'Coffee on Your Shirt' Day — May 15th 2024

How to Remove a Coffee Stain

Do you have a stain? Start cleaning immediately because it's best to remove a coffee stain from a shirt while it's still wet. Once a coffee stain has dried, it sets into the fabric, making cleaning very difficult.

First Aid for a Coffee Stain on Your Shirt

• Blotting. Try removing the stain first by blotting it with a wet cloth or paper towel. Don't rub! Rubbing will only push the stain deeper into the fabric and make it worse. For a fresh stain, use cold water, as warm water can set the stain into your shirt.
• Rinsing with cold water. Rinse the back of your shirt thoroughly with cold water. Do this on the back so the stain can come out from the front.
• Wringing. Then wring out the water from your shirt. Let it dry. And of course, iron it because you can't show up at the office with a wrinkled shirt.

Stubborn Coffee Stain

• Dish soap. For a stubborn coffee stain (one that you've been carrying around for a day or more), you can also use liquid detergent. A bit of foam might help pull the coffee out of your shirt. Don't have liquid detergent? You can try shampoo. Just make sure your detergent doesn't contain abrasive substances like fragrances.
• White vinegar. It doesn't smell nice, but it works: White vinegar. Since coffee is slightly acidic, white vinegar sometimes works better than water.
• Repeat. Try this a few times, until your shirt is clean. Or until you give up. If after 2 or 3 tries, you still see a coffee stain, you might be stuck with it.

Grandma's Method: Lemon Juice

• Lemon juice. A tip from grandma (or your aunt): Lemon juice. A little bit of lemon juice can sometimes help too. But first, check (very carefully) if your shirt doesn't turn yellow from lemon juice. Not all materials react well to lemon juice. Make sure to rinse well first to wash away as much milk and sugar (from your coffee) as possible.

Rinse, rinse, rinse

Use plenty of cold water to dilute the coffee and rinse away the cleaning agents. Hopefully, your coffee stain will be gone from your shirt.

And if you can't remove the coffee stain from your shirt, you can always put an apple on it. Or use it as a painting shirt for your daughter. Or as a shirt for DIY projects.