Your Ultimate Holiday Stain Removal Guide

If it's a red wine that spilled on your clothes, pour boiling water on the stain, NOT when you're wearing it! Then, hand wash the stain with a mix of water and dish soap. For white wine, pour some cold water on the stain and then blot it with a towel. If you've got beer all over your clothes, wash it by hand in 10 parts water and 1 part hydrogen peroxide until you can't see the stain anymore and then let it dry. Another trick that works really well for red wine or beer stains is to wet the spot a little with cold water and then pour salt over top. Put a paper towel on the inside of your shirt and use another paper towel on the outside to blot the wine into the paper towel underneath. The salt is amazing at picking out the wine.

Blot the stain with a towel and then let it soak it for 30 minutes in cold water with a tiny bit of detergent. Then,  wash your shirt or pants like you normally would. Obviously though, if your outfit is dry clean only, don't try to wash it yourself- take it to the professionals.

Wipe as much of the gravy off of your clothes as you can, but don't rub too hard because you don't want to scrub it in. After you've wiped off as much as you can, soak your clothes overnight in your washer with some fabric-safe bleach. The next morning, wash it, using the hottest water you can.

Salt is amazing when it comes to cleaning stains, and this is true for getting out butter stains. Sprinkle a little salt on the butter stain and let it sit for a bit. After letting it sit, pre-treat the stain with spot remover or dish soap, and then wash it in hot water.

Anyone who's ever been around kids during the Christmas season has likely ended up with a candy cane stuck either in their hair or on their clothes. My kid is the candy-cane bandit. He stealthy steals them off the tree when I'm not looking and then goes in for a hug- mangling the candy cane into whatever top I'm wearing. I've actually had to start checking his hands before giving a hug. If you get candy cane on your clothes, soak the piece of clothing for 30 minutes in cold water that has a couple of drops of ammonia in it. Then rinse it, and soak it for another 30 minutes in cold water with a tablespoon of white vinegar and then wash as you normally would.

The first thing you need to do if you spill cranberry sauce on yourself is to rinse your clothes it in cold water for about a minute. Next, soak it in cold water that has a tablespoon of white vinegar and a tablespoon of laundry detergent for about 15 minutes. If the stain still hasn't come out, blot it with rubbing alcohol and then wash it again.

Pre-treat the chocolate stain with a spot remover.  Rub in the spot remover gently, but don't overdo it because you don't want to grind the chocolate into your clothes any more than it already is. After treating the stain, wash it in hot water, using fabric-safe bleach.

Scrape away as much of the wax as you can, using a butter knife. Then, iron the stain on a low setting, with a paper bag between the iron and the fabric. Most of the wax should stick to the bag. Next, treat the stain with hydrogen peroxide, and wash it like you would normally.  I’ve done this several times and it works like a charm.