We are so lucky to live by some amazing local farms where we can pick local produce that’s in season. My daughters and love to go strawberry picking. We have so much fun together and always make yummy treats with our fresh strawberries.
But, if anyone has taken a 1.5-year-old strawberry picking, you’ll know that most of their pickings go right into their mouth (rather than the basket) and you are left with quite the mess. (Of course, this last time, I was the smart mom who put my daughter in a white shirt while strawberry picking! Oops!)
How to Get Strawberry Stains Out of Clothes
Learn how to get strawberry stains out of clothes with this easy (DIY) strawberry stain removal guide.
If you follow me on Instagram, this picture should look familiar – This is my younger daughter after strawberry picking.
Part of me just wanted to toss her shirt, but I do love a good challenge. I at least wanted to try to see if I could get the strawberry stains out of her clothes with a DIY strawberry stain removal.
The results…
I was able to remove all the strawberry stains from her clothes!
Without bleach! Like magic! My DIY strawberry stain removal worked like a charm and her shirt was white again.
This life hack impressed me a lot! I had to share so you could benefit too.
Related: Simple Hack to Keep Strawberries Fresh (for up to 2 weeks!)
How to Remove Strawberry Stains from Clothes
Step 1: Turn the article of clothing inside-out and rinse under cold water.
Step 2: Turn the shirt back to normal (“un-inside-out”) and soak in a cool water and vinegar solution.
I did this in a plugged sink, but any soaking tub or bucket should work. Fill your sink/tub/bucket with just enough water to cover your article of clothing. I added 1/3 cup vinegar to the water, but you may need more or less depending on how much water you have.
Let it soak for about 15 minutes.
Step 3: Dab some rubbing alcohol on a cloth or cotton ball and apply to stains and rinse.
For excessive strawberry stains, you can also add the alcohol to the water/vinegar solution and continue to soak. (In my case, I did both applying direct alcohol and adding some to the water/vinegar solution to continue to soak.)
A note about using rubbing alcohol: You should do a test on your article of clothing in advance of using alcohol to ensure it does not ruin your clothes. You should not use on acetate, rayon, wool or silk.
This is what the strawberry stained shirt looked like after soaking in the water, vinegar and alcohol solution. It was much better than before, but I was still hesitant to believe if this strawberry stain removal hack would work.
Step 4: Wash the article of clothing in a washing machine using hot water and normal detergent.
Note, I also added 1/4 cup of vinegar to the washing machine. I actually do this with all of my clothes – stained or not – in place of fabric softener. I’m a bit obsessed with the power of vinegar and you can read more about other ways I use it here: Top 10 Uses for Vinegar Around the House
Step 5: Remove your clothing from the washing machine.
If it’s still stained, repeat step 4. If not, you can place in the dryer.
Note that strawberry stains will set in the heat of the dryer. That’s why its important to ensure all stains are removed before drying in the heat.
Like magic, your strawberry stains should have disappeared. The easiest way to remove strawberry stains from your clothes!
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Worked beautifully! Thank you – was able to save a really nice shirt of my son’s. Didn’t need the alcohol. Left shirt soaking in cold water with the vinegar overnight. The next morning it looked great!
Thank you so much!
I was skeptical about the advice or how it would work out on my daughters fancy dress. But figured, I had no way but up to go with your guidance. Not only did it get the stain out, it actually made the white brighter! Two days later, my daughter stained her onesie with cherry stains. I tried your suggestion again and it worked like a charm here too! (I actually forgot the onesie in the solution for over 20 minutes and didn’t even put detergent on it)
Plan to use this hack for many more days to come ;-)))
Thank you for sharing, Jaclyn! My daughter was wearing her favourite unicorn pinafore today whilst eating strawberries and it got covered in stains. I thought we would have to part with it but after following your step-by-step instructions, all of the stains came out completely! Good as new! I didn’t have any rubbing alcohol so tried alcohol wipes instead but I don’t think they would have done much as it probably didn’t absorb too well so I guess the vinegar is the mainstay of the treatment. I was a bit worried when the garment was still stained after the vinegar treatment but you were right, everything came off in the wash!
Will definitely keep using for these situations!
Thanks for the tips! My husband brushed against our strawberry bush as he was taking our old dryer to our dumpster rental and there happened to be a rotted strawberry that got on the sleeve of his polo. Fingers crossed I can get it out! Thank you for the help!
Thank you I just bought my sweater and had a strawberry and touched the sleeve leaving a stain. Your vinegar tip worked Thanks again Betty
Oh my gosh! Thank you. This worked like magic. We saved my daughter’s brand new canvas tote bag for school. She has personalized it with cool patches and pins for her senior year. Thank you for saving the day!!!