How to Remove Pumpkin Stains From Clothes, Fabrics and Hard Surfaces

No matter how you carve your pumpkins or what you decide to do with them , you’ll still end up with a mess. Pumpkin intestines are simultaneously viscous and hard, wet and dry, soft and hard. You’ll have to stick your hands in there to dig them up and then manually pull the seeds out of the mush. Eventually you will encounter this dirt because of something and you will want to get rid of it. Here’s how to remove pumpkin from clothes, carpet, and hard surfaces.

Removing pumpkin from clothes

To remove pumpkin from clothes and other fabrics, you need to control the temperature of the water. First, scrape off any debris from the fabric, then rinse it with cold water to loosen the stain and make sure it doesn’t spread. Pre-treat it with a little laundry soap or stain remover and then throw it in the washing machine on the highest temperature. Add bleach if it is safe for the fabric.

Remove the pumpkin from the carpet

Of course, you can use a carpet cleaner for this, but there’s another way if you don’t have one on hand: First, pull the insides out of the fibers as much as possible. Hoover , a vacuum cleaner supplier and carpet expert, recommends using a fork for this, as it will pick up the fibrous bits without pinching the carpet or tangling it. Next, mix one teaspoon of detergent with four liters of water to pre-treat the stain. After leaving it for five minutes, blot it with a cloth and rinse with cold water. Blot again (and again and again if necessary) before letting it air dry.

Remove pumpkin from hard surfaces

While pumpkin’s orange pigments are harmful to fabrics and carpets, they are not as harmful to dark surfaces such as counters or wood. Try the steps above with a laundry detergent mixture, or simply add a few drops of dish soap to a bowl of water and then blot the dirt with a rag. When working with wood, rub in the direction of the grain to avoid further damage. If possible, use clear soap to let sit on the dirt for a few minutes before wiping, especially if the pumpkin is crusty.