage or attic waiting for the next baby to wear them.

What happens, over time, is that these almost invisible stains caused by milk, breast milk or formula, begin to oxidize as they break down and make yellow stains.

Here is an article written by a reader giving her secret for yellow stain removal from old baby clothes. This may help you too, if you are experiencing this issue with your milk stains.

Stain Removal For Milk From Upholstery

Step 1: Blot any excess milk from the upholstery, being careful not to spread the stain or grind it into the upholstery.

Step 2: Mix a solution of two cups cool water and one tablespoon dishwashing liquid.

Step 3: Using this solution, sponge the stain from the milk with a clean white cloth.

Step 4: Next, blot at the stain until the liquid is absorbed.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3-4 until the stain from the milk is removed from the upholstery.

Step 6: Now that the stain is removed you should get plain cold water and a new white cloth and sponge the area to remove the cleaning solution, and then blot dry.

Hint: Be sure to get the upholstery only as wet as necessary to remove the stain from the milk.

In the alternative you may try to remove the stain with a dry cleaning solvent.

You can get more information on how to clean upholstery here.

How To Remove Stains Caused By Milk From Carpet

The instructions for removing stains caused by milk from carpet is the same as for the dishwashing solution instructions above for upholstery.

However, if you don't have luck with this stain removal method you can also do something additional with the carpet stain, which is to mix a solution of one tablespoon of ammonia with two cups warm water, and use this as a stain removal solution.

Recommended Milk Stain Removers

Perhaps you don't want to make your own stain remover, but instead want to use something designed to remove milk stains. The key is to find products which contain enzymes, since this is one of the best ways to remove these stains.

Here are some articles and reviews on this site which discuss various products that are designed to remove these stains:

Totally Toddler Stain Remover - Use Enzymes To Remove Baby Stains (Like Milk)	Carbona Stain Devil #4 Designed To Remove Milk And Other Protein Stains	Madame Paulette Stain Removal Kit For Delicate Fabrics	Blue Magic Upholstery Cleaner Review Cleaned Up Milk Spill From Upholstery

You can also share your own stain remover reviews here for other removers that work on milk, or any other stain.

Do You Have Any Tips To Share For Removing These Stains?

I'm always looking for more tips and ideas for how to remove stains. You can share your stain removal tip here, for removing stains caused by milk or anything else.

Fun Stain Removal Facts About Milk

This page is devoted to helping you figure out how to remove milk stains from surfaces throughout your house, so you may be surprised to find out that milk is sometimes suggested as a stain remover for other stains.

For example, on this site some alternate ways to remove both ink and red wine stains suggest using milk. You can check out the full articles here:

• Stain Removal Red Wine Tip - Use Milk Or White Wine To Remove The Stain
• Tips For Removing Ink Stains From Clothes

Get Even More Stain And Spot Removal Help Here

Are you a stain magnet like me? If so, check out the A to Z Stain Removal Guide which gives directions for how to remove over 100 types of stains from all kinds of surfaces.

Below are examples of the most common stains discussed in the Guide.

Click here to visit the Stain Removal Guide

First photo by Nick Piggott

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Related Links At Stain-Removal-101.com

A-Z Stain Removal Guide - Instructions For Removing Over 100 Types Of Stains

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CAUTION: This website is provided for informational purposes only, and Stain-Removal-101.com provides it as is, without warranties or guarantees. Some stains just won't come out, and are permanent. Further, some stain removal methods can harm your item, so if the stained item is sentimental or expensive call a professional. See disclaimer of liability for more information.