How to Remove Coffee Stains from Clothes

Everyone loves a coffee to make them feel awake and alert. But we’re all vulnerable, while the caffeine is slowly entering our system, to spilling our coffee down the front of our new clothes. It’s a very common problem, but, luckily, it has a solution.

The best method for removing coffee stains from clothes, as with any stain, is pre-treatment and a prompt wash with a high quality detergent. The enzymes in Breeze with ActivBleach will break down the organic coffee, and the oxygen bleach it contains removes stains while being color-safe. (Not for use with wool or silk.)

Removal of Coffee Stains Clothes: Cotton and Linen

There are different techniques you can use for the removal of coffee stains from cotton and linen clothing, all depending on how old the stain is.

If the stain is new:

1. First dab with a wet cloth.

2. Then rinse with cold water, running the water so it passes from the inside of the stain outwards.

3. Alternatively, pour boiling water on it from about a metre’s height (be careful not to splash it). Though cotton and linen can survive high temperatures, and the pouring cools the water some, it’s an idea to check for color-fastness before leaving the item in the hot water for too long.

4. Run through the washer on a normal cycle.

How to Remove Old Coffee Stains from Clothes:

1. Dab with 10-times diluted hydrogen peroxide.

2. If the garment is white, chlorine bleach can be used instead.

3. Make sure to handle hydrogen peroxide and chlorine bleach carefully, wearing gloves and following the instructions on the label. Never use both at the same time.

4. Rinse in cold water then run through the washer on a normal cycle.

How to Remove Coffee Stains from Clothing: Silk and Wool

Silk and wool are amongst the most delicate of fabrics so it’s annoying that they’re often the most expensive clothes too. A stain on these can really spell trouble, but quick action should prevent the worst.

1. Dab with a white-vinegar-soaked cloth to lift off the immediate part of the stain.

2. Continue dabbing, this time with rubbing alcohol. Keep doing so as long as you’re lifting some stain off (examine the cloth to see if this is so).

3. If the stain persists, pre-soak the garment in a mixture of a half-teaspoon of biological laundry detergent (such as Surf) to a litre of warm water.

4. Then launder on a wool cycle if the care instructions allow.

5. Otherwise rinse with cool water and air dry.

How to Remove a Coffee Stain from Clothes: Viscose, Polyester, and Other Synthetics

1. As always, it’s imperative to get the worst off as quickly as you can. Dab (don’t rub) the area gently with a clean cloth to remove the worst of the coffee stain from the clothes.

2. Pre-soak the garment in a mixture of a half-teaspoon of biological detergent and a tablespoon for white vinegar per litre of warm water. Leave for 15 minutes.

3. Launder on a normal cycle at the first opportunity.

With all new stain-removal techniques and products, make sure you test it on a small, inconspicuous area first before proceeding. Always read and follow your garment’s care instructions carefully.

Do you want to learn which household cleaning tasks cause the most stress?  Then read our Heated Household data analysis.