About
Cleaning Explained answers one question at a time: how do I get this out of that? Each guide gives the method first, then the reason it works.
Most cleaning advice is a list of tricks. The trouble with tricks is that they fail without warning: hot water that works on a grease spot sets a blood stain for good, and the soap that lifts mud can fix a tea stain into cotton. So this site is organized the other way round. Every stain belongs to a type, such as protein, tannin, oil, dye or a combination, and the type decides what will work. Once you know the type, you can handle stains we haven't written about.
What you'll find here
- Stains: a guide for each common stain, and separate step-by-step pages where the surface changes the method, such as blood on clothes, on a mattress or in carpet.
- Smells: what causes each odor and how to remove the source instead of covering it.
- Cleaning guides: floors, appliances, bathrooms and furniture, matched to the material.
- Laundry and care symbols, what common cleaning agents really do, and the chemicals you must never mix.
How we research and check our guides
Methods come from published guidance by organizations that study textiles and cleaning: university extension services, the American Cleaning Institute, the Carpet and Rug Institute, the EPA, CDC and poison centers, the FTC's care labeling rule, and the safety data sheets for the chemicals involved. Each guide lists its sources at the bottom. Where sources disagree, we say so; where a popular trick has little evidence behind it, we say that too.
We don't claim tests we haven't done. Our guides are not lab results, and the step drawings are illustrations, not photos of our own experiments. Fabrics, dyes and finishes vary, so every guide tells you to test a hidden spot first and when a stain is a job for a professional cleaner.
We name products by what they are (oxygen bleach, enzyme detergent, rubbing alcohol), not by brand. No company pays to be mentioned. The site carries no advertising today.
Corrections
If a method didn't work for you, or you spot a mistake, please tell us through the contact page. We review every report and update the guide and its date when something changes.
The company that publishes Cleaning Explained is identified in our privacy policy. You can reach us at [email protected].