# Are stains clean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490 "2007-01-11T01:54:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/1 "2007-01-11T01:54:34Z")
Most of my kitchen towels bear the marks of years of good service picking up mustard, worcestershire sauce, curry and many other “stainants” that leave a mark that won’t go away with a thousand washes. I believe they are clean once they come out of the washer but my wife doesn’t feel so sure about this. Ditto for most of my “work at home” shirts. They have stains from grass, foodstuffs, baby pukes, car grease, and things man-was-not-meant-to-know. Once they come out of the washer, I don’t care what stains are there, the shirt is clean enough to carry my babies on my shoulder. Or so I think. Am I really wrong on this one? Are washed stained fabrics really clean? ---
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/2 "2007-01-11T02:47:47Z")
Are the towels dyed in any way? If so, the stains are no different than the dyes used on the towels. They are pigments left behind by whatever you wiped up that have now chemically bonded to the cloth. Yes, they are clean. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/3 "2007-01-11T03:53:52Z")
Well, actually both the towels and the shirts are all white but I get what you are saying. That was pretty much my thought. Whatever won’t come off in 14 minutes of hot bleach and detergent is now part of the fabric. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/4 "2007-01-11T13:46:13Z")
I certainly use the same logic – if it won’t come off in the wash then it won’t come off on me. Having said that, I have noticed that this argument does not necessarily hold true with dried on food that survives the dishwasher but, unnoticed, softens up in your bowl of cereal ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/5 "2007-01-11T14:01:56Z")
ugh! not the same case, man I do have a couple of plastic (melamin?) plates with curry stains (in knife cuts) that won’t wash off, though. I consider those safe. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/6 "2007-01-11T17:04:11Z")
If you don’t particularly care if the item looks faded, you could bleach the towels and your shirts to put your wife’s mind at ease. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/7 "2007-01-11T17:15:16Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] Are washed stained fabrics really clean? [/QUOTE] Define “clean.” Stains can be caused by pigments, proteins, and other stuff that in some sense chemically bonds to the fibers. Once thoroughly washed, if still stained, the stain is almost certainly not going to come back out and rub off on something else (this is not true for some types of dyes, though). Is it clean? No, it’s stained! If you wear a washed apron with a mustard stain, will you get mustard on you every time you wear it? Does it still have mustard in it? No, it’s stained! ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/8 "2007-01-11T17:25:52Z")
I use bleach in unhealthy amounts on my kitchen towels. Nothing doing to those stains, though. I guess the argument with the wife comes between clean being “sanitary” vs “good looking” ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/9 "2007-01-11T19:45:28Z")
If you want more stain cleaning, you something other than soap. Soap simply insinuates itself between the stain and the cloth, then floats away with the stain stuck to it. But the stain molecules are intact. Enzyme cleaners break up protein molecules into smaller bits. So get a laundry product with enzyme. Note that it will not act on inert stains like rust, soot, and engine metalic stains ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/10 "2007-01-11T21:30:54Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] I use bleach in unhealthy amounts on my kitchen towels. Nothing doing to those stains, though. I guess the argument with the wife comes between clean being “sanitary” vs “good looking” [/QUOTE] Well, to take an extreme example, there certainly can be things that are entirely sanitary but still stained and dirty looking. If you put something that’s stained through an autoclave, that stain will still be there but you’re guaranteed that there’s nothing left living (and thus nothing infectious). I usually go by the assumption that if something won’t come off in the wash, it’s not gonna hurt anything. Especially if you wash with hot water – there won’t be much left alive that will infect a human. For dishes, at least, a 160 degree Fahrenheit rinse is considered enough to make them sanitary. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-stains-clean/387490/11 "2007-01-12T01:08:03Z")
Now that we are getting to the point where enzyme cleaners are brought up, I feel like I should clarify that I am talking about rags that Walmart sells at 24 for $4. Still, I am sure the answer could come in handy for someone else. 😉