13 steps for Organic stain removal...
1. Wet the stained garment with cold water.
2. Rub a bar of Ivory soap directly into the stain, then rinse.
3. If that doesn't remove the stain, rub Ivory soap on the stain again, and then soak the fabric for 30 minutes or so in cold water with a bit of powdered detergent dissolved in it. (If you forget and leave stuff soaking longer, it doesn't really matter; you won't hurt the fabric.) Rinse.
4. If that still doesn't work, rub more bar soap into the stain, scrub it with a scrub brush (taking care not to damage the fabric), and rinse.
5. If a second scrubbing attempt doesn't remove the stain, blot it gently with some color-safe bleach (oxygen-bleach, not chlorine bleach) diluted with water, then rinse with clean water to remove all of the bleach.
6. If all else fails, be prepared to live with the stain.
EXCEPTIONS TO THE IVORY SOAP RULE
Like most rules, there are exceptions. Certain stains require different methods of attack.
7.Coffee: Betty says that coffee isn't hard to get out if you get to it with soap and water right away.
8.Fruit: Betty always puts lemon on the stain first. If that doesn't work, then she uses bar soap.
9.Mildew: Wash the garment in warm or hot water with oxygen bleach, depending on the fabric, and line dry or dry flat in direct sunlight.
10.Oil and Grease: Sprinkle some cornstarch or baking soda on the stain, then place the garment, stain side down, on a large rag on top of an ironing board. Iron with a hot iron on the wrong side of the stain --most oil and grease stains will come right out. (This trick works only for oil and grease, which need heat to dissolve.)
11.Rust: Soak fabric spotted with brown rust stains (which sometimes come from hard water) in a solution of 1 part lemon juice and 1 part water for at least 30 minutes. Do not use chlorine bleach on rust stains.
12.Tea stains: These are hard to get out, but Betty soaks tea stains in cool water and applies bar soap anyway.
13.Sweat stains: Line-dry the shirts outside. The combination of sunlight's natural bleaching properties and drying at lower temperatures than in a dryer keeps sweat stains from turning yellow. It's the heat of the dryer that sets the stains and makes them difficult to get out.
The above information is based on the Ivory Soap Method from Betty's Book of Laundry Secrets, by Betty Faust and Maria Rodale. Our green friends over at Care 2 have the full scoop on the details of green clean
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