Dye family: alcohol or a long oxygen soak
How to get liquid medicine (pink, red, purple) out
Children's pain reliever and antibiotics are coloured with food dye and sugar syrup.
Do this first
Rinse cold from the back right away
Fresh stain
- Rinse cold from the back right away
- Gently work in detergent
- Soak in oxygen bleach 1 hour or more
- Wash
Dried or old
- Long oxygen-bleach soak, then on white cotton a diluted chlorine soak after testing
- Fabric care
- Whites only for chlorine.
- Time
- 1 h to overnight
- How to tell
- Look: bright pink, red or purple; Feel: sticky; Smell: candy-like
Where this fix comes from
We check every fix against these published guides. We do not run a test lab of our own.
Before you start
- Test on a hidden seam first.
- Never mix cleaners.
- Keep it out of the dryer until the stain is gone.