So, the other day, I had a bit of a mishap. I was enjoying a nice cup of tea, and wouldn’t you know it, I spilled some right on my favorite white shirt! Of course, it had to be the white one, right? Anyway, I didn’t panic, but I knew I had to act fast if I wanted to save my shirt from becoming a permanent tea-toned mess.

First Try: Liquid Detergent

First thing I did was grab my trusty liquid laundry detergent. I poured a little bit directly onto the stain, making sure to cover the whole thing. Then, like the bottle said, I gently rubbed it in, trying not to spread the stain around further. Once that was done, I let it sit for about 5 minutes, hoping the detergent would work its magic. Since it was a fresh stain, I skipped the whole soaking part. After the wait, I rinsed the shirt thoroughly with cold water. I held my breath, hoping for the best… but no luck. The stain was lighter, but definitely still there.

Second Try: Baking Soda and Vinegar

Not one to give up easily, I remembered an old trick I read. This time, I used some baking soda and vinegar. I sprinkled a good amount of baking soda on the stubborn stain and slowly poured some white vinegar over it. The mixture started to fizz like crazy! I let that fizzing action go on for a few minutes, thinking that might help lift the stain. Then, after waiting some time, I rinsed it off with cold water and then I used detergent to wash it again. The stain is getting better and better!

Third Try: Baking Soda Overnight

So I went online again and someone recommended just baking soda and let it sit overnight. It says “The baking soda will absorb the tea, pulling the brown color out of the fabric”. Since I already did the baking soda and vinegar method, I thought, why not? It is just baking soda. And also the stain was almost gone anyway. So I applied baking soda again on the tiny stain that’s still there. Then I just put the shirt in a basket and let it sit overnight for 12 hours. The next day, I scraped the baking soda off, and washed the shirt with detergent in the washing machine. And it is now perfectly clean! Like there was no stain at all!

Here are the steps I did, in order:

• Applied liquid detergent, rubbed it in, let it sit for 5 minutes, then rinsed. (Did not completely remove stain.)
• Sprinkled baking soda on the stain, poured vinegar over it, let it fizz, rinsed, then washed with detergent again. (Stain got lighter.)
• Applied baking soda on the stain again, let it sit overnight for 12 hours, scraped it off, then washed with detergent in washing machine. (Stain completely gone.)

Well, there you have it. My white shirt is saved! It was a bit of a process, but a good reminder that sometimes, those old home remedies can really work wonders. And hey, at least I got a little science experiment out of it, right?