Make This Foolproof DIY Stain Removing Spray

This post was originally published on DIY Network’s blog Made + Remade in June 2015.

A homemade stain removing spray is an easy DIY solution to add to your laundry process. I pre-treat everything from dirt and grass and blood (lots of scraped knees), red sauce splatters, finger painting smudges, and pesky runaway pen marks. I find that by following the below recipe and ratio, you can make about 2x the stain treating solution for the same cost as a pre-mixed spray, and it works wonderfully (smells great, too).

Step 1

A dark brown plastic hydrogen peroxide bottle is the best way to store your stain remover. Why? If you were to use a bottle with transparency, or even a white bottle that sunlight could penetrate, the light will affect the strength of the peroxide and make the stain remover less effective.

When it comes time to use your stain remover, you’ll want to replace the cap with a sprayer for convenience. The size of spray nozzles is often consistent between products, so save the sprayer from another household cleaning bottle once you deplete its contents and check to see if it will screw on to your hydrogen peroxide bottle. You might have to trim the “straw” a little to fit in the shorter peroxide bottle. 

Step 2

The stain remover solution is a combination of hydrogen peroxide and blue Dawn dish soap (if it’s safe enough for environmental conservation, it is safe enough for your and your children’s skin). The ratio to mix is 1 part soap to 2 parts peroxide; choose your ratio based on the size of your hydrogen peroxide bottle.

I measured 2 cups of peroxide with 1 cup of soap, combining the ingredients in the same measuring cup.

Step 3

Transfer the solution into the hydrogen peroxide bottle.

Step 4

Cap the bottle with the nozzle, relabel the bottle as a “stain remover” and store the spray in your laundry area out of direct sunlight to help the concentration retain effectiveness. Use the stain remover as a pre-treater on all stains before adding the clothing to the laundry. This stuff’s tough.

Happy laundering!