A guest comes back from lunch ashore with red wine down the front of a white silk shirt and hands it to you with an apologetic smile. You have about ten minutes before that stain becomes permanent, and roughly four ways to make it worse. The right first move is almost always the boring one.
The universal first moves
- Act fast. Fresh stains come out; set stains often do not.
- Blot, never rub. Rubbing drives the stain into the fibre and abrades the surface.
- Work from the outside of the stain inwards to stop it spreading into a ring.
- Cold water first on unknown stains — heat sets protein and many dyes.
- Test any product on a hidden seam before applying it to a visible area.
- Never tumble-dry or iron a stained item. Heat sets what is left, permanently.
Stain classification and treatment
| Class | Examples | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | Blood, egg, sweat, milk, dairy | Cold water only — hot water cooks the protein into the fibre. Soak cold, then enzyme (biological) detergent — but not on wool or silk |
| Tannin | Red wine, tea, coffee, fruit juice, grass | Cool/warm water, detergent; oxygen bleach on tolerant whites. Salt/soda-water is a holding tactic, not a cure. Never soap-bar a tannin stain first — some soaps set it |
| Oil / grease | Suncream, butter, salad dressing, cosmetics, engine oil | Absorb excess (talc/cornflour), then a grease-cutting/alkaline detergent or solvent-based pre-treat; warm water helps. Water alone will not shift oil |
| Dye | Ink, indigo transfer, lipstick, berries, grass dye | Hardest class. Alcohol or a dedicated dye remover, blotting onto a clean cloth beneath; often needs professional treatment |
| Combination | Chocolate, gravy, make-up, lipstick | Treat the protein/oil element first, cold, then the dye element |
Suncream on white is the yacht classic: an oil plus mineral (titanium/zinc) stain that turns yellow-orange with heat. Treat as oil, cold-to-warm, and never dry until the mark is gone.
Hand-washing delicates
- Read the label. No label, or a dry-clean-only symbol → do not wash. Bag it, tag it, ask.
- Fill a clean basin with cool water and a small dose of pH-neutral or wool/silk detergent (never biological, never bleach).
- Submerge and squeeze gently. No wringing, no twisting, no agitation — agitation felts wool and breaks silk.
- Soak briefly (minutes, not hours), then rinse thoroughly in clean cool water until no suds remain.
- Press water out between two clean towels. Never wring.
- Dry flat on a towel, reshaped to size, away from direct sun and heat. Knitwear never goes on a hanger wet — it grows.
Guest laundry handling
- Log every item in: cabin, description, condition, existing stains/damage. Photograph anything questionable.
- Keep guest laundry separate from crew and owner at every stage.
- Return items ironed/folded or hung to the boat's standard, in the cabin, in the guest's own place.
- Never bin, never repair and never dye-fix a guest garment on your own initiative. Report and ask.
Onboard Notes
- When in doubt: cold water, blot, bag it, and hold it for a professional ashore. A wet, untreated garment beats a ruined one.
- Solvent pre-treats are flammable and give off vapour — use them in a ventilated space, never near an iron, dryer or naked flame.