Having a turmeric stain is one of the worst things that can happen to your beloved clothing. Many of us have experienced eating a curry or drinking a turmeric smoothie, only to glance down and notice a yellow stain on our favorite clothes. We’re not going to lie and claim that turmeric isn’t one of the toughest stains on the earth, but it’s a myth that it can’t be removed, as you’re about to discover.
It makes sense that turmeric might leave stains on garments because it is frequently used as a natural color for garments. However, it happens frequently unintentionally when cooking with turmeric to get stains on your clothes. You are not alone if this has occurred to you. That’s why I wrote this article outlining how to get turmeric out of garments.
It takes more effort to remove liquid oil-based stains than it does to remove only the colored stain. But don’t worry; in this article, we’ll share 10 methods to get turmeric out of clothes.
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Does Turmeric Stain Clothes?
When cooking with or consuming dishes that include turmeric, it is fairly simple to get it on your clothing. Typically, turmeric is available as a bright yellow powder. Curcumin is the name of the yellow ingredient that gives turmeric its color.
Even when combined with liquids, such as curry, turmeric can still leave behind yellow stains because of the curcumin pigment. Because of its pigment, turmeric is frequently employed as a natural fabric dye.
So yes, turmeric can leave stains on clothing, especially white clothing where the stain would be more obvious. Additionally, because turmeric is used as a garment dye, the stains may be more difficult to remove than other stains.
How to Get Turmeric Out of Clothes?
You should try to remove as much of the turmeric as you can before applying any treatments to prevent the stain from spreading. If turmeric powder caused the stain, try to dust off as much of the powder as you can outside or over a trash can to stop other surfaces from becoming affected.
To remove as much of the liquid turmeric discoloration as you can, use a paper towel. Avoid wiping or rubbing the stain because doing so could make it worse by allowing it to spread or penetrate the cloth more deeply. Depending on the stain, try one or more of the ways listed after blotting it or dusting off the powder.
10 Methods to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
The 10 best methods for removing turmeric stains from clothing are mentioned below:
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Baking Soda to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
Before you can get rid of the yellow hue, you will need to apply a product to absorb some of the oil from the turmeric stain if it is oil-based, like from curry or other foods that contain turmeric. Baking soda is a particularly efficient solution for eliminating stains with an oil base.
Sprinkle baking soda over the stain and let it sit for a while to absorb part of the oil to remove turmeric stains. When the oil is absorbed, clumps of baking soda will form. Check the stain after brushing or rinsing the baking soda off if no fresh clumps have developed.
Repeat the procedure if an oily stain persists in order to get rid of as much oil as you can. Next, use one of the additional techniques listed below to remove the colored stain.
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Corn Starch to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
To get rid of oil-based turmeric stains, you can also use cornstarch if you don’t have baking soda or if it’s not working. In that it can absorb and draw out part of the oil in the garment, cornstarch functions similarly to baking soda in this regard.
All you have to do is apply cornstarch to the stain in the same manner that you would baking soda, and then wait a short while for it to work. Although it might need a little more time to sit than baking soda does, it should still create clumps.
If more clumps of cornstarch form, wipe or rinse them off the clothing and repeat the process. Afterward, use the next procedure listed below to get rid of the turmeric stain on the clothing.
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Flour to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
All-purpose flour can also absorb oil from liquid turmeric stains, much like baking soda and cornstarch do. The fact that it forms clumps when the oil is absorbed means that even while it may not be as effective as baking soda, it still does an excellent job of absorbing oil.
Use it similarly to cornstarch and baking soda. It should sit after being sprinkled on the stain. Check the stain after rinsing or knocking off the residue once you feel that all the oil has been absorbed. If more than once is required, repeat the procedure and then use a different method to remove the color.
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Vinegar to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
Because it works on both colored and oil-based stains, vinegar is a fantastic all-purpose tool for eliminating stains from clothing. When eliminating oil-based stains, you should still make an effort to absorb as much oil as you can using one of the techniques mentioned above before letting vinegar take care of the remaining amount.
Because vinegar has potent acidic characteristics, it is quite good at removing turmeric and other stains from clothing. The acid of the vinegar aids in initially dissolving the discoloration. You should be warned that vinegar can sometimes remove some of the dye off garments, particularly from non-colorfast fabric.
Using vinegar to brighten white clothes should be safe. To make sure that the vinegar doesn’t stain colored materials, you should first perform a spot test on them.
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Lemon Juice to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
Lemon juice can be used in place of vinegar if there is only a minor turmeric discoloration. If you have a stain on your shirt while eating at a restaurant and don’t have access to any other cleaning supplies, this is a really effective procedure that you can also do at home.
Lemon juice is able to remove stains from both white and colored clothing thanks to its powerful acidic and whitening capabilities, which are similar to those of vinegar. Even so, as long as it is rinsed off afterwards, it shouldn’t result in any bleaching or discoloration.
Simply dab the stain with some lemon juice on a paper towel or cotton ball to use it. Give the lemon juice time to work by allowing it to sit on the stain for a while. Finally, rinse the lemon juice with water. If the stain is still present, do the procedure again or try an other approach.
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Hand Sanitizer to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
In an emergency or if you don’t have access to other items and are not at home, you can use use hand sanitizer. It might not be as efficient as other products at removing a turmeric stain, though. However, alcohol included in hand sanitizers can aid in fading the stain without causing more damage to the fabric.
It’s preferable to just use clear hand sanitizer, since it will dry without leaving any further stains, while hand sanitizers that contain colours or pigments might cause stains on garments.
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Bleach to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
Bleach should be one of your go-to solutions for getting colored stains out of clothes, but the type of bleach you use depends on the kind of clothing you have. Chlorine bleach can be used to get rid of the turmeric tint on white clothing, but only if the fabric can withstand being bleached.
Avoid using chlorine bleach on colored garments since it will also take the dye out of the fabric. Even if the turmeric stain may not be visible depending on how dark the clothes is, you can still attempt non-chlorine bleach as an alternative.
It’s also important to know that while bleach will take out the color of turmeric stains, it won’t do anything to get rid of the oil from oil-based turmeric stains. One of the aforementioned techniques should be used to absorb the most oil from the fabric before using bleach.
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Laundary Detergent to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
You can use laundry detergent on its own as a pre-treatment by putting it directly to the stain, even though washing clothes in the washing machine won’t be very efficient at getting rid of a turmeric stain.
While regular laundry detergent will remove some colored stains, an oily stain will need to be removed using an enzymatic detergent. Alternately, prior to pre-treating with laundry detergent, you can use one of the procedures described above to get rid of oily turmeric stains.
Apply a small amount of laundry detergent to the turmeric stain and gently scrub the fabric with a scrub brush or toothbrush with soft bristles to remove it. Just keep in mind that water won’t do much to remove turmeric stains, so do this before washing the clothes.
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Ammonia to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
You may find ammonia as a common ingredient in many cleansers and stain removers on the market. Ammonia is another popular option because of its potent alkaline qualities, which aid in stain removal by dissolving oils.
Ammonia can be the main component of an all-purpose stain remover that you produce at home by combining it with liquid detergent and water in equal amounts. Your homemade cleaner is ready to use once you pour the mixture into a spray bottle. You can use the solution to remove paint stains, grease, blood stains, and other stains in addition to Turmeric stains.
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Washing and Drying to Get Turmeric out of Clothes
Although washing and drying won’t completely get rid of a turmeric stain on clothing, you can do so after using one or more of the aforementioned pre-treatment techniques. The pre-treatment substance can be removed from the garment by washing it in the washing machine, which can also assist remove any loosening stain remnant.
When washing the garment, be careful to use a cold water cycle because hot water could set any stains that may still be there. If the stain is greasy, use an enzymatic laundry detergent for greater cleaning power instead of your regular detergent.
As long as you only wash white clothing and the garments are bleach-resistant, you can also add chlorine bleach to the wash. If you think it’s required, substitute non-chlorine instead. After washing the clothing, make sure all turmeric stains are gone before allowing it to air dry.
Repeat the pre-treatment procedure again before washing again if the stain endures after washing. The clothing can be dried after the stain has been removed, but if you do so before it has, it could permanently fix the stain.
If you’re not sure if the stain is gone, air-drying is your best bet because it will lessen the likelihood that the stain will set and allow you to try to remove it again if required. The item can be dried in the dryer if you’re sure the stain is gone.
How to Get Turmeric Out of White Clothes?
Although turmeric stains are more obvious on white clothing, they might also be the simplest to remove if the material can withstand bleaching. The best approach to remove a turmeric stain from white clothing is using bleach, but it shouldn’t be used on delicate materials, so first read the care tag to make sure.
Keep in mind that bleach won’t remove oil stains either, so you might still need to use another product as a pre-treatment before bleaching the stain. If the clothes can’t handle bleach, you can try soak it in a solution of water, vinegar, and dish or laundry detergent to get rid of the stain.
Wrapping Up!
We truly hope that these 10 methods for removing turmeric from clothes will be helpful to you. Given that it is occasionally used to colour clothing, turmeric can be one of the more difficult stains to get out. However, if you take immediate action and use the appropriate solutions, you should be able to remove a stain from turmeric and prevent your garment from becoming permanently ruined. Share this article with your friends and leave a comment if you liked it. Thanks for reading!
