Background: I work with old people. Among other things I clean their homes. I get to see a lot of strange Mystery Dirt. This writeup is about a certain type of stubborn stains which I have found a way to remove.

Description: It is found in bathrooms in sinks and bathtubs, on kitchen cupboards, fridges, on and around stoves, and in some other places. It is a type of stain that ordinary detergents just don't seem to be able to handle, no matter how much you scrub! Usually it is grey (or a little darker than the, usually white, surface it is on) and you can tell there's some dirt on there. You just can't seem to affect it in any way...

My method: dissolve the stain with butter (or cooking oil). This turns that stubborn old stain into a fresh grease stain, which can be cleaned with ordinary detergents.

This also works on the white stuff that soap leaves on the glass walls of your shower.


Of course, what works on any particular stain depends on what it consists of.

For example Protector of Mankind wrote to me: "my favorite stain removing trick is hand sanitizer (high alcohol content) to remove marker stains. Takes time but you can remove marker from wood with hand sanitizer!"

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