Picture this: you’re rocking your favorite tee, you’re hungry, you go in for the fries, and… splash. Ketchup lands where it shouldn’t. (We’ve all been there.) Don’t panic. We’re going to walk through how to get that stain out before it becomes a permanent badge of your lunch fail.
Step 1: Quick reaction = better chance
The sooner you act, the better. If the ketchup is fresh: gently blot (don’t rub!) off excess with a paper towel. If it’s dried, scrape off the dried bits with something dull like a spoon or dull knife. These are legit tips from Tide.
Turn your garment inside‑out and run cold water through the back of the stain so you’re pushing the ketchup out of the fabric, not further in. Yep, that’s in the instructions too.
Step 2: Pretreat and wash
Alright, you’ve removed the bulk of the mess. Now it’s action time:
Apply a good detergent (especially one designed for tough stains). Tide recommends their pods for this ketchup style stain.
Choose cold water for rinsing and initial treatment. Tomato‑based stains (like ketchup) have tannins and benefit from cooler water.
Don’t throw it in the dryer yet. If the stain is still visible, heat will set it. (Red flag for regret later.)
If the stain didn’t come out the first time, soak it in an oxygen‑bleach (color‑safe) solution for an hour or so. Especially good if the stain has dried or sat for a bit.
Step 3: Special case – set‑in or old ketchup stains
If you’ve left the stain for too long (oops), you’ll need to level up your rescue game. Some folks recommend enzyme‑based pre‑treaters for stains that have sat.
Basically: after pretreatment, soak in a solution of oxygen bleach (for colored fabrics) and then wash. Test anything weird or delicate first. (Silk, wool, etc don’t always behave.)
Over it? Let us handle it
We get it. Maybe you’ve got a mountain of laundry, too many assignments at work, or you just don’t want to deal with ketchup that’s now part of your shirt’s personality. That’s where we come in. At Get Fresh Start Laundry, we tackle tough stains like ketchup all the time, so you don’t have to stress.
We pick up your laundry, wash, dry, fold, and deliver it back to you clean and fresh. Our team treats every garment with care, following fabric labels and using our state‑of‑the‑art ozone laundry system to get even the stubborn stains out.
Why trust us with your ketchup (and other) stains
No stain is too tricky for our crew. Whether it’s ketchup, coffee, red wine, or mystery lunch spills, we’ve got it covered. You don’t need any special stain remover pens, soaking tricks, or late-night laundry sessions. Just hand it to us, and we’ll make sure it comes back looking and smelling fresh.
With Get Fresh Start Laundry, you can enjoy your meals (and your life) without worrying about the next spill. Your clothes, your time, and your sanity—we take care of all three.
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