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Getting a blueberry stain out

Let me impart a little wisdom about fruit stains and white pants that I learned the hard way!
By Virginie Martocq
Picture 4

Let me set the scene for you. It's a breezy evening in the Bahamas. I'm sitting under a pink and white canopy tent, surrounded by palm trees, with my two year old daughter sitting on my lap. We're watching the limbo show and she's happily popping blueberries into her mouth. Hundreds of them. Fast forward to the end of the evening when we all get up and to my horror I discover that a third of those blueberries have ended up on my lap, squished and ground into my, what else, white linen pants. HORROR! I was ready to throw them away. But after all the kids went to bed, I put my energy into trying to save my beloved trousers. I did a little research on the internet, and here is what I found:

1. Attack the stain as soon as possible- the fresher the stain, the more chances you'll have of getting it out.

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2. Soak the stain in white vinegar. In my case, soak the entire pair of pants in a bowl of vinegar, for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Remove, rinse with cold water. If the stain is still there, pour boiling water over the stain, let stand 5 minutes, and rinse again.

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4. Repeat as needed until the stain is completely gone. I had to do it three times. On the last time, I tried a little rubbing alcohol instead of the vinegar as I had run out. Worked magic as well.

5. Launder the pants. If there is any stain at all, do not put in the dryer, but repeat the above steps.

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Surprise, surprise, my white pants that were either destined for the garbage or to be tye-died some weird bluish black colour are white again! Totally completely white. That's why I love the internet!

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