It’s a beautiful sunny day, and you’re feeling the vibes! You head to the park for a quick stroll, soaking up the warmth and fresh air. After a while, you find the perfect spot to sit and enjoy the sunshine, letting the day’s magic wash over you.
Fast forward to when you get home—oops! Grass stains on your favorite jeans! No need to panic, though. With a little TLC, those pesky stains will be history.
Grab some trusty household helpers like vinegar, laundry detergent, or dish soap. Pick your weapon of choice, and let your jeans soak in it for at least 30 minutes. Once they’ve had their spa treatment, gently scrub the stain with an old toothbrush or a soft brush. Voilà! Your denim is on its way back to perfection.
Pop it into the washing machine and hopefully you’ll have your clean pair of jeans back! Read on to find out in detail how you can remove these grass stains.
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Why Does Grass Stain?
You may be wondering what causes grass to stain your clothes and in particular fabrics such as denim. Grass is composed of natural pigments, also known as carotenoids.
A type of strong green pigment, chlorophyll, helps grass produce food through photosynthesis. But a less known fact is, chlorophyll is also used as a popular natural green dye for fabrics.
That is why when chlorophyll, and the other pigments from grass, come in contact with fabric, particular cotton, the green color is transferred over instantly.
Is The Grass Stain Permanent?
Grass stains are not permanent if you work to remove the stain as soon as you spot it. If left untreated, the stain gets an opportunity to set into the fabric, making it more challenging to remove it.
It is also important to note here, certain grass stains are tougher to remove than others. So whilst a straight forward technique might work for certain grass stains, it might not work for others.
Easy Steps To Remove Grass Stains From Your Jeans
1) Wash your jeans with cold water
Get your jeans soaked in cold water before you start the cleaning process. This will help to remove any excess dye, dust and dirt.
This step will also help to loosen the colored pigments from the fibers of your jeans. It is also important to keep the stain as moist as possible through out the cleaning process, so the color doesn’t set.
2) Apply your cleaning agent and let it sit
Create a solution by mixing one part liquid detergent with two parts warm water. Apply the solution on to the stain and let it sit for at least 30 minutes or overnight if possible.
Useful to note, you should opt to use an enzyme liquid laundry detergent. This is because enzymes provide extra help to break down the stains and are the catalysts which speed up the stain removing process.
This makes enzyme based detergents the ideal option when treating tough stains.
3) Scrub at the stain
Using an old toothbrush or a soft bristled brush, scrub at the stain to loosen the dye from the fibers of your jeans.
As you scrub, you should be able to see the stain fade. This is because the scrubbing motion will help the liquid detergent solution get deeper into the fibers, helping to remove it as you scrub.
4) Rinse off the product
You can wash the detergent solution off with cold water or put it in the washing machine on a cold wash cycle. If the stain hasn’t been completely removed, and you place it into the dryer then you risk setting the stain permanently into your jeans.
5) Air dry
Did you know the sun is a natural brightener? Once you have washed your jeans, put it outside on the line to dry.
Hopefully the sunlight will boost the natural color of your denims whilst eliminating the stains further.
Alternative Methods
There could be a situation where you might not have an enzyme laundry detergent handy, or the detergent hasn’t worked as effectively as you were hoping it would. Or you might even just be looking for some alternative cleaning agents!
Read on to find out what else you can use instead of a liquid detergent.
Vinegar is particularly useful for stains, its acidic properties work to dissolve the stains effectively.
Mix one part distilled white vinegar with one part cool water. Soak the stained area with the solution and let it sit for 30 minutes.
As this point you can take a soft bristled brush and start scrubbing the stain to see if it lifts off. Next, wash off the vinegar solution and leave the jeans to air dry.
If the stain is still there, you can repeat the process a couple of times until the stain is completely removed.
Follow the steps above, applying the vinegar on to the stain and leaving it for five minutes. After this, spot treat the stain with your liquid detergent by applying it on to the vinegar soaked stain.
Either using your fingers or a soft bristled brush, rub the detergent into the stain working it. Let it sit for another 15 minutes.
Rinse off the vinegar and detergent from the stain using cold water. If the stain remains, try one of the following steps below or repeat the same steps again.
Vinegar And Baking Soda
Alternatively, you can mix one part vinegar with one part baking soda to create a paste. Using your fingers or a blunt tool, spread the paste over the stain liberally.
Remember to let the paste soak into the stain for as long as you can, but at least a minimum of half an hour. Wash the paste off under a cold running tap and then put your jeans into the washing machine.
On occasion, certain stains may be quite stubborn to remove. In such a case you will need to use a stronger cleaning agent, such as hydrogen peroxide.
You can mix equal parts hydrogen peroxide with dish soap to create a solution. Pour the solution into a spray bottle and spray at the stain until it is soaked.
Alternatively, you can just pour out the solution on to the stain. Let it sit for a minimum of 30 minutes, ideally overnight or for as long as you can.
Using an old toothbrush or your fingers, scrub the solution into the stain. At this stage you can also sprinkle some baking soda over the stain and scrub some more.
The hydrogen peroxide and baking soda will work together to lift the dye out of the jean fibers. Finally, rinse off under a cold water tap or put it into the washing machine on a cold wash cycle.
Saturate a cotton wool ball with rubbing alcohol. If you do not have a cotton ball at home, then you can use a clean kitchen sponge.
Using the cotton wool ball or sponge, soak the stain with the rubbing alcohol, gently scrubbing it as you apply the alcohol. Wait for the alcohol to dry (this can take a while) and then rinse it out with cold water.
To make sure the stain is definitely removed, add some liquid detergent to the stained area and rub it into the stain until it has faded. Rinse it off with cold water and hang to dry.
You’ll need to use a hair spray which contains alcohol, for it to be an effective stain removing cleaning agent. It will have a similar effect to rubbing alcohol, therefore would be a good alternative if you do not have some rubbing alcohol in your kitchen cupboard.
First spray some hairspray directly onto the stain and let it dry. Using a soft bristled brush or an old toothbrush scrub the stain.
Next you can apply your liquid detergent on to the stain and further scrub the detergent into the stain. Let it sit for 15 minutes and then rinse off with cold water.
Do not confuse oxygen based bleach with your standard commercial chlorine bleach. The latter is more corrosive and damaging to the cotton fibers.
Add your oxygen bleach to room temperature water, equal parts to make a paste. Apply the paste on to the stain and let it sit for up to eight hours, but at the very least a minimum of one hour.
Alternatively, instead of a paste you could make a liquid solution. Mix half a cup of oxygen bleach with one cup room temperature water.
Soak the stain with the solution and let it sit between one to eight hours.
Before you rinse off the paste or solution with cold water, scrub the stain with your fingers or a soft bristled brush to work the cleaning product into the fibers.
If the grass stain is inconspicuous, small and light then you might want to try using dish soap first for a quick recovery.
Create a solution by mixing one tablespoon dish soap with one cup of cool water. Soak the stain with the solution, using an old toothbrush or soft bristled brush to scrub at the grass pigment.
You can leave the solution for 15 minutes, letting it work through the jean fibers to lift up the dye.Finally, rinse the dish soap solution with cold water to see if the stain has dissapeared.
You might not have time to give your jeans a full soak or you may be outside and need the stain treated as soon as possible. In such a case keeping an instant stain remover spot pen might prove to be useful.
As soon as you spot the stain, dap the pen on to it. Then once you are home follow the steps above to remove the stain completely.
Useful tips
- Always use cold water when washing off a cleaning product or when you first start the cleaning process. This is because hot water causes grass pigment to set into the denim fibers.
- Use your choice of cleaning agent on a small area of your jeans first, to make sure it doesn’t discolor or damage the jeans.
- Always be mindful of the washing instructions on the care label of your jeans
- Bleach is not suitable for certain fabrics such as cotton, therefore it is best to avoid it when treating stains on garments.
In Summary
The trick is to get working on the stain as soon as you can. It would be most convenient if you could, especially during those hot sunny weeks, carry an instant stain remover pen in your bag.
Either way don’t forget to pre-treat your stain and let it sit for at least 30 minutes to allow the product to work the pigment out of the denim fibers.
It is important you use cold water to rinse off the cleaning product, as hot water will further set the pigmented green into your jeans.
If you follow all the steps stated in this article, you’ll be able to get those stains out in no time. Don’t forget to air dry those jeans out in the sun!
