How to Remove Tomato Sauce Stains From Fabric

Do you avoid ordering marinara sauce or pizza when you go to restaurants because you’re afraid you’ll end up with a big red tomato sauce stain on your shirt or slacks? Not only will you have to be teased all night for wearing your food, you’ll have to struggle with trying to get rid of the stain before your outfit is permanently destroyed.

One of the reasons that people struggle so much trouble with tomato sauce stains is that they inadvertently make the stains worse as soon as they happen. The worst thing you can do for this type of stain is to rub it. When you try to rub away a stain when it occurs, what you’re really doing is rubbing it in. This is the first step in causing permanent discoloration that can ruin the fabric.

Fortunately, tomato sauce stains don’t have to become permanent, if you take care of them right away and use the proper stain removal techniques. The next time you find yourself dealing with dripping shrimp creole, spaghetti sauce, or an unwieldy meatball sandwich, try one of these great tips for how to remove tomato sauce stains from clothing.

Rinse Immediately
Don’t wait until you go home to try to do something about the stain. To have the best chance of avoiding a stain, you should rinse your garment immediately. As soon as the spill or splatter occurs, blot (don’t rub, blot!) the excess sauce from the fabric. Then, run the stain under the cold water, letting the water go through the fabric from the back of the material so the stain will be forced out rather than being allowed to sink it.

Follow Up With Detergent
As soon as possible, gently rub liquid detergent into the affected area. If you’re in a restaurant, if there is liquid hand soap in the dispenser that is not a color likely to cause further staining, you can improvise with that product. Alternately, you can try squeezing lemon juice on the affected area if you don’t have access to liquid detergent.

Launder in Cold Water
Once you have followed the preliminary stain removal techniques, you will want to wash the garment in your washing machine in cold water. Avoid using hot water, as this could cause the stain to set instead of being washed away. If the garment is white, you may want to add bleach. You can also add color safe bleach to colored fabrics if you have some.
Check Before Drying
Before placing the garment in the dryer, check to see if the stain is gone. If there are still visible signs of staining, try soaking again, or applying additional stain removal products. If you run a stained garment through the dryer, the stain will set and you’ll have a permanent reminder of your run in with tomato sauce.