How To Rescue a Stained Crochet or Knitting Project with Unicorn Beyond Clean #TipsTuesday

Last month, I went to Phoenix for 5 days for Creativation, the annual conference of the Association for Creative Industries. Spinrite, the company behind Yarnspirations, was exhibiting with a booth and I thought it would be fun to wear my Two-Toned Diamonds Infinity Scarf when I stopped by. Except for this tiny detail. You see, it isn’t really “my” Two-Toned Diamonds Infinity Scarf anymore, because I gave it to my mom over the winter holidays. She was kind enough to let me borrow it back for my trip, though. (Cue the foreboding music.)

This post contains affiliate links. Supplies for this post were generously provided by Unicorn.

The Spinrite booth was a lot of fun and I was glad to be wearing the infinity scarf, especially when the weather took a turn for the much colder that night. (Apparently, January is not nearly as warm in Phoenix as I thought it would be.) I went out to dinner with 9 other crochet bloggers/designers (and yes, that’s as fun as it sounds!) and it was so chilly that I foolishly wore the infinity scarf while eating.

That’s when things went from bad to worse. Naturally, I spilled a giant scoop of pasta Bolognese on the infinity scarf. I did my best to wipe it clean at the restaurant, but basically the scarf was covered in tiny explosions of greasy tomato sauce. (And, it also smelled like not-very-good packaged Bolognese sauce, which my Italian-American mom would definitely not approve of.)

A few years ago, my friend and Knitting Love Link Party co-host Jessie from Jessie At Home had a soot problem in her basement. She used Unicorn products to clean her yarn, and she introduced me to the lovely ladies from Unicorn at TNNA last summer. After our meeting, they sent me the Unicorn Baby Fragrance Free set to try out. Since Jessie was at this dinner with me (and was also my roomie, along with Tamara from Moogly, during the trip), she put my fears to rest by letting me know that Unicorn could and would be able to remove those stains once I got home.

My mom is also very conscientious about the types of chemicals she uses in her cleaning products, so Unicorn Baby products were the perfect solution. (You can read about the ingredients here.) The process was much easier than I expected, so let me show you how I removed tons of small stains and a funky odor from this infinity scarf without driving myself mad by using a cleanser that is safe for sensitive skin.

How To Rescue a Stained Crochet or Knitting Project

As I mentioned, I had the full set of Unicorn Baby products, but Beyond Clean is supposed to be tougher on stains and odors, so clearly, it was the wash for the job. I read through the package instructions and (of course) did my own variation. I used a cap-full of Beyond Clean and combined it with a sink of lukewarm water. (Always base your water temperature on what is most appropriate for your yarn, and when in doubt, use cold water. The yarn for this project can be washed in warm water.)

Once the sink was mostly full, I fully submerged the infinity scarf. I added a bit more water to cover it completely. Then, following instructions (I do that sometimes), I let the infinity scarf sit for 15 minutes.

Once the time was done, I drained the sink completely.

Then I rinsed the infinity scarf with cold water. I didn’t fully submerge it, but I moved the scarf around gently under the water. To make sure it was completely rinsed, I gently pressed out the water until there weren’t any more suds visible.

Once the infinity scarf was rinsed, I folded it into a clean towel. Once it looked like an infinity scarf burrito, I gently squeezed out the excess water. (Do not wring out anything you crochet or knit ever, unless you want your project to be permanently misshapen.)

Then, I laid the infinity scarf flat to dry. I assumed I’d need to wash it again, but I was really excited to see that the stains were all gone and it didn’t smell like canned sauce anymore with just 15 minutes of submersion and a rinse.

Easy peasy! Since I’m not a fan of hand washing, I was glad that one wash with Beyond Clean did the job.

The only problem: My mom came home while I was in the middle of washing the infinity scarf, and she has since claimed my Unicorn Baby washes for herself. I guess that’s all right considering I almost destroyed her gift! (Plus, I can always sneak into her closet and get some Unicorn for me. Since each cleaning job uses such a small amount, she’ll never even notice it’s gone. Bwahahahaha!)