A Cleaning Expert Shares Why Fabric Softener Stains Happen, and How to Fix It Fast

It’s an extra special kind of frustration to do laundry and see your clean clothes emerge with a fresh new stain. If you’re a fabric softener user, particularly the liquid kind, you may know this feeling. I reached out to Michael Bogoyavlenskiy, CEO of Cleaning Express, to learn how to get fabric softener stains out of clothes and find out why this issue occurs in the first place.

According to Bogoyavlenskiy, “fabric softener stains typically happen due to either buildup on clothes or from direct contact with the product.” He notes that if you’re using the right dosage and putting it in the right place (the detergent drawer, for instance), you shouldn’t get stains. However, if for some reason you’re finding marks on your laundry, here’s what you can do.

According to Bogoyavlenskiy, “fabric softener is mostly oil or fat, and this is what can cause the stains.” Gather any of the grease-fighting products below to get these stains out of your clothes.

• Dish soap
• Borax
• Washing soda (sodium carbonate, available in the laundry aisle)
• Hot water

Depending on which cleaner you’re using, you’ll have a different process. Here’s what Bogoyavlenskiy suggests about how to get fabric softener stains out of clothes.

1. Soak the clothes for 10-15 minutes in very hot water with a generous squirt of dish soap, at least a tablespoon.
2. Rinse the clothes in a bowl of fresh cool water or under a running tap.
3. Wash the clothes in your washing machine without any product.

1. Mix a 1/4 cup of borax and 1/4 cup of washing soda in a bowl of very hot water. 
2. Soak your clothes in the mixture for a few hours or overnight.
3. Wash the clothes as normal.

Instead of avoiding hot water, you want to avoid cold water. Because fabric softener is fatty and oily, cold water only solidifies the spot. You’ll also want to avoid washing the clothes straight away so that the stain doesn’t set. Be sure to always pretreat before washing it again.