Everyone knows the sooner you pretreat a stain, the more likely it is to come out. But did you know there are pretreating techniques that can help you remove even more of your hidden stain mishaps even better? Read on to discover these timely tips and some telling Tide facts.

The tip off

• Allow the pretreating liquid to sit on the stain for five minutes. That way the chemistry in the detergent will have a chance to soak into the fabric and unseat the stain.
• Pretreating stains helps to keep your colors bright because dirt residue is a contributor to clothes becoming dingy.
• For deep-set stains and soils, presoak the entire garment. Fill your machine or a tub with a low level of the warmest water allowed by your garment's care label. Add a full scoop of Tide Powder or a full dose of Tide Liquid and dissolve. Add your clothes and let sit for 30 minutes. Soak longer for tougher dirt. Drain excess water and launder normally.
• For extra-dirty clothes, consider a prewash cycle. Essentially, you pretreat the entire garment in an initial detergent wash. Once this pretreating is complete, drain the water and launder the garment in the hottest water the care label recommends.
• Remember, you may have to do more pretreating or presoaking as you lower the wash temperature.