How To Get Curry Stains Out Of Clothes

Many people struggle to find out how to get curry stains out of clothes because these food marks look terrible. I know most of you don’t expect this kind of situation, especially when you’re wearing a brand new white shirt.

Although curry stains don’t appear easily to remove, it’s possible if you have either experience or know-how of dealing with them.

Read on to get more valuable information as well as valuable tips and tricks to say goodbye to these annoying food accidents.

Is It Tricky To Eradicate Curry Stains?

Curry can make your mouth water as soon as you think about it because this Indian dish tastes outstanding. It’s known to be made from a wide range of spices such as turmeric, fenugreek, coriander, ground chili peppers, and cumin.

Curry features a bright yellow color which looks extremely attractive to try, but once it spills on your clothes, it will leave a clearly visible streak on whatever it lands.

The most tricky cleaning challenge lies in turmeric. It contains curcumin which is not water-soluble and remarkably persistent. Therefore, curry spills require several steps to tackle other than launder with water only.

Techniques To Remove Curry Stains From Your Garments

Are you eager to find methods to get rid of these nasty stains from clothes right now? The good news is that I’ve collected all of them below, and more importantly, most of them are made from simple and natural ingredients.

Heavy-duty Laundry Detergent

You might need a potent cleaning property of a heavy-duty laundry detergent product to remove these stubborn yellow streaks. Let’s see how to do it!

What You’ll Need

• A spoon
• Heavy-duty detergent
• An absorbent cloth

Step 1: Scrape Off Food Particles

Use the edge of a spoon to scrub off as many excess food particles on the fabric as possible. Then sponge the stain with an absorbent cloth to remove any remaining liquid.

Step 2: Submerge In Cold Water

Soak the affected area in a cleaning solution made from detergent and water for about 30 minutes. You can use Ariel Matic Front Load or Top Load powder. If you have white and light-colored clothes, use Ariel Matic liquid detergent instead.

Check the stained area once in a while to see if curry marks have disappeared.

Step 3: Wash As Usual

Toss your items into the washing machine and wash at the highest temperature as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Repeat the cleaning process if needed.

Step 4: Hang It Dry

Air-dry your clothes naturally in a well-ventilated area.

Store-Bought Detergents And Stain Removers

Persil or Vanish are two out of many commercial detergents and stain remover brands that you can trust when it comes to getting rid of curry stains.

What You’ll Need

• Persil or Vanish
• Water

Step 1: Rub The Detergent To The Stain

Squirt a few drops of Vanish/Persil liquid detergent on the stain and work it into the fabric. It’s advised that you work from the outside in.

For Vanish/Persil powdered detergent, you can smear the stained area with a paste of it and water, or you can soak it in a bucket of soapy solution.

Step 2: Rinse The Detergent

Let it sit for about 30 minutes or as indicated on the package. Rinse with water to remove the soapy solution.

For stubborn stains, repeat a few times until the stain disappears. Wash as you normally do.

Here’s how you can treat curry stains with high-quality stain remover and detergent.

Clorox

Clorox is a well-known brand of household cleaning products which you can find easily in the supermarket. Let’s see how it works.

What You’ll Need

• Clorox Bleach Pen Gel
• Dishwashing liquid
• Clorox2

Step 1: Apply Dishwashing Liquid On The Curry Spots

Gently rub some drops of dishwashing liquid onto the stain. This step helps break down the oily part of the stain. It takes you 5 minutes to react with curry stains, and then, you need to rinse it with warm water.

Step 2: Treat The Stain

For white items, apply Clorox Bleach Pen Gel to the impacted area, and immediately machine-wash with half a cup of Clorox Regular-Bleach at the hottest water temperature the fabric can handle. It’s not for mohair, spandex, silk, leather, and wool.

For colored clothes, you can use Clorox2 to pretreat the stain, wait for 5-10 minutes and wash with detergent and Clorox2 in the warmest water allowed. It’s suitable for white items made from a little bit of spandex.

In both cases, repeat if needed to eliminate the entire stain before tossing it in the dryer.

Baking Soda

Baking soda paste features a mild abrasive, which could easily scrub and lift the fabric’s stain. If you love cooking, this multi-purpose ingredient is also suitable for fighting against stubborn food streaks on your favorite garments. As far as I know, It’s a potent trick to clean curry spots.

What You’ll Need

• Baking soda
• Water
• A white cloth

Step 1: Rub The Stain

To form a dense cleaning paste, let’s combine baking soda and a bit of water.Smear this cleaning paste all over the stain. Leave it to stay on the stain for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Blot The Impacted Fabric

Submerge a clean, white cloth in cold water. Blot the stained spot to remove the cleaning solution and any remaining residue.

Step 3: Launder As Normal

Wash as usual based on the care label instructions with cold water. Repeat if needed.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide is an environmentally-safe, and family-friendly cleaning option. You can refer to it when whitening your white clothes and removing dingy yellow stains on the light-colored fabric.

What You’ll Need

• Hydrogen peroxide 20%
• Water
• Bleach
• A spray bottle

Step 1: Prepare A Mixture

For white clothes, add 9 parts of water and 1 part of hydrogen peroxide 20% into a spray bottle. For dye-fast colored clothes, this method can work. However, it’s suggested that you use 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide 20% and ½ cup of water. Shake well.

Step 2: Spritz On The Stain

Saturate the impacted area with a generous amount of cleaning solution you’ve prepared. Let it sit for about 4 hours for whites and 2 hours for dye-fast colored clothes.

Step 3: Launder As Normal

For white items, wash your items in cold water with detergent of your choice and for dye-fast ones, opt for the hottest water they’re allowed to wash.

Step 4: Hang It Dry

The white fabric should be air-dried in direct sunlight. As you might not know, sunlight can help bleach white and light-colored fabric. If the curry spot doesn’t fade away, you can use a bleaching product. Remember that you should put on rubber gloves and work in an open area.

Step 5: Treat Stubborn Stains

For dye-fast colored garments, if the stain doesn’t disappear, dip the garment into a solution of oxygen-based bleach and leave it overnight. Repeat if needed. When the curry mark is no longer seen, launder as usual.

Hydrogen peroxide can be helpful in cleaning and laundry. Find out more here.

Fantastic Methods For Curry Streaks On White Clothing

Your stained white shirts deserve more care than just a usual wash because there’s a good chance that the curry streak is still visible. I highly recommend choosing 1 out of 2 methods below to restore their white completely.

Glycerin

Glycerin is well-known as a colorless and odorless cleaning solvent agent ⁽¹⁾ that can soften even old and set-in stains. It can be collected from plant and animal sources. 

This ingredient can remove oily stains, like curry spots. Also, it can work wonders as a powerful approach to eliminate cooking and vegetable oil marks on your clothing items. Try it and share with me your cleaning experiences.

What You’ll Need

• A butter knife
• An absorbent cloth
• Detergent

Step 1: Scrub Off Excess Curry

Scrape off the excess curry on the surface of the yellow spot. Blot the stain with a cloth to remove any oil or liquid on the fabric.

Step 2: Apply Glycerin

Add glycerin to the affected area, dab it gently using your fingers. Allow it to stay for about an hour.

Step 3: Rinse And Wash

Flush the stain with cold water to remove all the remaining glycerin and wash with the hottest water temperature your garments can handle according to the care label.

Step 4: Air-dry The Items

Bring your clothes outside and hang them dry.

Lemons

A cup of lemon juice wakes me up every morning, and now I discover a new way to use them as a cleaning agent. The citric acid in lemons can lift curry stains. In addition, lemon juice also features an effective cleaning solution to fight against tea stains on clothes. It helps you restore the original status in a blink. You should definitely try this one day.

What You’ll Need

• Lemons
• Detergent

Step 1: Apply Lemon Juice

Divide a lemon into 2 parts and squeeze it on the stain.Let the lemon juice work overnight so that it can take effect and lift the stain.

Step 2: Wash As Usual

Wash your garment normally as per the directions on your detergent label.

Toothpaste

Do you know that toothpaste consists of baking soda? It’s a clear reason why it inherits a cleaning property of this household powder. Besides oral care, toothpaste can get rid of set-in coffee marks on garments. Moreover, toothpaste is said to be a mild abrasive ⁽²⁾, so it’s also useful in scrubbing away stubborn curry stains on your clothes:

What You’ll Need

• Toothpaste
• Detergent

Step 1: Apply Toothpaste On The Stained Area

Dab a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on the curry spot on your clothes. Allow it to stay for a couple of hours. This way, toothpaste can work its magic.

Step 2: Wash

Launder as you normally do with a regular detergent.

White Vinegar

Thanks to its potent chemical components, vinegar can effectively remove greasy marks on different surfaces, including fabric. No wonder that it can also eradicate tide pot stains on fabric in no time.

Among all types of vinegar, white vinegar is the best cleaning solution for white garments because it doesn’t contain color, which can transfer to the fabric.

What You’ll Need

• White vinegar
• Dishwashing liquid
• Cold water
• A clean cloth
• A sponge

Step 1: Apply A Cleaning Solution

Combine dishwashing liquid and white vinegar at a 1:1 ratio (tablespoon) with 0,5 liter of cold water. Next, apply the solution to the stained area with a clean cloth.

Step 2: Sponge The Stain

Sponge the garments to absorb excess moisture. You can do these steps again if the stain hasn’t gone yet. Continue working until there is no stain anymore.

Check this instruction if you don’t believe in the cleaning ability of vinegar.

Alcohol/ White Spirit

It’s a straightforward, quick, and robust method to say goodbye to curry stains on your garments. Check it out now!

What You’ll Need

• A soft sponge
• Alcohol

Step 1: Spot-treat The Stain

Choose a well-ventilated room or an open space to start cleaning. First, pour a bit of alcohol directly onto the stain or on a sponge.

Step 2: Apply Alcohol And Launder

Sponge the affected area to work the alcohol into the stain effectively.Machine-wash as you normally do with currently used laundry detergent.

An Amazing Cleaning Option For Dry Clean Only Clothing

For clothes that can’t be laundered, you can try this method below. It will save time going to the laundry store.

What You’ll Need

• A spoon
• Lukewarm water
• A white, absorbent cloth
• Borax
• Bleach
• A spray bottle

Step 1: Remove Excess Curry

Try to scrape off as much remaining food as possible from your clothes using a spoon.

Step 2: Create A Cleaning Solution

Blend 1 tablespoon of borax with 2 cups of lukewarm water.

Step 3: Blot The Stain

Submerge a sponge into the mixture and start carefully blotting the entire dirty area. Next, use a white and an absorbent cloth to lift the stain. Continue to blot with the cloth until you don’t see the yellow color on the cloth anymore.

Step 4: Apply Cool Water

Dab cool water onto the stain and blot softly.Air-dry your items outdoors but remember to keep them in the shade.

Besides eliminating curry stains, here are 5 cleaning hacks from borax you must know this year!

FAQs

Curry streaks might be challenging to combat; therefore, you can struggle a bit if you’re new to this type of food stain. Feel free to ask questions to get the more valuable information you need.

Say Goodbye To Curry Stains

If you hate curry stains, you don’t have to hate curry dishes. Am I right? This article is a sure way to prove my point.

Apparently, you can say goodbye to curry spots with various convenient cleaning methods I’ve listed above. Pick one, and everything will be fine.

For me, I often stock vinegar and baking soda in my kitchen for both cooking and cleaning purposes, so I always prioritize methods with two of them.

How about you? What’s your favorite way to tackle curry stains? Share with me your experiences so that you and I can discuss this topic further.              

References

1. En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Glycerol – Wikipedia.
2. En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Toothpaste – Wikipedia.