How To Remove Grass Stains on Jeans

grass stain on jeansGrass stains plus jeans equals no problem. The official equation probably goes something like this: (SxG) + J = P(0), but no matter how you add it up, you can certainly avoid subtracting your favorite pair of jeans from your life just because they have a little green stain on them.

We’re no mathematologists, or rocket surgeons, so the above equation may also explain the space time continuum, or unlock the meaning of life, but no matter how you calculate it, this simple yet daunting laundry problem can be easily solved by anyone.

We all love it when the kids go out to play, or when hubby spends Saturday afternoon providing a freshly cut lawn, but it can be tough to avoid grass stains in the process. The rich color and smear-y nature of this particular mess notoriously coats footwear and embeds itself within the fibers of jeans and other clothing. A grass stain usually bright green in color, but you can easily have brown mud and other fun stuff mixed in as well.

You don’t want to take away the soccer ball, or tell your children that backyard football is off limits, and you certainly don’t want to let your lawn grow into a wild mess, but remembering to put on special footwear and clothing before going outside isn’t practical. Using the steps below, you’ll be able to easily eliminate any stain created by grass, so you’ll never have to worry about what your kids look like when they come back inside.

Instead of clenching your teeth and biting your tongue to avoid swearing at your family members, you’ll be able to keep your cool because you’ll know that no matter how bad they look now, the grass stain is only temporary. Continue reading below and follow the step by step instructions to turn back time, and make any pair of dirty jeans look like they never touched a single blade of grass.

Why Are Grass Stains So Difficult To Remove?

It doesn’t seem right that something so simple, and so easily encountered would wreak such havoc on our wardrobes, but it does. Grass gets it’s lovely color from the chlorophyll that is abundant within it’s cellular make-up, and when released from the fibrous portion of the plant, this green stuff acts like a dye on clothing and other materials.

When little Billy tackles his brother on the way to the end zone, or when little Suzy accidentally trips while playing freeze tag in the front lawn, green stuff from the grass will smear into their jeans, and it’ll quickly bond with the material to become almost permanent in nature. Just like a dye, it will appear to change the blue colored fabric into a green and brown disaster.

Grass stains on jeans and other clothing can be particularly challenging to remove because they contain a combination of substances that create a stubborn and resilient stain. Here are some of the key reasons why grass stains are so difficult to remove:

  • Chlorophyll: Grass contains chlorophyll, which gives it its green color. Chlorophyll is a pigment that can bind tightly to fabrics, making it hard to remove.
  • Proteins: Grass stains often contain proteins, such as enzymes and amino acids, which can bond with the fibers of clothing. These protein-based components can be resistant to regular washing.
  • Oils and Pigments: Grass also contains natural oils and pigments that can penetrate fabric fibers, further embedding the stain.
  • Quick Drying: If the grass stain is allowed to dry, it can set into the fabric, making it more challenging to remove. The sun can also “bake” the stain into the fabric.

Using the wrong method to clean it may lock the stain in forever, and other methods may just cause it to fade. When you follow the steps outlined below, you will gently loosen the awful stain-causing ingredients, release their choke hold on the fabric, and then lift them off to eliminate any signs of a stain.

Top 5 Ways To Clean Grass Stains On Jeans

Using Quick N Brite is pretty fool-proof for this job, but if you don’t have any yet, and you want to get started right away, you can try something else instead. Below is a list of traditional options and home remedies that have proven to be effective for this task. Any cleaning solution in the list that follows should help you remove the grass stain on your jeans, so give one a try to tackle the job today, using stuff you already have at home. If you prefer an easier way, or a method that’s guaranteed to work, continue reading to learn about the easy way to complete this job.

1. Remove The Stain With Vinegar

Regular white distilled vinegar is a commonly recommended home remedy for this job. It’ll work to remove the pigment from jeans, and it’ll also work on other fabrics too. Extremely safe and natural, this common household item will work fairly well for cleaning grass stains on jeans, if you use it correctly.

Don’t try to use vinegar on a large spot because it’s not extremely powerful, and don’t go into it thinking that you’ll lift the whole spot quickly. This stuff works best as a pre-treater, but you can also use it to lift off one layer at a time by applying it to the stain directly. For best results, saturate the green spot with white distilled vinegar prior to washing, then launder like normal. Depending on the severity of the stain, vinegar may work to remove the spot completely, it may cause some fading, or it may not work at all. This method is very safe, and not at all risky, but it may not be as effective as other options.

How To Do It:

  1. To Use as a Pre-Treater: Apply full strength vinegar right to the stain, and allow it time to soak. After soaking, launder like normal to remove the stain.
  2. To Spot Clean: Use full strength or dilute a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water. Apply directly, or apply to the stain with a spray bottle.
  3. Let the cleaner sit, then blot to lift the stain.
  4. Repeat as needed to eliminate the grass stain, then rinse the area or launder.

2. Use Rubbing Alcohol To Lift The Stain

Not as safe as vinegar, but often more effective, rubbing alcohol is another item you probably have at home already. You’ll want to be careful with it because rubbing alcohol can damage some fabrics, but for regular jeans, it should be OK to try. This technique is a slow fix because it also works best as a pre-treater, so you shouldn’t expect full removal of the stain until after you launder your pants.

Rubbing alcohol is not a soap, and it works by breaking down the chlorophyll. The alcohol itself is not really good at cleaning, but it will loosen the pigment in order to give you the opportunity to clean it with something else.

How To Do It:

  1. To Use as a Pre-Treater: Apply the rubbing alcohol, full strength, directly to the stain. Leave it in place for several minutes to dissolve the pigment, then launder like normal to remove the stain from the jeans.
  2. To Spot Clean: Use a cotton ball to apply the alcohol, and completely saturate the green spot.
  3. Let the rubbing alcohol sit for a moment, then flush the area with water.
  4. After rinsing, use dish soap to scrub the area, then rinse again to remove the green stain.
  5. Repeat as necessary until the jeans are clean.
  6. Once spot cleaned toss into the laundry for best results. Once washed, the stain should be completely gone in most cases.

3. Use a Combination of Bleach and Peroxide To Clean The Stain

If you have very light colored jeans, you can try this method, but you should be extremely careful, and you should be aware of the possible damage that may occur. In order for this method to work, the solution needs to sit for a while so any fabric that is sensitive or brightly colored would be off limits unless you want to trade a green spot for a white one. If you’re working with very light jeans or some other white clothing, then you should be good to give this method a try.

The ingredients are pretty harsh, so you’ll want to be careful, but when used on the right surface, the results can be positive. You may want to test it out on a small area first to make sure the mixture won’t ruin the jeans you’re cleaning, but this can be an effective way to complete the job with stuff you already have at home.

How To Do It:

  1. To prepare for cleaning, mix 1/4 cup of bleach with 1/4 cup of peroxide, then add that mixture to one cup of water.
  2. Pour the resulting homemade cleaning solution into a spray bottle.
  3. Apply the cleaner to the stain by spraying it on carefully. Make sure to saturate the stained area only.
  4. Once the stain is saturated with cleaner, allow it to sit for at least thirty minutes.
  5. After the cleaner has had time to work, rinse the jeans out thoroughly, then launder like normal.

4. Try Regular Laundry Detergent To Remove The Stain

A simple washing with detergent will not clean a grass stain on jeans, but if you use the detergent in a concentrated way, it can work on this job. This method is slightly risky in terms of damage, but it should be safe for almost any type of clothing when applied carefully.

Laundry detergents that have ammonia or de-greasing agents in them don’t seem to work as well as those with color safe bleach, so take care when choosing the detergent for this task. Use the laundry soap as a pre-treater by applying a good amount right on the stain. The concentrated soap will loosen and lift the stain, so when you wash them like normal afterward, the green spot should wash away easily.

How To Do It:

  1. To clean the stain, use full strength laundry detergent, and apply it directly to the stain on your jeans.
  2. Once on the soap is on there, work it in, and then let it sit for at least fifteen minutes.
  3. After the detergent sits for a while, wash the jeans like normal.
  4. Once the cycle finishes, your pants should be pretty darn clean.

5. Try Stain Sticks and Other Spot Removers To Complete The Job

Not all store-bought stain removers will work, and they are all pretty expensive, but if you have one at home, why not give it a try? Make sure to read the directions for the product you are using as some are more dangerous than others, and each will have slightly different instructions for use. These sticks and liquids do not guarantee results any more than anything else, but they are quick and easy to try, and the risk of permanent damage is minimal because they are formulated for use on fabric. As with anything else, if it sorta works the first time around, a second application may get the area totally clean.

How To Do It:

  1. To try a commercial stain stick or liquid, follow the steps in the instructions provided.
  2. Repeat as necessary for desired results.
  3. To complete the job, launder your jeans like normal to remove any residual cleanser.

An Easy Way To Remove Grass Stains On Jeans

Supplies Required:

  1. Quick N Brite Paste
  2. Heavy Solution (optional) – 3Tbsp QB liquid mixed into 1 quart of water
  3. Terry cloth towel or cleaning rag

Our method does require the use of a cleaning product you may not have yet, but this powerful, all natural cleaner is great for this job, plus hundreds others, and it’ll pay for itself once you save the first pair of jeans.

If you don’t have any yet, or if you refuse to try the best all natural cleaner on the planet, you can scroll back to the list of traditional cleaning solutions to complete the job. They may not be as effective, but you probably have the stuff required to try one or more of the techniques listed, and one of them may help you get the stain out today.

grass stain jeans step one

Step 1: Prepare For Cleaning

Before starting to remove the grass stain on your jeans, you’ll want to gather your supplies, and place the pants on a flat surface so the dirty spot is easy to work with.

To begin, we sprayed the affected area with some heavy solution. This step is not required, but it can make the whole process faster and easier. If you don’t want to mix any, or if you don’t have a spray bottle on hand, you can also prep the area by wetting it with water instead. Make sure to saturate the whole area.

cleaning grass stained jeans step two

Step 2: Apply The Cleaner

After you prep the stain with water or heavy solution, get some paste and apply it to the area. Just scoop out a little bit with your hand, and slap it on the grass stain. Once in place, take your fingernail, and work it in a little using a side-to-side, or back-and-forth motion.

It should look something like the photo above. The key to this step, is to use plenty of cleaner, and make sure that it penetrates the fabric well enough to touch all areas that are stained. You don’t really need to scrub, but you do need to ensure that all green spots are coated thoroughly, and that the cleaner is thoroughly worked into the fabric of the jeans.

If you don’t want to use your hand, you can also apply the cleaner with a towel or rag, and then work it in gently with a small brush. There is no risk to your skin because it’s made with safe and natural ingredients, but some people may prefer to avoid touching it.

After applying the cleaner, JUST LET IT SIT for ten minutes or more. This step is very important because it allows the cleaner time to work. While it sits, the Quick N Brite will break down the chlorophyll, release it’s bond with the jeans, and allow you to easily lift the whole stain off the material.

clean grass stained jeans step three

Step 3: Let It Sit, Then Remove The Stain

Once you let the cleaner sit on the stain for a while, come back with a dry terry cloth towel or a good cleaning rag, and buff the area. Rub up-and-down and back-and-forth to remove all of the cleaner and the dirt. You’ll notice that the stain transfers from the jeans, onto the towel.

This part only takes a moment, and when you finish, the jeans will be clean, or at least mostly clean. If you look at the photo above, you can see that after one application, in this case, some green was still visible on the surface of the pants. At this point, you could probably just toss the jeans into the wash and they would come out totally clean, but for the sake of demonstration, we continued with a repeat application in order to fully eliminate the stain prior to washing.

cleaning grass stained jeans step four

It’s tough to see the degree of staining left when the material is still wet, so we let it dry. The picture above shows how the pants looked after a single application, and after drying all the way. If we had let the cleaner sit longer, or if we had attempted to clean the stain sooner, the first application may have been enough to finish the job. In this case, it was not.

cleaning grass stained jeans step 5

Step 4: Reapply The Cleaner As Needed

The second application of cleaner was applied to the stain in the same way as the first, and it was also allowed to sit for about ten minutes afterward again. This time around we did use less of the spray, and more of the paste in order to make the solution stronger and ensure it would be the last one.

cleaning grass stained jeans step 6

Step 5: Eliminate Remaining Grass Stain

After sitting, we removed the cleaner again with our dry towel, and with it came the remaining grass stain. With the green color eliminated, we allowed the jeans time to dry, and once done, they were totally wearable again.

Start to finish, this did take an hour or more, but most of the time was waiting for it to dry. If you’re in a hurry, and there’s no time to wait, you could use a blow dryer on the area to speed things up. The picture above shows the stained area immediately after cleaning, and the one below shows the spot after the pants were dry.

grass stain jeans cleaned

Before and After

Take a final look at the results. The picture above shows the clean pants, and the one below shows a side by side comparison of the spot before and after cleaning. As you can see, the once destroyed jeans, are now nice and blue again. It took very little effort, and there was never any risk of damage. With just a few simple steps we easily cleaned the grass stain on the jeans.

grass stain jeans before and after

Pre-Treat The Stain Instead

If you aren’t in a hurry, or if you’re kind of lazy, you can get the same results with even less effort by using Quick N Brite as a laundry pre-treater. To do this, simply smear and scratch some cleaner into any stain before you toss it into the laundry basket. Make sure to do it at least 8 hours prior to washing for best results, but then just launder as normal to make almost any stain disappear.

This method can give the same stunning results, and it takes hardly any effort at all, but the trade-off is that it takes much longer. If you need to wear the clothes right away, or if you want to ensure total removal prior to washing which may cause some stains to set in, then use the method above. If you just want the fastest, easiest, and safest way to remove nearly any stain from a piece of clothing, and you don’t care about speed, go with this pre-treat method.

Tips For Success

To effectively remove grass stains on the first try, and avoid common annoyances, consider the following tips:

  1. Act Quickly: The sooner you address the stain, the better. Try to remove as much of the grass as possible before it dries and sets.
  2. Pre-treat: Apply a pre-treatment stain remover or a mixture of liquid laundry detergent and water to the stain. Gently rub the fabric together to work in the stain remover.
  3. Use Enzyme-Based Stain Removers: Enzyme-based stain removers are effective at breaking down proteins found in grass stains. Look for products specifically designed for grass stains.
  4. Avoid Hot Water: Hot water can set protein-based stains like grass stains, so use cold or lukewarm water when washing the stained item.
  5. Check Fabric Care Labels: Always follow the care instructions on your clothing or fabric. Some fabrics may require special care to prevent damage during stain removal.
  6. Repeat as Needed: Stubborn grass stains may require multiple treatments. Be patient and persistent in your stain removal efforts.
  7. Air Dry: After treating the stain, air dry the garment to check if the stain is completely gone. Heat from a dryer can set stains, so avoid this until you’re sure the stain is gone.

Remember that different fabrics and denim finishes can respond differently to stain removal methods. Always test any stain remover or treatment on an inconspicuous area of the jeans first to ensure it doesn’t cause damage or discoloration. Additionally, patience and persistence may be required for stubborn grass stains.

Don’t worry the next time your kid walks in saying “what?!” as you ask them what the heck happened to the knees of their jeans. Whether you use the guaranteed method we outlined above, or you choose to try stuff you have at home, you should be able to get the grass stain clean, and make the jeans wearable again.

More About Cleaning Grass Stains Without Effort

Did you try it? How did it go? If you’ve tried this cleaning method, please share your results in the comments below.

Got a better way to clean grass stains? If you have another technique that works well for grass stains on jeans, and you don’t see it mentioned here, use the comments section below to share with others.

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  1. Another good article with actual doable tips. Usually when i get grass stains or other kind of stains on my jeans, I sent them to Austin laundry service (Reid’s Cleaners & Laundry) to do the cleaning job for me. Not to sound lazy, i did tried couple of DIYs to remove the stain but non work or did not give the satisfactory result.
    Will try the tips you’ve shared in this post.

     

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