I Tried 4 Methods to Get Coffee Stains Out of Clothes, and the Results Were Astonishing
There’s nothing like a fresh, hot cup of coffee in the morning. There’s also nothing like spilling said cup of coffee on your shirt, which I admittedly have done on numerous occasions. Good news: In my experience, coffee is not the hardest thing to get out of clothing. But all bets are off when it’s a white T-shirt that’s involved.
To say that pretreatment is in order is an understatement. But which one is the best? For the sake of journalism, I sacrificed a white T-shirt to a coffee spill, then tried four different methods to reverse the damage. Keep reading to find out how to get coffee stains out of clothes.
The Best Way to Get Coffee Stains Out of Clothes
WineAway is an easy and effective way to get coffee stains out of clothes. Simply spray it on the stain, let it sit for five minutes, then launder normally.
How I Tested the Methods
I took a white T-shirt that I didn’t care to wear any longer and splashed coffee in four separate sections. I numbered the stains one through four so I could keep track of which method had the better results.
The ratings: I awarded two scores for each method — one for the results and one for ease of use. I used a scale of one to five, with five being the highest score and one being the lowest.
Spoiler alert: After just one round of pretreatment followed by a wash cycle, my white T-shirt is looking (almost) good as new. I didn’t have to number the sections after all because there was no evidence that there ever was coffee. Given that all four methods were a success and almost all deserve a five, you may wish to pay more attention to the ease of use score.
Method 1: WineAway Spray
Results: 5/5
Ease of Use: 5/5
Method: You might be surprised to know that WineAway removes more than just wine! It can work on blood, ink, fruit punch, and coffee. WineAway is new to me, so I read the label carefully before I started spritzing. You should, too, because there are different instructions for removing stains from carpet versus fabric. For the T-shirt, all I had to do was spray the affected area until it was saturated, wait five minutes to let it soak in, then launder as directed.
How it went: I heard impressive things about WineAway, so I had rather unfair expectations that the stain would disappear in the five minutes I waited. It might have faded slightly, but it was still definitely there. I read the label again to make sure that I wasn’t supposed to scrub or blot it but no, all I had to do was put it in the washing machine. That proved to be enough because the stain was gone after one cycle.
Method 2: Egg Yolk and Rubbing Alcohol
Results: 5/5
Ease of Use: 3/5
Method: To use this method, you’ll need one egg yolk mixed with some warm water (I used a tablespoon) and a splash of rubbing alcohol. Then, apply this mixture to the stain. I mixed it well, then dipped a toothbrush (you can also use a small scrub brush) into the mixture. I brushed the mixture onto the stain, making sure to cover the whole thing.
How it went: I’ll admit I was rooting for this method to fail. I really hated the idea of wasting food, and I didn’t see how a bright yellow-orange egg yolk was going to help remove the stain and not cause a bigger one. Which it sort of did, because now instead of coffee, I saw light yellow. How on earth would this work? Well, I was proved wrong — the stain was gone after the T-shirt went through the laundry. But wasting an egg yolk for something that wasn’t a dessert recipe simply wasn’t worth it.
Method 3: Salt and Club Soda
Results: 4/5
Ease: 3/5
Method: I sprinkled salt all over the stain, then poured some club soda over the salt. The mixture fizzed and I let it sit for a bit before laundering the shirt.
How it went: I’ve long heard that club soda is a go-to remedy for removing stains, especially when you’re out at a restaurant and there’s (presumably) club soda at the ready. I thought the stain was gone completely after the laundry, but when I took an “after” shot, I still saw a faint stain. Now, some experts recommend leaving the salt and club soda treatment overnight as a natural abrasive, so perhaps that’s where my misstep was. Given that I only let the shirt air dry, I might consider trying this treatment again, or perhaps giving it a shot of stain remover before laundering it again.
Method 4: Persil Detergent
Results: 5/5
Ease: 5/5
Method: It’s best to use this method with a squeeze bottle, so you can carefully apply the Persil detergent. I didn’t have one on hand, so instead, I grabbed a small Ziploc bag and added some Persil to one corner of the bag, then snipped the other corner. I gently piped some detergent onto the stain and then ran the shirt through the laundry.
How it went: It worked! And it’s totally OK if you don’t have a squeeze bottle. The idea here is to use far less detergent than you would for a load of laundry, so feel free to just dab some on with a brush or cloth. Make sure to wash your hands well if you touch the detergent directly.
Conclusion
I didn’t sacrifice my shirt after all. Three of the four methods worked extremely well, and I have hope for the fourth, so it’s really just a matter of which one is the quickest to do. WineAway was hands-down my favorite because it’s so easy to just spritz some and toss in the washer. While I hope not to have to use it again anytime soon, I am curious — and hopeful — about it taking on other stains quite well.
Despite the results, I will not be resorting to the egg yolk method again anytime soon. That was just gross for me on a number of levels. It was very cool to see how effective the salt and club soda method was in progress. If I had left it on longer, I think I would have seen even better results. I find it funny, though, that I can’t see remnants of the stain just by looking at it, but I do see it in the photo.
Dabbing on detergent as a pretreatment is a no-brainer, but kudos to Persil for getting the job done. There was no sudsy mess as I had thought there might be because I really did use a minimal amount of detergent. When I finish up my stain remover stick, perhaps I will get a squeeze bottle and fill it with detergent instead.
Four(ish) for four with results? I can safely say that the next time I spill coffee on myself, I’ll have confidence in my laundry skills, if not my gracefulness.