How to Get Tomato Sauce Out of Clothes

Tomato sauce is a delicious staple of beloved dishes—lasagna, pizza, and a hundred pastas in between—but when a blob of the stuff lands in your lap or splatters find their way onto your white shirt, tomato sauce goes from beloved to despised.

Tomato sauce has a reputation for being a difficult stain to remove from clothing, and it earned that reputation. It is a combination stain, so removing tomato sauce from clothing can sometimes require more than one method or product.

This guide to removing tomato sauce from clothes provides guidance and instruction for treating these tricky stains, from fresh tomato sauce stains that just happened to dried and deeply set-in tomato sauce stains.

Things to Know Before You Start

Learn About Tomato Sauce Stains

Tomato sauce is what’s known as a combination stain—a stain that has two or more distinct components, such as protein and tannin or oil and pigment. In the case of tomato sauce, the combination includes oil and tannins, the chemical substances that give many fruits their characteristic color. If the tomato sauce contains meat, protein might be in the stain. 

Review Laundry Instructions

Before treating a tomato sauce stain on clothing, review the laundering instructions on the garment’s care tag.

Garments labeled dry-clean can be sent out for professional cleaning or spot-treated at home using an at-home dry cleaning kit, dry-cleaning solvent, or a stain remover that is formulated to remove stains from dry-clean-only fabrics without causing damage.

For machine washable fabrics, the care tag provides information about the water temperature the garment can be washed in; take note of that, and use the hottest water the garment can tolerate because tomato sauce stains with their oily component are best washed in the hottest water allowed. Additionally, note if the fabric content listed on the care label includes silk, wool, or leather, and avoid using oxygen bleach on those fabrics.

Beware the Dryer

Tomato stains can be stubborn and difficult to remove, so after washing an item of clothing stained with tomato sauce, it’s critical to ensure the stain is completely gone before putting the garment in the dryer. The high heat of a dryer can set stains, making it difficult, if not impossible, to remove them. If a stain remains on the garment after washing, reapply the stain remover and rewash the item or soak it in an oxygen bleach solution.

3 Ways to Remove a Fresh Tomato Sauce Stain

1. Flush with Water

If you catch a tomato sauce stain when it happens and can address it immediately, the best course of action is to flush it from back to front with cold running water, holding the garment taut and allowing the water to enter the back of the fabric, pushing the stain out and away from the front of the fabric.

Then, apply dish soap to the stain and massage it into the fabric using the pads of your fingers; dish soap is an excellent stain remover for tomato sauce because it is formulated to cut through and dissolve grease. After applying the dish soap, flush the stain again with hot running water, which helps break down more of the oil. If the stain is diminished but remains, repeat the process or apply a stain remover when you can access a full suite of stain removal products and tools. 

2. Apply Hand Sanitizer

If you notice a tomato sauce stain as it happens but cannot remove the garment to flush it with soap and water, there are two other ways to treat stains on the go that are helpful to know about.

The first is to use readily available hand sanitizer as a stain remover. Hand sanitizer contains a high concentration of alcohol, which is an effective stain remover, especially for brightly colored tannin stains like tomato sauce. To use it, massage a small amount of hand sanitizer into the stain using the pads of your fingers, repeating as necessary until the stain is gone or has lightened enough that you can treat it later.

3. Use Wipes

Another helpful tomato sauce stain removal tip to file away is that wipes of all sorts—stain-removing wipes like Shout Wipe & Go, as well as makeup-removing wipes, adult bathroom wipes, and baby wipes—can be used to treat stains on the go. To use them, gently dab the stain with the wipe, taking care not to scrub at the material, which can cause the stain to spread across the fabric.

After using any of these methods, launder the garment as soon as possible to remove residue from the stain and the stain remover, which can cause staining of its own if left too long on the fabric.

How to Treat a Dried Tomato Sauce Stain

Commercial stain removers like Shout and liquid laundry detergents are formulated with common, tricky stains like tomato sauce in mind. These can be used to treat a tomato stain that has dried on clothing. Additionally, rubbing alcohol is an effective stain remover for brightly colored, tannin-based tomato sauce stains. Here’s how to deal with a dried stain:

1. Apply a stain treatment product to the stain and wait at least 10 to 15 minutes for it to penetrate the stain and break down its complex and varied components.
2. Use a laundry brush or an old toothbrush to work the stain remover into the fabric, creating mechanical action that further helps to break down the stain.
   
3. After applying the stain treatment, launder the garment, following the instructions on its care tag. Use the hottest water temperature permitted to help break down the oily components in tomato sauce.
   
4. Before putting the garment in the dryer, check that the stain is completely gone; never put a still-stained item in the dryer because stains can become deeply set in the fabric from exposure to the high heat of a dryer.

If the stain remains after washing, reapply the stain treatment and launder the garment again, or use the following method for treating deeply set-in tomato sauce stains.

How to Eliminate a Set-in Tomato Sauce Stain

Tomato sauce stains that dried and became set in or didn’t come out entirely in the wash can be treated by soaking the garment in an oxygen bleach solution. The active ingredient in oxygen bleach, also called color-safe bleach or non-chlorine bleach, is usually hydrogen peroxide, although some formulas contain sodium percarbonate or sodium perborate. It can be used on fabrics regardless of color, unlike chlorine bleach because it doesn’t cause the color loss associated with traditional bleach.

For deeply set-in stain removal, use oxygen bleach as a soaking agent. First, identify a clean space large enough to fully submerge the garment in water, like the kitchen sink. The item will need to sit undisturbed for at least an hour or up to overnight, so if you need to access the kitchen sink, use a utility sink or washing bucket instead for this operation. 

1. Make a solution by dissolving oxygen bleach in hot water according to package directions.
2. Submerge the garment and allow it to soak in the oxygen bleach solution for at least an hour and up to overnight.
3. Launder the garment according to the instructions found on its care tag.

Best Products for Removing Tomato Stains from Clothes

Best Liquid Laundry Detergent for Tomato Stains

Tide Ultra Stain Release: Most liquid laundry detergents are formulated with tough stains like tomato sauce in mind. Tide Ultra Stain Release ($20 for 46 oz., Amazon) is an incredibly effective liquid laundry detergent that can be used to pre-treat tomato sauce stains on clothes.

Best Commercial Stain Remover for Tomato Stains

Shout: Like liquid laundry detergents, commercial stain pre-treatment products are designed to work on tricky combination stains like tomato sauce. In informal testing, Shout (22 oz. for $4, Amazon) is especially effective at eliminating tomato sauce stains on clothes.

Best Stain Remover for Oil and Grease Stains

Lestoil: Oil and grease stains are particularly tough to remove. If there is a heavy presence of oil in the tomato sauce stain, dab a small amount of Lestoil (28 oz. for $14, Amazon) on it before laundering to help break down the stubborn, greasy elements.

Best Stain Removing Wipe

Shout Wipe & Go: If you’re lucky enough to have a stain-removing wipe handy when a tomato sauce spill or splatter happens, use it to gently dab at the stain. Shout Wipe & Go ($10 for 12, Amazon) stain-removing wipes are the best choice, but other wipes can also be pressed into service for stain-removal purposes.

Best ‘In-a-Pinch’ Stain Remover

Hand Sanitizer: With its high concentration of alcohol, Purell hand sanitizer ($25 for four 8-oz. bottles, Amazon) is an excellent all-purpose stain remover; this is especially true of brightly colored tannin stains like tomato sauce. Gel formulas are best, but any hand sanitizer that includes alcohol in its formula will work.

Best Oxygen Bleach for Removing Set-in Stains

OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover Powder: OxiClean ($9 for 3 lb., Amazon) is so synonymous with oxygen bleach that the brand name is often used as a stand-in for all oxygen bleaches, the way we tend to refer to all facial tissue as “Kleenex.” It is a top-notch oxygen bleach formula that effectively removes deeply set-in stains.