HINCH AWAY STAINS

sTains. Who likes them? no one! Let’s be honest, does everyone else just stand there looking at a stain thinking, ‘What the hell do i do?’ so here’s how to Hinch the most common household stains. FLOWER POLLEN

LILIES are the worst for this. If you catch it early, the best thing to do is to use Sellotape to lift the pollen off the fabric. But if the stain has settled, apply a small amount of undiluted detergent to the stain and massage gently with a cloth. Then pop this in the washing machine on a cool rinse setting. RED WINE

LIFT as much as you can with a dry paper towel and then cover the entire stain with salt. Leave the salt to soak in — it will absorb the wine and help to lift the stain. Once dry, simply vacuum everything up. BLOOD SOAK in cold water immediately. As with wine, cover the stain in a thick layer of salt to pull the bloodstain out of the fabric. For any residual staining, use either a stain remover like Vanish or a simple bar of soap and massage gently until the stain is Hinched away. Removing dried bloodstains can be a bit trickier; for this you’ll need to soak the stain in cold water and a mild detergent overnight. GRASS JAMIE’S football kit is always covered in grass stains — nightmare! For me the one and only way to remove these stains is to use my good old Dr Beckmann stain remover. He never lets me down! SWEAT SOAK the item in a mixture of cold water and white vinegar for up to 30 minutes, then wash the clothing in the machine as normal. WAX TAKE a brown paper bag, lay it across the wax stain and simply iron over the

top. The brown paper bag will absorb the wax and your carpet or rug will look brand new! INK

I ALWAYS advise a patch test for this one. Spray the problem area directly with hairspray and wait for up to 30 seconds before simply wiping the ink away with a clean, damp cloth. CHEWING GUM

PUT the item in the freezer for a few hours until the gum hardens. Once the gum is frozen solid, peel it away — but remember to be gentle. If the item in question doesn’t fit in the freezer, simply apply an ice cube instead and use this to peel away the gum.