Field Guide to Stains

Field Guide to Stains

No matter how clean, uncluttered, and organized you try to keep your home, stains find a way. Risk factors include eating food, wearing makeup, leaving the house, staying in the house, and having a human body. In other words, it’s futile to think you can avoid stains. But with the right tools and knowledge, you can eliminate them one by one. And to eliminate them, you have to understand them.
     That’s where this guide comes in.
     Not all stains are alike, and sometimes the best removal method for one type of stain can actually make another type worse. By learning the habits and habitats of your stains—where they tend to appear, where and when they’re usually acquired, and their individual characteristics—you’ll be able to choose the best approach to send them packing. You might even be able to prevent that specific stain from coming back. (Although, again, you probably can’t banish stains from your life entirely. It’s okay! We don’t think any less of you.)
     The tips on identifying your stain (page 10) will help you start narrowing down the likely culprit. Once you’ve zeroed in, locate the appropriate section in the field guide, which is conveniently organized by source of stain: fruits and vegetables, meat and protein, dairy products, sauces and condiments, office and school products, and so forth. Individual entries will then tell you where stains tend to hang out, when you might expect to see them, and what to do about them when you find one. And the glossary on page 252 will give you all the background you need on general cleaning techniques and tools.
     Stains are a force of nature—and to understand nature, sometimes you need a field guide. Here it is.