Cleaning stained blazer sleeves - help please!

thunderbird

I posted this in another forum, but thought there may be some old fashioned remedy for this so posting here too.....

My 11 year old has a very unpleasant habit of wiping his nose on his sleeve. At school this means it is on his blazer sleeve.

Despite washing, the marks are not coming off and it is looking pretty disgusting. I am supplying him with endless tissues to try and stop him doing it any more, but does anyone have any advise on how to get rid of the stains?

Any advise gratefully received as I can't bear to look at him in his uniform at the moment!

moonpixiewitch

have you tried soaking for an hour in salt water ? then wash as normal.
- thats what my gran used to do with hankies !:xmassmile

seasalt_2

My mum and grandma also used to soak things in cold water with salt added, especially for eg blood, and I think it did work, but I don't really understand why as salt is also a common dye fixative?

babyshoes

You could always sew some extra buttons on his sleeves to discourage him - apparently this is where decorative (as opposed to practical) cuff buttons first got used - to discourage servants from using their sleeves to wipe their noses! I am sure the school won't mind if you a) explain why you have done it and emphasise that you will remove them as soon as you can, and b) find buttons that more or less match those already on the blazer!

Also, put buttons/rough textured 'decorative' patches on his other sleeves to break the habit of doing it on his other clothes. Ok, so he could just cut them off if you do it without his consent, but at 11 he should be able to understand why it is an undesirable habit, and co-operate with you to help him break it. You can always help him to remove them in a while when he has stopped doing it, and maybe reward him with a new garment with unsullied sleeves, if that is something that would inspire him!

To get the marks off in the first place, I am sure a good soak and hand scrub would do the job, but it's not something you want to have to do regularly!