The Science of Stain Removal

Have you ever wanted to get rid of a stain on your favorite t-shirt or your mom’s best table cloth? Believe it or not there’s a science project waiting to happen. Essentially the whole thing is just plain chemistry. The material that caused the stain is likely to be removed by another chemical. Lets take a look at some stains and how they can be removed.

The staining chemical needs to be dissolved in another solvent so as not to chemically bond with the fabric it has stained and become permanent. Now the most common solvent is water and if you can wash the material as soon as you drop the offending chemical on it in most cases the stain can be completely avoided. However not all stains wash off that easily.

Some will need the sterner stuff of detergents. These chemicals act as solvents to most of the known food stain possibilities. That’s why they are called powerful cleansers. However some times you may need an even more powerful solvent. There are all kinds of solvents which can be acid or alkali based. Just make sure they don’t damage the material they are trying to get the stain off.

For instance what do you do with the kind of stains that a car mechanic is likely to get on his clothes? In this case a specific grease solvent is needed. Something like a pre laundry soak would do the trick. You can make a very useful science project by tabling just what kind of solvents are needed for specific stains to be removed.