How to Remove Gravy Stains From a Tie

Removing Gravy Stains From Your Silk Tie

Thanksgiving is around the corner. Turkeys are being defrosted all around the country as we speak and everyone is talking about the big feast. Many of us are dressing up for Thanksgiving dinner. Once the apron comes off we usually show some of our nicest clothes for this special day. If you are planning to dress up with your finest silk tie, then below are some food stain remedies specific for Thanksgiving dinner.

Removing Cranberry Sauce from a Silk Tie
Hopefully you chose a red tie as Cranberry sauce is a tricky stain to remove, but it is possible with these tricks. Most important is to act quickly. Don't let the stain soak to deep into the fabric. Act quick, take off your tie, and take a clean, moist sponge (cold water!!!) and carefully lay it on the stain. Rinse the sponge and repeat. Once most of the stain is removed take one quart of cold water and mix in 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of liquid laundry detergent. Moisten a clean white linen with the solution and dab it onto the stain. Let the tie dry and the stain should be gone using the tricks described.

Removing Gravy Stains from a Tie
Most gravy contains a good portion of oil and grease making it a very tough stain to remove from delicate silk fabric. Ties can not be machine washed since it will ruin the inlay and drape of the tie, bleach will cause silk dyes to fade, and chemicals used in a dry-cleaning process can damage and break delicate silk fibers. Although these traditional cleaning methods are not an option for a silk tie, there is something that works quite well to remove gravy stains on a tie.

First, scrape off any access stain using a clean spoon. A knife should not be used as the sharp edges can pull out individual silk fibers. Next, cover the stain with corn starch and let it sit for a day. After a day the corn starch will have soaked up a majority of the grease. If the stain is still visible then do the following: Cover the stain with some dry cleaning solvent, K2r Spot Lifter or Alfa Cleaning Fluid work well, and cover with a clean sponge for about an hour. To make sure that the cleaning solvent does not cause color fading we suggest you try the solvent on the back of the tie first. If the color does fade then use a 50/50 mix of cold water and white vinegar. Repeat this step as necessary and the stain should eventually come out.

How to Remove Stuffing Stains From a Necktie
Good news! Turkey stuffing is an easy stain to remove from a tie, but that does not mean you can ignore the stain until after dinner. Remove any access spill right away using a clean spoon. The tougher part is the grease. Follow the steps above described in "Removing Gravy Stains From a Tie" and your tie will look like new again.

Tips to Remove Red Wine Stains From a Silk Tie
If you thought that cranberry sauce was a tough stain then red wine will be an all new challenge. First cover the stain with table salt. The salt will absorb a large portion of the red wine. Let the salt sit on the stain and do not rub it in. After about an hour remove all of the salt from the stain. Next apply a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar to a clean linen and dab onto the stain. Repeat several times with a clean part of the linen. If the stain is still visible the apply some rubbing alcohol to a pad, place onto the stain, and let sit under some pressure (the weight of one or two normal sized books works well). After about an hour repeat with some cold water and the stain should be no longer visible.

Other Suggested Readings:
Basic Tie Cleaning and Storage Tips