How to remove ketchup stains (and tomato stains!)

Ketchup sure has a way of landing exactly where you don’t want it—here's our guide to treating those stubborn red splotches.

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Here’s what you’ll need

One minute you're taking your first bite of a ballpark dog or adding pasta sauce to a pot, the next you're zeroing in on an unwanted stain. No need to panic. Messes happen, and when they do, here are the supplies you'll need to treat your stain while it's fresh: 

• A utensil (spoon or butter knife) for scraping
• Clean cloth or paper towels
• Cold water
• Liquid laundry detergent OR Lively's Laundry Stain Remover
• Access to a sink or faucet
• Your washing machine
• Patience (ketchup can be stubborn, but it's not impossible)

How to remove ketchup stains from shirts and fabric

Scrape off the excess ketchup

First things first: get that gloppy ketchup off your fabric. Use a spoon or butter knife to gently scrape away as much as possible.

Pro tip: Work from the outside of the stain toward the center. You don't want to spread this mess any further than it already is.

Blot the stain gently

Grab a clean cloth or paper towel and gently blot the remaining ketchup. Don't rub or you'll push that tomato-y goodness deeper into the fabric fibers. Just press and lift, press and lift.

Rinse the back of the stain

Here's where it gets a little counterintuitive: flip your garment inside out and rinse the back of the stain with cold water. This pushes the ketchup out through the front of the fabric instead of deeper into it. Run that cold water for a good 30 seconds to one minute.

Apply a liquid laundry detergent or stain remover

Now for the heavy lifting. You've got options here: a few drops of liquid laundry detergent will do the job, but Lively's Laundry Stain Remover is your secret weapon. Those probiotics don't just tackle the stain. They keep working for days to break down any lingering tomato residue at the microscopic level.

Gently rub the fabric together

No aggressive scrubbing is needed. Just work the cleaning solution into the stain by gently rubbing the fabric against itself. Then, let it sit for a minute or two to do its thing.

Rinse with cold water

Time for another cold water rinse. Keep that water running until it runs clear, and you can't see any more ketchup or cleaning solution coming out. Hot water will set a ketchup stain, so stick with cold.

Check for stain residue

Before you declare victory, take a good look at the treated area. See any lingering red spots? Don't panic. Just repeat steps 4-6 until you're satisfied. Some ketchup stains are more stubborn than others, especially if they've been sitting for a while.

Launder as usual

Toss your garment in the washing machine and run it through a normal cycle. Use your regular detergent and stick with cold water. The combination of pre-treatment and washing should finish off any remaining traces of ketchup.

Air dry completely

Here's the golden rule of stain removal: never put a treated garment in the dryer until you're 100% sure the stain is gone. Heat will set any remaining ketchup permanently. Let your clothes air dry, then inspect them in good light. If you spot any lingering stain, repeat the whole process before the next wash.

Things to know about ketchup on carpet

Got ketchup on your carpet? The basic approach is the same, but with a few important tweaks:

• Follow the same scraping and blotting steps, but skip the flipping-inside-out part (obviously).
• Use a clean cloth dampened with cold water instead of running water directly on your carpet when rinsing.
• For the cleaning step, Lively's Multi-Surface Cleaner works perfectly on carpets and upholstery—just spray and let those probiotics get to work.
• Take your time cleaning and rinsing. Since you can't throw your carpet in the washing machine, the cleaning and rinsing steps become even more important.

You might need to repeat the process a few times, and always finish by blotting the area dry with clean towels.

5 Common ketchup stain mistakes to avoid

Even with the best intentions, it's easy to make ketchup stains worse. Here's what not to do:

1. Don't use hot water. We can't stress this enough—hot water sets ketchup stains permanently. Only use cold water from start to finish.
2. Don't rub the stain. Rubbing pushes ketchup deeper into fabric fibers and can damage delicate materials. Blot, don't rub.
3. Don't skip the pre-treatment.Throwing a ketchup-stained shirt straight into the wash is a recipe for disappointment. Take the time to treat it properly first.
4. Don't use the dryer too soon. Heat is the enemy of stain removal. Always air dry and double-check that the stain is completely gone before using any heat.

No ketchup drama here

Ketchup stains might seem intimidating with their bright red color and sticky texture, but they're totally manageable when you know what you're doing. The key is acting fast, using cold water religiously, and giving your cleaning products time to work their magic. Whether you're dealing with a fresh splatter or a set-in stain, patience and the right technique will have your clothes looking new again. And if you want cleaning power that keeps working long after you're done scrubbing, the probiotics in Lively's products are pretty hard to beat.

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