Living in Italy, I’ve seen more than my share of olive oil and wine stains! No matter how careful you are, they wait till you are not looking, and they decide to dirty the place….rebellious children they are! =)

Actually, my husband says that if there aren’t olive oil or wine stains on the tablecloth, it’s not an Italian home! =) =)

But you know, they can sometimes be difficult to get rid of when laundering normally. So here’s my stain cheat sheet, au naturale!  Now, since this is a method using natural soap and no chemicals, stains may not always disappear. You will need to pre-treat stains as early as possible.

If stains are small are localized:

Food\Beverage: Rub a natural bar of soap or a tiny squirt of natural dish soap over the stain. Using a hard toothbrush, dip in COLD water and brush. Usually I see the stain disappear immediately. Wash as normal. If stains are cooking oil based, sprinkle baking soda over the stain and after 2 -3 minutes, dust off the baking soda. Then proceed with the above pre-treater method using the soap bar\dish soap.

Blood\Urine: Follow the above method for food\beverage, however use HOT water when scrubbing with a toothbrush.

If stains are large \ Multiple stains:

Natural method: Soak overnight in VERY HOT water, sprinkling a generous amount of baking soda and adding 1\2 cup of undiluted vinegar.

What I call my “last resort method”: Soak in HOT water with the recommended dosage of OXI CLEAN (the kind for both whites and colored clothing) for a couple of hours.  I really only use this method once in a while when all else fails, as I try to use a natural method first.

Hope these tips work for you =)

Happy stain removing!

Wanita =)