How to Get Iron Stains Out of Fabric

Co-authored by Amber Crain

Last Updated: September 15, 2021 References Tested

If you’ve scorched your favorite shirt with a clothing iron, don’t worry! As long as the burn mark isn’t severe, you should be able to remove it completely with peroxide, white vinegar, or oxygen bleach. If you’re dealing with rust stains caused by iron on a piece of fabric, you can mix natural ingredients like lemon juice or white vinegar with table salt to create a stain-removing paste.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Removing Scorch Marks with Peroxide or Vinegar

1
Dampen a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide if the fabric is white. Hydrogen peroxide is very effective at removing stains on white fabrics like cotton, but unfortunately it can bleach or ruin colored fabrics. If you have stained white fabric, wet a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide.^{[1]
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- You could also use a clean white rag to apply the peroxide.
- Regardless of the fabric's color, if the fabric is melted or the burn is completely black, you probably won’t be able to get the scorch marks out.^{[2]
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2
Dab the hydrogen peroxide onto the stain and let it sit for 1 minute. Gently press the cotton ball into the fabric until the stained area is thoroughly soaked with hydrogen peroxide. Allow the hydrogen peroxide to penetrate the stain for about 60 seconds so it can get deep into the fibers.^{[3]
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3
Rinse the peroxide out thoroughly with water and repeat, if needed. Bring the fabric to your sink and rinse the stained area out thoroughly. It’s important to remove all of the hydrogen peroxide from the material since the residue can weaken the fibers of the fabric over time.^{[4]
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- If the stain persists after you rinse the fabric thoroughly, you can repeat this process as many times as you need to.
- If the stain is gone, launder the item as you normally would.
4
Dampen a white cloth with white vinegar if the stain is on colored fabric. For scorch marks on colored fabric, distilled white vinegar is your best bet. Lightly wet a clean, white cloth with distilled white vinegar.^{[5]
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- The white cloth allows you to see if the vinegar is actually lifting the stain off the fabric.
- Keep in mind that melted fabric can't be fixed and black scorch marks probably can't be removed.
5
Dab at the stain with the white cloth until the stain lifts off the fabric. Gently press the vinegar-soaked cloth into the stain and lift it up again. Keep dabbing, stopping periodically to make sure the scorch color is transferring from the fabric to your white cloth. Stop once the stain is fully lifted.^{[6]
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- Scrubbing may force the stain deeper into the fibers and make the stain worse, so dab gently.
- The cloth helps to physically lift the stain off the fabric, which makes the technique more effective than just soaking the item in vinegar.
- You may need to switch to a different area of the cloth if the first area gets covered in the stain.
6
Rinse the fabric thoroughly with water to remove the vinegar. Hold the fabric under cold or lukewarm water and rinse out the white vinegar thoroughly. Once the vinegar is gone, you can pop the fabric into the washing machine and clean it as usual.^{[7]
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- If these techniques don't work, try soaking the item in oxygen bleach to remove the stain.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using Oxygen Bleach on Tough Scorch Marks

1
Fill a tub or large container with warm water. If your sink basin is clean, you can plug the drain and use that if you don’t have a tub or container handy. Fill the container with enough warm water to fully submerge your stained fabric.^{[8]
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2
Mix a small amount of color-safe oxygen bleach into the warm water. Check the oxygen bleach’s packaging for specific instructions on how much to use. Then, measure out the powdered bleach and add it to the warm water.^{[9]
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- Use a wooden spoon to gently swirl the water and bleach together.
3
Submerge the stained fabric in the cleaning solution overnight. Plunge the fabric into the cleaning solution so that it’s fully submerged. Then, leave the fabric to soak for about 8 hours or overnight.^{[10]
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4
Run the fabric through a normal wash cycle to remove a lingering stain. After soaking the fabric overnight, pop it into your washing machine and wash the item as you normally would. Pull out the fabric after the cycle finishes and examine it to make sure the stain is gone.^{[11]
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- If the stain is gone, you can put the item in the dryer. Don’t put the fabric into the dryer until the stain is completely gone or the stain may never come out.
- If the stain lingers, you can repeat the soaking and washing process again.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Treating Rust Stains with a Salt Paste

1
Mix equal parts of salt and white vinegar to make a paste. Pour enough salt to adequately cover the stain into a mixing bowl. Add about the same amount of distilled white vinegar to the bowl and stir the ingredients until the mixture becomes a thick paste.^{[12]
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- For example, if your stain is 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter, you’ll probably need to use about 1 tablespoon (17 grams) of salt. Regular white table salt works fine for this.
- Add more vinegar or salt if you need to adjust the consistency.
2
Use a toothbrush to cover the stain with a thick layer of the paste. Spread the fabric out flat on a solid surface with the stained area facing up. Pick up some of the paste on the bristles of an old toothbrush. Then, brush the paste onto the stain in a thick layer. Keep picking up and applying more paste, as needed, until the rust stain is completely covered.^{[13]
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- For tough stains, gently rub the paste into the stain with the toothbrush so the mixture gets down into the fabric’s fibers.
- The salt and vinegar paste works on carpet, too.^{[14]
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3
Let the paste penetrate the stained fabric for 30 minutes. Since your fabric is already spread out flat on a sturdy surface, you can just leave it sitting where it is. After half an hour, push a little of the paste to the side and see if the paste fully removed the stain.^{[15]
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- If the stain is gone, launder the item like you normally would.^{[16]
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- If you walk away at any point, make sure the fabric and paste won’t be disturbed by any pets or kids.
4
Create a mixture of equal parts lemon juice and salt if the stain persists. If the first paste didn’t get rid of the stain completely, don’t worry! Mix a tougher cleaning solution in a separate bowl using equal parts lemon juice and salt.^{[17]
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- You can squeeze a fresh lemon for the juice or use a bottle of store-bought lemon juice for this.
5
Cover the stained area thoroughly with the new paste mixture. Use your trusty old toothbrush to apply a thick layer of the new paste onto stain. Be sure to cover stain completely in the mixture. If you’d like, you can gently scrub the mixture into the fabric fibers with the toothbrush bristles.^{[18]
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6
Lay the fabric out flat in a sunny spot and leave it until the paste dries. Bring the stained fabric outside and spread it out flat on a clean surface with the stained side facing up. Let the fabric sit in the sun until the paste dries and hardens.^{[19]
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- It may take 2-3 hours for the paste to harden and lift the stain.^{[20]
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- Choose a bright, sunny area because the heat of the sun makes the paste more effective.
7
Rinse the paste off of the fabric with water. Hold the fabric under your sink’s tap and rinse away the hardened paste with warm or cool water. If the stain is gone, go ahead and launder the item as you normally would. If the stain is still there, you can repeat the process.^{[21]
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