Baby wipes are awesome. Somehow they clean up anything and everything. Well almost. While they’re great for dabbing off a bit of muck from your clothes, they don’t actually work as stain removers on fabric.
That’s where Elias Super Wipes come in. These are “first aid for removal of food and drink stains” on clothes.
They are designed in a little packet that fits easily in your bag… mainly because the most annoying and obvious spillages tend to happen when you’re not at home or in easy reach of a sink or washing machine!
The instructions say:
Treat the stain immediately, place a piece of cloth on the inner side of the fabric.
Wipe the stain with the wipe in a circular motion then wait ten minutes. Wash or clean the garment afterwards
Elias Superwipes are designed to remove stains from clothes; they are not for hygienic use and are not edible.
They are suitable for a wide range of fabrics, but should not be used on fabrics that are labelled ‘do not bleach’.
I’ve had these little wipes in my bag for a couple of weeks now – I am particularly clumsy but it seems that carrying these things around was enough to prevent any spillages – at least for a little while! But then it happened. On holiday last week, preparing dinner, I was putting tomato salsa in a dish ready for our fajita feast and what happened? Oh yes – I managed to squirt a bit of the salsa from the packet onto my bright turquoise jumper. It soaked right in, of course, and was right on the front in a really obvious place. I was really annoyed with myself – we were on holiday and we only had limited clothes with us. But then I remembered – I’d brought those wipes with me just in case.
I was both a little sceptical and also concerned about using the wipes on my jumper – sceptical that the tomato juice wouldn’t come out (I had no way of washing my jumper for a few days) and also worried that the wipe might leave a light patch. But I needn’t have worried. I used the wipe as directed (well almost, I was still wearing the jumper – my t-shirt underneath counted as the piece of cloth on the inner side of the fabric!) and used little circular motions. Initially I couldn’t see a difference, but after that 10 minute waiting time (once the damp patch had dried off a bit) I couldn’t see any tomato juice.
The jumper has now been washed properly and there is no sign of any stain. Phew.
Ok I know this wasn’t a very scientific test because I have no proof that leaving the tomato juice on the jumper and just washing it when we got home would have been okay – although from experience it would have taken more than one wash to get rid of the dark red from that cool-wash only jumper. And of course I have no proof that the wipes would work on a different stain or under different circumstances. But I will say that this little, genuine test has made me think these wipes are on to something! I will be keeping some in my bag, or at least in my desk drawer at work, for those emergency situations.
If you’re nowhere near London you’ll need to visit the Elias Super Wipes website to buy these – £2.49 for a pack with free delivery.
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