With the arrival of spring comes longer days, green grass and the start of school sports and other long-anticipated outdoor activities. However, the season also brings tough grass stains to contend with on uniforms and other clothing.

Sugar plays an important role in the kitchen but is also an effective weapon in your stain removal arsenal. Grass stains on clothing can be difficult to remove, but applying some sugar before laundering can help break down stains so they come out in the wash.

Grass stains contain a mixture of cell wall carbohydrates and cellular proteins and lipids but are mostly made up of chlorophyll from the plant, according to Dr. Kalidas Shetty, professor of plant sciences and founding director of the Global Institute of Food Security and International Agriculture (GIFSIA) at North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo.

Chlorophyll, the main component of a grass stain, is a green pigment that gives grass and leaves their color. Grass also has carotenoids and xanthophylls, two more powerful types of pigments designed to spread color. They also bind to naturally occurring polymeric materials like cotton and wool and will set deep into the threads and fibers. When transferred to clothing, they act as a dye and soak into the fabric fibers rather than sitting on top.

“The green chlorophyll pigment attaches to cotton molecules the same way a dye stuff binds to the fiber. On a fresh stain, the sugar solution could be more aggressive than the coloring agents from the chlorophyll,” said Dr. Ann Braaten, Associate Professor of Practice in the department of Apparel, Retailing, Interior Design and Hospitality Management at NDSU. “This may allow the water and sugar to bond with the cotton molecules rather than the grass stain, thus helping to remove the stain.”

Before tackling any stain, the first step is always to check the care label on the garment. If the garment is labeled dry clean only, take it to a professional cleaner and make sure to point out and identify the stain.

If the garment is machine washable, treat a fresh grass stain as soon as possible because dried grass stains are much harder to remove. This is where sugar comes to the rescue. When sugar binds with water, it can then better bind with chlorophyll causing the stain to loosen so it can be easily removed by washing, according to Shetty.

“Sucrose hydrates well with water and causes the damaged cellular structure of the grass to break open even more and release cellular contents including chlorophyll to loosen,” he said. “This causes the contents which create stains to break open from damaged plant cells responding to hydrated sucrose, making the stain easier to remove with washing.”

Simply add enough warm water to ½ cup of sugar to form a paste. Apply the paste to the stain, let it sit for an hour and then wash as usual. After washing, it’s important to confirm the grass stain is completely gone before tossing the garment into the dryer. Otherwise, the heat can cause the stain to set permanently. Repeat the treatment and wash the garment again if needed.

Although sugar can be an effective stain remover, it is important to use caution, according to Braaten.

“When subjecting fabric to sugar solutions, caution must be taken to completely rinse out the sugar solution from fabric,” she said. “If a sugar solution is left on fabric for a long period of time, or is exposed to heat in the dryer, it will caramelize. This will leave a rust-like stain that is almost impossible to remove.”

From baking to stain removal, sugar is one of the most versatile items in your pantry.

About the Author

Laura Rutherford graduated from the University of North Dakota in 2004 with a degree in Political Science. She is a shareholder in American Crystal Sugar Company and a member of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association (RRVSGA), the World Association of Beet and Cane Growers (WABCG), and the American Society of Sugarbeet Technologists. She is on the Board of Directors of the Sugar Industry Biotechnology Council and has published articles for the WABCG, the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association newsletter, and the British Sugarbeet Review magazine in Cambs, United Kingdom.