It’s a nightmare situation. You spend a significant amount of money to buy cool to the touch eucalyptus bed sheets and before long, you’ve stained them. You need to quickly figure out how to get stains out of eucalyptus sheets so they can look as good as new.
General Care Instruction for Your Eucalyptus Sheets
If you’re used to cotton or other fabrics for your bedding, you need to be aware that caring for a eucalyptus sheet is a bit different than what you’re used to with other materials.
Most importantly, you must skip the bleach on any eucalyptus bedding. It’s just too harsh for this type of sheet. While that includes adding straight bleach to the washing machine, it also means you must ensure your detergent and stain remover are bleach-free as well.
When you wash your sheets or eucalyptus pillowcases, no matter what the thread count is, always use the delicate setting and cold water. Avoid using hot water. It’s important to always use cold unless otherwise specified in the directions for your particular sheets.
After washing, you can either hang them up for drying or use a low heat setting in the dryer.
How to Remove Stains from Eucalyptus Sheets
How do you get old stains out of eucalyptus sheets or fresh stains? How you go about removing stains on eucalyptus sheets depends upon what the stain is. Let’s look at some common stains and how to handle them.
Food or Beverage Stains
If you spilled something like coffee, tea, chocolate, or white wine on your sheets, you have a couple of methods to try.
You can spritz a stain remover that contains no bleach on it. Let it stay on for a while and then wash as you normally would.
An alternative method is mixing half of a tablespoon of vinegar with two tablespoons of water. Douse the stain with the vinegar and water mixture. Let it stay on for a while before washing it as usual.
Make-Up
Did you hop into bed before taking off your make-up? Your Tencel sheets might have some stains now to contend with.
For eyeshadow, powder, or mascara stains, try the methods listed above. But if it’s lipstick or foundation, which may be part oil or grease, try this first. Wet down the stain and rub a half teaspoon of dish detergent right on it. Then you’ll wash it as usual.
Oils
Any oil stains caused by natural body oils, essential oils, or bath products will respond well to the dish detergent method. Dish detergents fight grease, after all, as they love to remind us in their commercials.
If it’s a bigger oil or grease stain than just lipstick, you can run your sheets through your washing machine, pre-washing with cold water and one-fourth cup of dish detergent. Then wash them as you normally would when they’re done pre-washing.
Ink
If you accidentally got ink on your sheets while journaling, you can grab your salt shaker if the ink is still wet. If it’s wet, sprinkle salt right on the ink to help absorb it by gently rubbing the salt against the stain. Discard the salt and dab the stain with a wet paper towel. The idea is to remove as much wet ink as possible by repeating these steps until the salt no longer absorbs ink.
After that, mix one quart of warm water, one tablespoon of dish detergent, and one tablespoon of white vinegar and soak the sheet for several hours. Remove the sheet and put hydrogen peroxide on the stain, allowing it to sit on the stain overnight. Then wash as usual the next morning.
Crayon or Wax
If you have crayon or wax on your sheets, you’ll want to get as much of the substance off of your sheets as possible. You can use the edge of a credit card to try to scrape it off.
Then put liquid dish detergent on the stain and let it sit for several minutes. Next, run the fabric under warm water, rubbing the stained fabric between your fingers. Clean it in your washing machine. Instead of using cold water, however, check the label of your sheet to see if warm water is allowable.
Blood Stains or Red Wine
When your sheets have been stained with a bright liquid, you need to act quickly. Take the sheets off of your bed and dunk them in cold water as fast as you can. When choosing a detergent, look for an enzyme cleaner that doesn’t contain bleach. Put the cleaner in with the cold water and soak the sheet for a minimum of 15 minutes.
If you don’t have any enzyme cleaner, use one cup of hydrogen peroxide, 12 cups of water, and one-fourth cup of lemon juice.
After it has soaked for at least 15 minutes, try rubbing the stains out. If it works, wash as usual. If it doesn’t, keep soaking and cross your fingers. At some point, even if the stain isn’t fully removed, wash the sheet in cold water with detergent and see if it fades even more.
Tips to Protect Your Bed Sheets
If you want to keep your sheets stain-free, here are some tips.
- Avoid eating and drinking in bed.
- Take off your make-up before lying down at night.
- Cover any wounds with bandages before going to bed.
- Don’t write with a pen while in bed.
- Let all bath products and oils fully dry on your skin before lying down.
- If you’re dirty or sweaty, take a shower before hitting the sheets.
Keep It Clean in the Bedroom
Your bedding should be in tiptop shape, so it looks its best and keeps you comfortable. By tackling stains right away and avoiding potential sheet-staining behavior, your investment in bedding won’t be wasted by pesky stains.