Banish Stubborn Chocolate Stains From Clothing With This Household Essential

Who doesn't love indulging in a bit of chocolate every now and then? Although chocolate can be an enjoyable guilty pleasure, it can lead to some serious stains if you or your kids are a bit too careless when eating it. While you may think that your clothing or upholstery is done for when a chocolate stain appears, this isn't always the case. Although they're some of the worst laundry stains to get out, you may be able to banish a chocolate stain with a simple household essential: vinegar. Using distilled white vinegar serves as a safe way to remove a chocolate stain without causing any damage to your clothing.

Remember, it's best to treat chocolate stains quickly after you notice them. The longer they have to set in, the less likely it will be that they can be removed. This is especially true if the fabric has been in the dryer and exposed to heat. However, unlike other solutions, vinegar often works on set-in chocolate stains, so using it is well worth trying. 

If treating a fresh chocolate stain, get rid of as much excess chocolate as possible. Don't scrub it, but instead, use a utensil such as a butter knife to scrape it away. You may also want to rinse the back of the fabric with cold water before trying a vinegar solution.

To remove chocolate stains, start by mixing one part water with one part distilled white vinegar. Use a cloth to blot the stain, moving inward to prevent making the stain worse. Once you're done blotting the stain, use cold water to rinse the fabric. Keep repeating these steps until you find that the chocolate stain has disappeared. An alternative to this blotting method is to add 1 cup of vinegar to a sink of cold water. Then, let your fabric soak in the sink for half an hour before using a brush to scrub the stain away.

After using a mixture of vinegar and water to remove the stain, wash the clothing in your washing machine like you normally do. This will help get rid of any of the solution that's remaining. Fortunately, vinegar washes out easily and won't cause any damage to your clothes.

After using the vinegar solution on your stain and running it through the wash, air dry your clothing rather than using a machine dryer. Put your clothes on the clothesline to dry them, or consider using some air-drying alternatives. If there's any remaining chocolate on the clothing, the stain could set in permanently and get worse due to the machine dryer's heat. By air drying, you'll get a chance to double-check that the chocolate stain has been fully removed and will have an opportunity to try another removal method before the stain becomes more permanent.