Facts About Cleaning Up Coffee Stains.

Making a Mess.

Today's coffee college article is going to be a big one.

When it comes to coffee spills, cleanup, and staining there's a lot to cover, and I want to discuss some good knowledge that will hopefully help you and all of our fellow coffee lovers to maintain a clean coffee experience, because coffee is amazing and delicious but it's also amazingly effective at staining and discoloring whatever it touches.

The primary topics we'll be focusing on today are:

1. Tips and tricks to clean up your coffee maker.
2. How to remove coffee stains from your teeth.
3. Best tips and tricks of how to remove coffee stains from carpet.
4. Best tips and tricks of how to remove coffee stains from clothes.
5. Keeping the best stain free coffee mugs and dishware.
6. Six of the top ways to clean coffee out of almost anything.

First Up, The Holy Coffee Maker.

For those of us that are true coffee addicts our primary focus with our passion isn't so much cleaning our teeth or our dishware, it's the high-quality production of the coffee maker itself, so it's able to continue providing us with the best tasting and most healthy version of coffee that we can make at home with our coffee machine.

If you're wondering what signs to look for when it's time to clean your coffee maker keep an eye and a taste bud out for a different taste in your coffee, oily sludge and mineral build up, (I know, disgusting right?) and stains inside and out of the coffee pot.

These symptoms can clog up your coffee maker and turn the coffee making process into a bitter, less aromatically pleasing experience.

But wait, there's more! And it gets far worse...

Dirty coffee makers also create a large risk of germs, bacteria and mold. Now not only is your coffee not living up to its incredible and delicious potential, but you're risking getting sick or even an infection as well.

Gasp! But there's also hope!

Enter, THE VINEGAR.

How dare you dirty up our glorious coffee makers and put us at risk you filthy germs and mold! I challenge thee to a cleaning duel!

So regardless of what coffee maker, pot, machine, etc. you use vinegar is one of the mightiest ways to clean it out without also ruining it by putting soap in it. (Don't run soap through your percolator or Keurig etc. for the brewing process.)

The first step. Get some white distilled vinegar, the next you need a little time and patience because you DO NOT want to brew a pot of coffee, or run a K-cup right after you do this... Well... unless you like vinegar flavored coffee, I guess.

You will also need water, some coffee filters if applicable to your coffee maker, and a cloth or something else to clean up any spill or mess that happens along the way.

It is advised to clean your coffee maker roughly every 1-3 months depending on how much use it receives, but also remember that moist dark areas promote mold growth, especially when there's no additional movement going through, so much out for an uncommonly used coffee maker as well.

Step two. Now open up your coffee machine's water reservoir. Pour in a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar, and you guessed it, let it run a brewing cycle. Make sure you put a filter in the basket and a coffee pot or cup to catch the liquid. Roughly halfway through the brewing process turn the coffee maker off so we keep some of our vinegar/water solution in the reservoir.

A cool little side note here is that the vinegar will not only murdercate the mold, germs, and bacteria, but also thoroughly help dissolve any mineral buildup as well. With this method you're getting a liquid scrubbing brush with the power of sanitization all in one!

Yeah! Power!

Now you're punching those germs and mold IN THE FACE.

Take that filth, you deserved it for having the audacity to ruin the flavor of our COFFEE. YA PIECE A GAHBAGE!

Ok I'm getting a little out of hand now, back to the coffee maker cleaning process. Calm down Mark... just caalllmmm doown.

You all know how passionate I can get about coffee, so you understand, I'm sure! :)

If not, then have a cup of FRIGGEN CAWFEE and you'll be right on board with me...

Step three. Ok so we've run the brewing process and now we need to let it soak so the vinegar has time to do its full job. Let the remaining solution in the reservoir and carafe (aka coffee pot) to sit for about an hour. You may need to do a bit less or a bit more depending on how dirty the coffee machine is, but an hour is a good middle ground.

Step four. Flushing out the cleaning solution. As most all of you are undoubtedly wise because you love coffee, you've probably already surmised that we need to rinse out the cleaning solutions before we roast another pot of heavenly brew, so our last step is going to be flushing out the coffee maker with just water.

Turn the coffee machine back on and let it finish the vinegar/water solution brewing process, then toss your filter, and pour out the solution. Now repeat the exact same process one to two times to clean out any leftover solution using only water.

Finally wipe down your coffee maker for any spills and you're ready to go, a new victor in the mold wars.

Additional steps for cleaning up your Keurig:

The cleaning solution and brewing process stays the same between the Keurig and other coffee makers, but Keurig's will need a few additional items and steps to fully complete the cleaning process, here's how and what you need.

A toothbrush, some liquid dish detergent, (For scrubbing parts.) some All-purpose cleaner for tougher stains, and of course an empty mug.

You will need the mug to catch the vinegar/water cleaning solution, you know how Keurig's work.

You will also need to remove the detachable parts such as the reservoir on some Keurig's, the drip tray, the cover, and the holder/funnel. For best preservation of these parts wash them in a sink with hot water and dish soap. I would not recommend the dishwasher as a general rule because sometimes the detachable parts are not dishwasher safe.

It's also a good idea to let them soak for ten to fifteen minutes to help weaken any mineral or gunk buildup before scrubbing them.

Scrub the outside of the Keurig down next with a washcloth and a toothbrush. Use the cloth on broader areas, and for smaller detailed sections such as the K-cup holder a toothbrush works great. Keep an eye out for any mineral deposits and scrub them off.

Dry off all the clean parts and reassemble. Now we can successfully run through the same vinegar/water cleaning solution process that we used on our other coffee machine.

Cleaning Up Your Grin.

If you've already read my other article about helping prevent coffee stains on your teeth then you already have a good idea on some of the best tips to keep the effects of teeth stain down.

But we're talking about all things coffee cleaning, so let's discuss how to clean our teeth after they are already stained.

Here's the deal, the best method for keeping our teeth coffee clean may not seem overly appealing at first, it certainly is not to me.

But trust me when I tell you about this that using this method will be very helpful in keeping the coffee stains off and removing them from your teeth.

The answer? Hydrogen peroxide mixed with baking soda. The exact amount will depend on how much you're trying to make, but I like to add a few drops of hydrogen peroxide to about a tablespoon of baking soda. This should make a runny paste, and you should brush your teeth twice a day with it to help remove coffee stains.

You can do this in addition to your normal brushing to help even more.

There's also the option of using teeth-whitening products and whitening strips. You could even have your teeth cleaned using specialty dentist only whitening's, but I'm NOT a dentist and everyone's teeth are different so before you start doing any of these options consult your dentist first.

I haven't tried this next one myself, but I've also been told (By coffee loving friends and my own internet research after hearing about it.) that coconut oil is also very helpful for removing teeth stains. It's actually an antibacterial agent and helps whiten your teeth at the same time. You can brush it on like toothpaste or you can rub it on and let it sit for a minute or so.

But don't use too much! Otherwise you will just have a coconut oily mess in your mouth, but this method probably tastes better than the hydro baking soda mix. I cook without coconut oil on the regular and it makes my fried chicken amazing.

Some other helpful tips to add to your growing stain removing arsenal is switching to an electric toothbrush, and making sure that you brush about 30 minutes after every cup of friggen cawfee.

Eating raw fruits with acidic content like lemons, limes, and strawberries can also help, due to not only their acid but also the fibers naturally in them. Who knew!

The Coffee Carpet Conundrum.

As we've already said, coffee is amazing, but with each great thing there's also risk, and the next risk is the staining of the carpet.

Few things can feel more tragic in our home décor that staining our carpet with things like ketchup, soy sauce, or coffee.

While this knowledge packed article is only about ways to remove coffee stains, the carpet cleaning methods I'm about to talk about with you will be helpful for removing almost any stains from carpet.

Without further a due let's talk about how to remove coffee stains from car seats and carpet.

This guide is also going to include car seats and upholstery because the cleaning methods and effectiveness used in removing coffee stains from your carpet will work equally well on all three.

You're sitting there on your couch, just trying to get in the next episode of The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power (Amazing show.), and the unthinkable happens.... You reach for your coffee mug while being sucked in to the amazedness of the show and instead you knock it over.

Time slows down for you as your mind begins to panic in desperation and denial of what just took place, and within milliseconds the coffee splashes all onto your brand-new white rug below... oh no.... the horror.... the despair.

Step one. Calm down but act swiftly. The best first steps are NOT to try and scrub it out with water or a dry towel. The first step needs to be to place a dry towel, rag, or paper towel on it to dab and blot clean it up. Again, do not scrub as it will only further spread the coffee stain and actually force the stain in deeper.

The faster you act here the better.

Step two. Now with the primary amount of liquid absorbed and removed from the carpet get a bucket or something similar and mix two cups of warm or hot water with one tablespoon of dish soap (Dawn works best in my opinion.) with one tablespoon of vinegar.

Yeah, vinegar is back on the scene. *flex*

Now use a clean towel and once again dab or blot clean the area. It's best to use a white towel so that dye from a colored towel does not transfer to your carpet. The mixture here is designed to remove color stains, so it can pull dye from fabric as well.

Keep repeating the dab/blot method until the stain is gone.

Step Three. Finally grab another white towel or a sponge and use cold water to rinse the area gently, blot-dab clean and then let it dry.

You can use this same method on car seats and other upholstery to great effect.

The Coffee Clothing Conundrum.

With carpet covered we'll move on to clothing now.

The items and solutions used here are going to be similar to carpet, but with some differences as well so we needed to create a section specific to clothing.

You may be wondering things now like, How to remove coffee stains from clothes or how to remove coffee stains from white jeans.

Well there's hope here too. With the continued advancement of chemistry few stains are unreachable or untouchable, and once again one of our greatest allies in this fight will be the folk hero legend, Distilled White Vinegar.

Vinegar flex! Nobody pumps iron like vinegar!

Alright, I'm starting to feel myself get out of hand again. Let's focus here man.

Getting coffee stains on your clothes is even more of a risk than on your carpet. Why? Because most of us (Most...) don't drink our coffee naked, therefore clothing is always just a single spilled drop away from having a new coffee stain on it.

Here's some things you'll need to have on hand for removing stains from your clothing.

Nifty links added in case you need to order any of these items.

1. Microfiber cloth.
2. Cold water.
3. Liquid Laundry Detergent.
4. OxiClean (YEAH! Billy Mays, God rest his soul.)
5. Bleach.
6. A stain spray solution like Shout!

Step One. We're going to start with the dab/blot method again here. As a reminder never scrub a fresh stain, as it does a great job spreading it around. This time instead of a towel we'll be using a microfiber cloth.

You can use a wash cloth or towel but the most effective method is with microfiber on clothing.

If you have finer, more expensive clothing you can also roughen up the stain area by scrubbing as well, so a gentle hand always works best.

If the clothing item is dry clean only then stop and take it to a professional. If you own your own dry cleaning business than you have this covered.

Step two. If the clothing item is machine washable then rinse the spot with cold water.

Step Three. Mix the cleaning solution. Take a tablespoon of white vinegar and a tablespoon of liquid laundry detergent, and mix them together. Put the solution on the stain and let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour while it does its job.

Step Four. The cleaning solution will pull the stain up and out (Mostly if not completely.) for you and you can now safely put the clothing into the washing machine as you normally would. (You can use some bleach here if you're just doing whites.)

If your first machine wash does not get the stain out completely DO NOT run it through the dryer. Doing so will lock in the stain and make it next to impossible to get out. It won't hurt to repeat steps two-four if you need to.

Optional Step Five. If you prefer specific stain removers like the OxiClean or Shout! mentioned above, you can either try using them by themselves or in addition to the vinegar/detergent solution.

Now let's say your clothing was stained before you learned all this, and it's been run in the dryer anyways. Let's say that its white, like the white jeans mentioned before.

Not all hope is completely lost. Here's where the OxiClean really comes into play.

You can try to remove it by using 1/4 of a cup of bleach like OxiClean's version or another bleach that is preferably chlorine free mixed with one gallon of water. If you're clothing is colored OxiClean's oxygen based bleached should be safe to use on it. Let it soak for about 5-10 minutes and then you can run it through the washing machine like normal.

Here's some tips on things to avoid.

1. Don't use lemon juice. The sugar inside natural lemon juice can sometimes act opposite of what you want and help the stain set in more.
2. DO NOT directly apply bleach to the fabric, whether it's on white clothes or colored. This can damage the fabric and even make the spot discolored.
3. Make sure you're using the right type of bleach for the job. Oxygen based bleaches for colors, and chlorine free whenever possible.
4. Baking soda is not effective with coffee on clothing. Coffee is a tannins-based stain, so something acidic is needed to help remove it, and baking soda is an alkaline based solution.

Mug Messes and Dishware.

I realize by this time there could be some confusion when it comes to how we've been talking about baking soda dos and do nots.

So, before we move on to Mugs and Dishware let me add some clarification.

We use baking soda mixed with hydrogen peroxide for our teeth because the unique properties of them mixed together not only clean our teeth, but also remove the stains and whiten them. The alkaline nature of baking soda does not provide the same affect when working on fabric.

Now we will once again be using baking soda in the cleaning of mugs and dishware. The effect here is very similar to what happens when we use it during the cleaning of our teeth, and I didn't want to continue without adding some understand to something I myself found confusing at one point.

Moving onto the dishes and mugs now.

Cleaning up mugs and other types of dishes involved with coffee uses our best stain removing friend distilled white vinegar... Ok I won't do a vinegar flex this time. (But I will again later....)

But first we need to add baking soda.

Take your mug or dish and sprinkle some baking soda on the bottom, add just a touch of white vinegar and watch it bubble up.

Give it 5-10 minutes to chill out and relax man, then you can rinse it out with some clean water.

Next throw some more of the baking soda in and add water to make a paste. Sponge or scrub it clean with something abrasive to help remove the stains, and finally rinse and wash it like normal.

If that doesn't work or you want to be extra thorough you can try Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (I have some under my sink and they work super friggen awesome.) to help boost your cleaning game another step.

The Final Six: Six more of the Best Tips for Coffee Stain Removal.

As I promised all the way back towards the beginning of this book sized, yet utterly delicious and informative article, below are six more of the best-known tips for helping clean up coffee stains.

1. Numba Friggen One. The Water Blotter. We've already gone in depth with how many areas this is used in, but to reinforce why this method helps dilute the stain and weaken the deep coffee colors from the surface they are trying to stain. Sometimes water is even enough to get all the coffee up and out before a stain set in if you are gentle and fast enough.
2. Numba Friggen Two. Join the club pal, the club soda. Club Soda has some great properties that not only make it good for consumption but also another contender in helping remove coffee stains from carpet or clothing.
3. Numba Friggen Three. BEER! You much like myself might find it surprising to discover that beer is an affective carpet coffee stain removal method. Pour some beer on the stain and give it a gentle dab and rub and you should see a major difference.
4. Numba Friggen Foah. The baking soda. Baking soda works great for your teeth and your mugs, but a remember, keep it away from your clothing for tannins-based coffee stains.
5. Numba Friggen Five. Salt. Mix some salt with water and you have a strong opponent to coffee stains. This keeps you away from harsh or toxic chemicals but grants you some natural cleaning solution power. Throw a sprinkle of salt onto a sponge or a rough towel, wet it with water, and gently rub and dab the coffee stain. Be especially careful if you're using salt crystals, because their larger size can tear fabric more easily.
6. Numba Friggen Six. Vinegar. YEAH! FLEX! Not holding back this time!!!

Among all the coffee stain fighting beasts' vinegar is the raining champ. Forget nonsense science, let's look at the facts!

• Vinegar works out 7 times a day for 7 hours each time. Oh Yea! How is this possible? Well, why dont you just step up to Vinegar's face and ask if you're brave enough.
• Vinegar has friggen laser beam superpowers and heat vision.
• Vinegar can control time.
• Vinegar tastes good on potato chips, especially with salt. Thanks Lays.
• Vinegar is friends with Morgan Freeman.
• Vinegar is also friends with Chuck Norris and Mr. T.
• In 1977 Vinegar won every category in the Olympics as a gold medalist and also won the World Heavy Weight Boxing and Kick-Boxing tournaments and is undefeated to this day.
• Vinegar supports and loves all peoples regardless of their ethnicity or background and is a strong advocate for unity.
• Jesus used it.

Ok, I'm not going to calm down at this point, but let's be reasonable for a second and throw some science your way too.

• Distilled White Vinegar is white, so it won't add other color stains to your coffee-stained items.
• White vinegar is safe for human consumption and won' hurt you or your kids like bleach or other harsh chemicals.
• Vinegar is so dang cheap.
• It has so many different ways it can be made delicious.
• It's a great cleansing acid.
• It's healthy. Especially if you consume it in the form of Apple Cider Vinegar with The Mother. (Seriously do some research on this, especially if you have issues with heartburn, it will change your life like it did mine.)

After ALL of that being said and read, I hope you feel more educated and prepared than ever to combat coffee stains, to keep your sipping super and satisfying.

Thank you for making it all the way to the end of this beefy article. I appreciate you and my other readers so very much, and I hope you have the best day ever!

Happy sipping coffee lovers!

Thanks for stopping by Friggen Cawfee and reading this article! As always, I’m more than glad to help answer your questions and provide input for all your coffee questions.

You can email me at Mark@friggencawee.com

– Mark, Friggen Cawfee Connoisseur