When that drop of mustard fell, you probably inwardly groaned at the sight and immediately thought, “Oh great, now what?” You were right to be concerned about the stain. Mustard is more than just an unsightly, temporary inconvenience.

When you’ve taken up the challenge of mustard stain removal, you must arm yourself with information about the staining agent. Mustard is a thick yellowish-brown paste with a sharp taste made from the ground seeds of a mustard plant (white or yellow mustard, Sinapis hirta; brown or Indian mustard, Brassica juncea; or black mustard, Brassica nigra).

The mustard seeds are mixed with water, vinegar or other liquids, as well as other flavorings and spices. A strong mustard can cause the eyes to water, burn the palate and inflame the nasal passages. There are many varieties of mustard that come in a wide range of strengths and flavors. The basic taste and "heat" of the mustard is largely determined by seed type, preparation and ingredients. Black seeded mustard is generally regarded as the hottest type.

Mustard, particularly the classic yellow variety, contains turmeric. Turmeric is a yellow dye that’s present both in the mustard seed itself and in the commercially produced mustard as an additive to enhance the yellow color.

Turmeric bonds extremely well with fabric and is a natural disperse dye. Mustard stains must be tackled promptly as older mustard stains are next to impossible to remove. Because turmeric is a dye, if it’s not treated as quickly as possible, you could be faced with a newly-dyed polka dot on your shirt!

Before you start trying to remove the mustard, please be sure to read the labels on anything that you’re going to use. The absolute worst thing in the world to put on a mustard stain is ammonia. Ammonia reacts with turmeric to set it even more permanently than it naturally sets itself.

If you use a cleanser with ammonia on the stain, you’re officially ensuring that your item will have a lovely yellow adornment for all time. Also, be sure to read the care label on the item. Some treatments that may work on cotton could destroy silk or wool.

Basic Mustard Stain Removal

• The best time to catch and treat the stain is when it’s fresh and still moist. Immediately blot the stain—do not rub it in, because you don’t want to spread the turmeric onto unstained fabric and/or set it even more deeply into the fabric fibers.
  Treat the fabric as quickly as possible with a commercial pre-treating solution, and wash immediately according to your normal laundering routine. Hopefully, you will have caught the stain quickly enough to avoid the stain setting in. If not, it’s time to move on to more in-depth measures.
• If the mustard stain is old, first remove excess; if you find the mustard stain after it’s already dried, all may not be lost. The first step is to remove any excess mustard. The crusty portion of the stain needs to be long-gone before you begin to treat the fabric, or you risk spreading the stain once it becomes moist again.
  Use a dull knife, the edge of a credit card, a spatula or anything that won’t damage the fabric, but scrapes easily, to scrape away any excess mustard. Be sure that you shake away all the scrapings so that you don’t find smaller yellow dots as an unwelcome surprise later.
• As already mentioned, this method is best done on old stains, but be careful and see to it that during the process of scraping you don’t further spread the stain. You could afterwards soak the fabric in a solution of dishwashing liquid and denatured alcohol (mixed in the ratio of 3:1) for about 15 minutes.
  While doing this, the stain might just turn dark, but be assured that it will wash out. Follow the soak with a hot water rinse. You might have to repeat this process when undertaking the task of mustard stain removal.
• For mustard stain removal, bleaching is always a good option, with chlorine bleach being especially effective, especially if the garment is white. However, before using any kind of bleach, the garment care instructions must be read, and the fabric must be tested for colorfastness. If the fabric is not colorfast, avoid using bleach. Bleaching leads to an overall lightening of the colors on that garment.

Remember, if bleaching is going to make the stain disappear, it is going to bring that about within 15 minutes. Do not bleach a garment for longer than that, for it would make the fabric weak. Color removers are also available, but they tend to remove some of the color from the fabric itself as well.

Advanced Mustard Stain Removal

Mustard stains can be some of the most difficult to treat and remove. There are options out there to try, however, before immediately relegating your garment to the rag bag. If all else fails, a white garment can be treated with chlorine bleach and then rinsed quickly to avoid fabric fiber damage.

Any item that is not washable is best treated by a dry cleaning professional. Always test the solutions on an inconspicuous corner or seam allowance of the fabric to ensure that it doesn’t affect the color or feel of the fabric.

• The Hair of the Dog: No, this isn’t a remedy for the morning after an unfortunate bout of over imbibing. However, the same premise can apply to mustard stains. If you know the exact type of mustard from the stain, cover the stain with fresh mustard.

  Let it sit for about five minutes, and then treat as listed for a fresh stain. Sometimes, the ingredients in the mustard can revive the turmeric in the stain and trick the stain into being fresh again. A fresh stain is always the easiest type of stain to remove.



• Vinegar, Water and Dish Soap: Another option with items easily found in your home is a solution of vinegar, water, and dish soap.

  Mix approximately a half-teaspoon of dish soap, a half-cup of water, and a few drops of white vinegar. Apply the solution to the mustard stain (again using an absorbent material underneath) and allow soaking. Rinse well with hot water and launder.

• Enzymatic Cleaner: If these more natural remedies don’t remove the mustard stain, your best option is to use a commercial enzymatic cleanser. Two of the more popular are Axion; however, any product that has on its label that it’s for protein-based stains and is safe for fabric should do. Be sure to read the label thoroughly to ensure that you follow the directions explicitly.

Mustard stain FAQ

How can you prevent mustard stains?

Have a presence of mind when eating. If you can’t help making a mess, avoid staining your shirt by wearing a ratty old shirt you use for, say, painting the house or just put a big bib over your shirt to avoid any unnecessary staining.

Now these suggestions may sound inane and anal to you, but you know what they say about an ounce of prevention and a pound of cure. Fact of the matter is, removing mustard stains is more trouble than they’re worth, so avoid it if you possibly can through fortuitous carefulness.