How to Remove Medicine Stains from Clothes in Laundries

Mercurochrome, gentian violet, and iodine tincture are all common antiseptic solutions in many households. These solutions are colored. When they get on clothes, they leave colored stains. So, how do laundries clean clothes with such stains?

Mercurochrome

Mercurochrome is mainly used for disinfecting some external injuries. How should red medicine water be cleaned up if it gets on clothes after use? 

The binding ability of mercurochrome with various chemical fibers is not very strong, but its binding ability with natural fibers is relatively firm.

● If laundry plants are faced with clothes with mercurochrome, clean water should be used first to remove the floating color. According to the condition of the fabrics, people can choose hydrogen peroxide or color-safe bleach powder, and so on, to do an oxygen bleaching. 

- The clothes that cannot withstand high temperatures can be placed on the stain removal workbench and treated with professional stain removers designed for colored stains. This is a specially targeted stain removal.

- For white cotton textiles or light-colored cotton/cotton-blend clothes, low-temperature, low-concentration chlorine bleaching can also be used to remove the stains.

Add 3-5 milliliters of chlorine bleach to each piece of clothes → dilute it with 15-20 times the volume of cold water → mix evenly → put the clothes into the solution for soaking and bleaching for about 2-4 hours → turn the clothes frequently at the beginning → leave it soaking in the water without moving. 

During soaking, after each turn, you must squeeze out all the air from the clothes to ensure it is completely submerged in water. No part of the clothes should float on the water's surface.

Gentian Violet

Gentian violet is also a commonly used external medication. If gentian violet accidentally gets on clothes, you should first check the fabric type of the stained clothes.

● If the piece of clothing is made of real silk or pure wool, removing the stain will be very difficult. This is because gentian violet is also a type of dye, and this dye binds relatively stably to protein fibers. If a laundry meets such a situation, it needs to inform the customer in advance that the stain may not be completely removed.

● If the fabric of stained clothes is white chemical fiber, cotton, or linen fabric, it will be easier to handle. 

Wash it with water/use clean water to remove the surface dye on a stain-removal workbench → use a stain remover designed for lipstick stains to target and remove the colored stain → follow the product instructions strictly

Iodine Tincture

Iodine tincture is also a commonly used liquid for skin disinfection. It is a dark brownish-yellow liquid and often gets accidentally stained on the skin or clothes. Iodine tincture stains on the skin will fade naturally over time due to the evaporation of alcohol and sublimation of iodine. However, iodine tincture stains on clothes are not easy to remove.

● When a laundry receives clothes stained with iodine tincture:

Use alcohol to dissolve the stain → use the cold air function of a spray gun on the stain-removal workbench to blast off the dissolved stain → water washing → a stain remover for rust can be used (if there are still some residual marks)

● For iodine tincture stains on white clothes or light-colored undergarments, a small amount of chlorine bleach added during water washing can easily clean the stains thoroughly.

The above are the common stain removal methods used by laundries when dealing with medicine stains.