Expert reveals the under-$1 stain-removal tricks that rescue outfits from red wine, gravy and make-up this Christmas.

With Christmas parties, family dinners and New Year celebrations filling up the calendar, this time of year can be surprisingly risky for your favorite outfits. One minute everything’s festive and fun, the next you’re dealing with a wine splash, a gravy mishap or a rogue streak of makeup.

But according to Victor Ilisco, Director of Operations at fabric patch site Ninja Patches, many of these stains can be treated quickly and cheaply with everyday household items. And the good news is you don’t need to panic-clean them at the party – they can usually wait until you’re home.

“People tend to wear their nicest clothes during the holidays – often delicate fabrics or pieces saved for special occasions, which makes stains feel even more frustrating” Ilisco says. “But with the right approach, most festive stains can be lifted without professional cleaning, and in many cases with items you already have in your kitchen.”

Of course, some stains put up more of a fight than others, simply because of what they’re made of. “Red wine, cranberry and gravy all contain tannins, pigments or fats that bind to fibers really quickly,” he says. “Makeup is just as bad because the oils and waxes are designed to stay put on skin, which means they also stay put on clothes.”

And with the science out of the way, Ilisco says the rest comes down to knowing which simple household tricks actually work. Here are his go-to methods for the stains that show up most in December.

Red wine – salt and boiling water

Red wine is probably one of the biggest stain culprits year-round, but the Christmas period puts it in a league of its own. And if you’ve never dropped a splash of red on a white carpet or a new shirt, consider yourself very lucky.

But if you happen to drop a bit on yourself during holiday parties, don’t worry. Fresh wine stains are far easier to deal with than they look, as long as you treat them quickly. 

Ilisco recommends reaching for salt the moment the stain appears. “Salt acts quickly,” he says. “It begins lifting the color almost as soon as it touches the fabric.”

Once the stain is covered, leave the salt on for five to ten minutes so it can pull up as much pigment as possible, then brush it away. If you’re not at home, that’s fine – the final step can wait. When you do get back, slowly pour boiling water over the area to flush out whatever’s left. It might feel counterintuitive, but the salt-and-hot-water combo often saves outfits people assume are ruined.

Gravy and oily food stains – dish soap

If red wine is the party-time menace, gravy is its holiday-dinner equivalent. One wrong move with the roast potatoes and you’ve baptized your outfit in fat and stock.

“Oily stains love to cling, so you need something that cuts through grease,” Ilisco says. Dish soap does exactly that.”

Gently massage a small amount into the stain and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing. And if you’re out and can’t treat it straight away, blot the area and save the dish soap step for when you get home – it still works. 

Cranberry sauce and other bright fruit stains – lemon juice

Cranberry sauce is delicious, but it behaves like it has a personal vendetta against clothing. One blob and the deep red color spreads faster than you can say ‘where’s the napkin’.

“Cranberry is a tannin stain, so it needs something that breaks down those natural pigments,” Ilisco explains. “Lemon juice is perfect because it’s a mild natural bleach.”

But if you’re away from home, simply blot the mark and leave the rest until later – lemon juice still works perfectly well once you’re back. Leave it on for about ten minutes, then rinse. For white fabrics, a short time in gentle sunlight can help brighten the area. “Just don’t overdo it,” Ilisco warns. “You’re aiming for brightening, not bleaching.”

Makeup transfer – shaving foam

You know it’s party season when half the collars in the room end up wearing more foundation than the faces that applied it. Winter coats, silk shirts, dress straps – nothing is safe.

Because foundation is full of oils and waxes, it sticks to clothes the moment it touches them. But a quick layer of shaving foam can break it all up and make the stain much easier to lift.

If you’re not at home when it happens, that’s fine – just blot the mark and leave the proper fix for later. Shaving foam still works when you get back.

Ilisco says the trick is to work the foam in lightly and give it a moment to do its job – around five minutes – before rinsing it off. “Stylists use this trick all the time,” he adds. “A bit of shaving foam, a gentle rub and suddenly the collar looks brand new again.”

Chocolate – baking soda and cold water

You can tell it’s December when every flat surface suddenly has a bowl of chocolates on it. Lovely for snacking… less lovely when one of them mysteriously migrates onto your clothes. If that happens, don’t panic. Just get to some cold water as soon as you can.

“Chocolate stains are sneaky because they’re protein-based,” Ilisco says. “If you hit them with hot water, you essentially cook the stain into the fabric. Cold water is what loosens it.”

After rinsing, apply a baking-soda paste and leave it for roughly twenty minutes so it can pull the stain out of the fibers. A light scrub after that usually lifts it clean off. 

And if you’re away from home and don’t have baking soda available, just rinse the stain with cold water and deal with it later – the baking-soda trick will still work perfectly well later.