Remove Sunscreen Stains - Sunscreen Stain Removal

Sunscreen stains are easy to get on your clothes, upholstery and couch because you are instructed to put lots of sunscreen on, and therefore it easily gets on things it is not supposed to.

This is especially true of the newer spray sunscreens.

Once you get a stain caused by sunscreen, it generally looks oily or greasy, and can seem difficult to remove. Below are step by step instructions for how to remove stains caused by sunscreen from fabric and clothing, upholstery and carpet.

How To Remove Sunscreen Stain From Fabric

Step 1: Scrape off any excess sunscreen from the fabric.

Step 2: Pretreat the stain with a laundry prewash stain remover.

Step 3: Launder in the hottest water the fabric will allow to get out the stain, and either chlorine bleach if the fabric will allow it, or color bleach if not.

Hint: Make sure the stain is gone after washing, but before you place in the dryer or you may set the stain. Repeat if necessary.

Stain Removal For Sunscreen From Upholstery

Step 1: Blot up as much of the sunscreen as possible from the upholstery without spreading the stain further.

Step 2: Place an absorbent, such as cornstarch or baking soda, onto the stain, and let it soak in for approximately 15 minutes. This will help absorb the oily residue from the sunscreen.

Step 3: Scrape or vacuum up the absorbent, which has absorbed some of the sunscreen.

Hint: Depending on the amount of the sunscreen spilled you may need to repeat this step until no more sunscreen is absorbed by the baking soda or corn starch.

Step 4: For the remaining stain take a clean white cloth and sponge the stain caused by the sunscreen with a dry cleaning solvent.

Hint: First, be sure to test this solvent on an inconspicuous area of the upholstery to make sure it is safe.

Step 5: Next, blot at the stain until the solvent is absorbed.

Step 6: Repeat steps 4-5 until the stains are removed from the upholstery.

If that does not work you can mix a solution of two cups cool water and one tablespoon dishwashing liquid, and using this solution, sponge the stain with a clean white cloth, blotting at the stain until the liquid is absorbed, and the stain removed.

Once the stain from the sunscreen is gone use 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 caused by the sunscreen.

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

Removing Sunscreen Stains From Carpet

The instructions for removing stains from sunscreen from carpet is the same as for upholstery.

Recommended Sunscreen Stain Removers

Perhaps you don't want to make your own stain remover, but instead want to use something designed to remove sunscreen stains.

Here are some articles and reviews on this site which discuss various products that are designed to remove these stains, or where someone has had success using a particular product:

Carbona Stain Devil #7 Designed To Remove Sun Tan Lotion And Oil Stains	Blue Magic Upholstery Cleaner Got Rid Of Oily Stain From Sun Tan Lotion From Couch

You can also share your own stain remover reviews here for other removers that work on sun tan lotion or oil, 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 sunscreen or anything else.

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

Photo by Robert S. Donovan

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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.