To Remove Stubborn Coffee Stains, Run To Your Fridge For One Ingredient

Anyone who has ever spilled coffee on their clothes or all over the carpet knows how hard it is to remove the stains. Hot coffee opens up fabric fibers and makes the already potent tannins drive even deeper, to the point where they're almost impossible to remove. However, you probably already have access to one of the best stain remover tools (short of a chemical cleaning agent): egg yolk.

A single egg yolk contains between one and half and two grams of lecithin, an emulsifier that's great at removing stains. In fact, egg yolks are the main reason mayonnaise is the secret to cleaning water rings off your table. In the amounts you'd find in food, lecithin is perfectly safe and nonsensitizing to humans and animals, making it a great eco-friendly cleaner. However, keep in mind that raw eggs, particularly unpasteurized varieties, may contain harmful bacteria, so it's always best to wash the fabric you're cleaning thoroughly once the stain is removed.

To use egg yolk as a stain remover, all you have to do is whisk it, rub it into the stain for a couple minutes with a cloth, then rinse and repeat as necessary. You'll probably want to use a scented cleaning agent to remove the eggy smell afterwards, but your stain should come out quite quickly. One of the best benefits of cleaning stains with egg yolks is that they can be combined with all sorts of other eco-friendly cleaners to create powerful combinations.

While an egg yolk alone is a great stain remover, why settle when you might have other ingredients in your pantry that can boost its efficacy? In particular, look for alkaline or coarse ingredients that can introduce new benefits to a mixture and maximize your ability to remove stains.

Cleaning your kitchen with baking soda is no secret. It's an alkaline ingredient, meaning it's great for removing acidic stains like coffee while also removing any organic residue such as the kind leftover by your creamer. When combined with the emulsifying benefits of egg yolk, a baking soda paste scrubbed into fabric is all but guaranteed to remove even the worst coffee stains. While you're making the paste, add a couple drops of scented essential oils to get a head start on covering up the eggy smell. If your stain is on wool or silk, skip the baking soda as it can possibly leech the colors from your fabric. 

To make egg yolks even more effective on delicate fabrics, try rinsing them off with a leftover bottle of soda water. The carbonation and weak acidity add a little bit more power to removing stains (and your cleaning mixture), so you can rest assured that your clothes or carpet return to their natural color. To ensure there's no leftover residue, use soda waters with no added flavors or ingredients.