How to Remove Tannin Stains?

I know it’s a quite common situation for all of us when accidentally our expensive clothes become a victim of stubborn stains of coffee, tea, the bark of trees, rust, etc. Therefore, one of the common challenges for professional dry cleaners is to remove tannin stain. One specification of these stains is they become brown upon heating or drying. These stains may vary in color from light tan to dark brown. However, there are some stain removal agents used in the removal of tannin/coffee stains.

1. Neutral Lubricant: This is a kind of detergent that makes the water wetter and helps the stain to slide down the clothes.

2. Tannin: These are light yellow in color with a fruity scent, generally used for browning and effective on coffee and tea stains.

3. General Formula: This is the simple chemistry formula to remove the stain. Most of us are aware of the detergents available in the market, they are made by following the simple chemistry formula.

The process to remove Tannin or Coffee stain:

1. Before applying the stain remover on the spot, one should ensure that the garment will withstand the process. To check apply the following process on an unexposed area.

2. Expose the stain towards steam and place a towel under it.

3. Now, you should apply neutral lubricant on the stained area after removing the towel.

4. Start tamping the stain lightly with spotting brush.

5. Now, apply tannin stain removal agent and tamp lightly.

6. Flush the stained area with steam after placing the towel under it.

7. And if the stain is still remaining then again apply neutral lubricant after removing the towel.

8. Now, you should implement the general formula, but before this make sure that you have pretested this on the un-exposed area of the garment as it can be a hard one.

9. Start tamping again with the light brush.

10. Place a towel under the stained area and flush with steam.

If the stain continues to remain then again use neutral lubricant and few drops of rust remover and again flush with steam. 

Tannin stains are the most common stains that are encountered by the American dry cleaners. However, by following the simple process, you can get rid of such stubborn stains.