Spilling something on your favorite tie is almost as painful as the time I thought using bleach on all my clothes was a good idea. Ended up with white blotches on nearly all my favorite shirts and pants. RIP, my favorite dark gray shirt. I say “almost” because there are ways to clean your tie. It’s not hopeless! So stop regretting (unless you bleached your clothes–then you can weep) and learn to clean your tie easily with the three simple tips!

1. Oil Stain

This stain is probably among the most common ones. Sometimes you get some grease on your hands, and you accidentally get it on your tie. No worries, though. Simply rub the stain with a paper towel, as much as possible to get out the oil deposit. Then you’ll need to spread corn starch directly on to the stain, and let it absorb the oil overnight. Brush it off in the morning, and voila! It’s gone!

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2. Food Stain

Another common evil, from the villainous world of stains. Being careless sometimes myself, I’ve gotten my tie in a bowl a soup, on my burger and fries, and even on some chow fun noodles. Ah, if only I remember to tuck in my tie every time to I go out to eat. It’s just that sometimes I don’t have the energy from a tough day of work. But no worries, I’ve mastered the art of cleaning a stained tie. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

First, do not attempt to wipe it off with your hands. Use a butter knife, so that you don’t dab it into the fabric. Take a napkin and soak it in club soda. Now gently dab the napkin on to the stain. Then you must dry the fabric afterwards, to avoid and residual liquid stains.

The same technique will also prove useful against sauce stains. Sauces usually splash and may end up on your tie. No worries, now you’ll know how to fix it when the problem arises.

3. Wine

Now there are different types of wines, which require different types of treatment. So, let’s start with how to treat a red wine stain.

If you’ve got a red wine stain, you should treat it with table salt. Be generous and spread the salt out evenly on the stain. The salt will soak all the wine and you will be able to clean off the stain.

For White wine, you should simply head to the washroom and dry the tie under the hand-dryer. It may remove the stain completely, if not, you can take the tie to the dry-cleaning shop.

4. Coffee, Cola etc.

Now these are common stains as well. For stains occurring from cola drinks, coffee or any other liquors with amber color, you may dab it with a napkin dipped in club soda and liquid soap. Just use the regular soap from your home. Proceed to dry the tie. That should do the trick!

Daily Maintenance

Cleaning off your tie stains is one thing, but taking proper care of your tie is also imperative. When you head in after a tough day at work, don’t just grab and pull your tie off. You may ruin the tie’s fabric and its shape. Wash your hands, take off the tie properly and hang it in a suited place. You should consider visiting the dry-cleaning place once or twice a month for your ties. Remember, a true Spiffster keeps his ties in tip-top shape!