Last week my boyfriend and I decided to make sushi at home, because we find it much less expensive to do it at home instead of going to a specialized restaurant. Plus, it’s fun to cook together and explore the cuisine of a different culture. I think that one may gain a lot of valuable information while trying to prepare a meal on his or her own.

So, it didn’t take us plenty of time to create the sushi rolls. They turned out pretty good and we were both very proud of ourselves. Of course, we were eager to taste them and this is when the horror began – I accidentally spilt soy sauce on the white tablecloth. Instantly, I felt the mini heart attack. My boyfriend reacted more adequately than me and tried to absorb the sauce with paper towel, but unfortunately there was a stain left on the tablecloth.

When my shock faded away, I started thinking clearly again and decided to put myself together. A stain from soy sauce is not the end of the world, right? I called a friend of mine who is an expert in all kind of flat cleaning tasks. If you are a clean freak like me, you shouldn’t panic, because there is a way to get rid of this type of stain. So here is how to clean soy sauce stains:

You will need:

• Clean cloth
• Cold water
• Liquid laundry detergent
• Vinegar/lemon juice or bleach

Instructions:

1. First, try to absorb the soy sauce with a clean cloth or paper towel, like my boyfriend did.
2. Then run the stain under cold water. There are two important things that should be mentioned here:
   • Use only cold water, because hot water will set the stain to the fabric and it will be much harder to remove.
   • Run the cold water on the back of the stain to stop the sauce from spreading.
3. Start rubbing the liquid laundry detergent gently into the stain, using your fingers. Leave it like this for several minutes so the detergent can do its job.
4. If the stained fabric is white or colour-fast, you can try to save it with another technique. Apply vinegar, lemon juice or mild bleach on the stain using a cloth or a sponge. Rub it until the soy sauce stain comes off and then rinse with water.
5. If the stain is very stubborn, you should repeat the same steps until there is no trace of it. You can see that by checking the fabric at direct sun light to see if the stain is completely gone.

And this is how I dealt with my soy sauce crisis. Hope that you will also find these tips useful.