Unlike other stains synonymous with daily life, most prominently tea, coffee and food stains, rust seems to exist outside our immediate realm of concern. But, as many a young mother is likely to attest, a routine day entertaining children at the local park can result in a mountain of a cleaning task, with rust stained clothes stacked up high the following day. Especially following a wet winter, the seesaws, swings and chairs that front the appeal of a playground can also prove the most stained since water and metal don't agree with one another. For the men among us who work in labour-intensive roles, a typical day may well involve picking up one or two shades of corroded iron. So rust stains are more of a widespread issue than we know. As displeased as you might be at seeing any rust stain on your favourite pants, be sure to leave any affected items of clothing outside your regular washing pile. This is an absolute must. Simply chucking the affected item of clothing in the wash isn't recommended since the rust stain could react adversely to chemicals across highly processed cleaning applications, while water saturation is likely to spread the stain across other clothes.       Professional cleaners will also warn against any use of bleach chlorine in addressing the problem. The fact of the matter is that no overly-processed heavy duty product is capable of restoring your fabric more effectively than that which springs from the ground. Indeed, lemons contain properties capable of restoring and brightening surfaces when mixed with baking powder, baking soda and salt.   In the case of fibres that can be washed, lemon juice alone is adequate in removing rust stains from materials such as acrylic fabric, modacrylic, nylon, olefin and polyester. Simply apply squeezed lemon juice to the rust stain without letting it dry. In other words, move swiftly in proceeding to rinse your item of clothing with water. Do this thoroughly before laundering, wherever possible. Sounds simple, and it is. For those of you wanting to know about how to clean fabrics and fibres outside those mentioned above however, fear not as the process is hardly any different. A common concern for the fashion-conscious and self-conscious among us is that of white denim staining. With nowhere to hide, any reddish brown mark will likely have you pulling your hair out as you walk home from a summer stroll down to the rusty pier.    There's no need to panic once you get in the door however. This is because the process is straightforward and exceptional cases of difficulty can be addressed should any initial approach fail. While some rust stains are more defiant than others, your first port of call should again be the lemon juice. The trusted eco-friendly cleaning option safeguards against any potential product-related complications by default, since it's organic. Generally speaking, the more delicate the fabric, the more advisable it is to use lemon juice. In terms of application, spread the rust stain over a bowl of boiling water before sprinkling lemon juice directly at the stain. The science here is basic - the rising steam from the hot liquid will come to greet the lemon juice drops half way. Let the two negotiate for a solid 3-4 minutes before rinsing the stain out in the hot water.    Another way in which restoration can be achieved is through direct exposure to sunlight. Begin by placing paper towels on a firm sunlit surface before putting the stained piece of clothing on top. Apply a sliced lemon directly onto the rust, saturating the stain before removing the fruit and exposing the item to direct sunlight.    The above tips serve well across everything from builders cleaning to more general domestic cleaning, not forgetting that the same approaches can be applied to damaged metal surfaces as well as clothes.

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