Pomegranates are valued primarily for their juicy content. If you are not careful when opening and eating the fruit, the juice splashes can leave deep red stains on clothing or on the tablecloth.
The ripe pomegranates have a pleasantly tart-sweet taste. The fruit's edible seeds consist of a solid core surrounded by a glassy-looking fruit mantle. This case, which is bulging with juice, bursts at the slightest pressure and the juice leaves dark red stains on light-colored fabrics.
Avoid stains: Open the pomegranate properly
To avoid splashing juice when opening a pomegranate, proceed as follows:
- first cut off or cut out the base of the blossom with a sharp knife,
- then cut the peel two to eight times from top to bottom,
- break apart the fruit at the cut points,
- remove the seeds with your fingers into a bowl, if necessary they will fall off when tapping the bowl lightly.
It is often recommended to break the fruit apart and remove the pits in a bowl filled with water. This means that any splashes of juice remain under water and it is easier to "separate the wheat from the chaff", since the heavy kernels sink to the bottom of the bowl, while the light pieces of intermediate skin remain floating at the top. To prepare the juice, cut the pomegranate in half and squeeze it using a citrus press.
Treat stains as soon as possible
As with red wine, the same applies to pomegranates: fresh stains are best removed! The easiest way is to use a standard stain remover. If you don't have the right remedy at hand, the tried and tested home remedies can also help:
- gall soap,
- bleach,
- Lemon juice combined with household salt.
For the robust textiles made of pure white cotton or a cotton blend, we recommend pre-treating with a bleach (e.g. Dan Klorix, diluted with water beforehand if necessary) and then washing them out by hand or in the washing machine.¹
Treating stains on colored or delicate fabrics such as silk or wool requires a little more effort and, unfortunately, often comes at the expense of the colors. You should first absorb the remaining liquid with kitchen paper. By adding carbonated mineral water to the stain, you can reach the color particles that have penetrated deeper into the fabric, thereby “diluting” the intensity of the color.
Dripping the lemon juice on the stain also has a fading effect. After an exposure time of about 30 minutes, some household salt can also be added, which then pulls the remaining liquid paint particles out of the fabric. Treatment with gall soap, which is moistened and applied directly to the stain, can also be helpful. Then wash the garment with heavy-duty detergent.
tips and tricks
Pre-treatment with the ink eraser and subsequent treatment with lemon should help with the old pomegranate stains. When in doubt, leave no stone unturned!
¹ Source: http://www.washmachinetests.org/