Removing mustard: pick your surface

Mustard is a dye stain, usually from a hot-dog splash or a flicked spoon at a barbecue. The chemistry stays the same wherever it lands — but the safe way to treat it changes completely with the surface, which is why each pairing below has its own guide.

Not water-soluble

Water alone will not touch this stain; it needs an absorbent, surfactant or solvent stage.

Heat sets it

Keep hot water, steam and dryers away until the mustard is fully out — heat fixes it permanently.

Fresh vs dried-in

Mustard stains like curry does, and for the same reason: turmeric. The curcumin dye bonds to fibre on contact, so even a promptly cleaned splash usually leaves a yellow ghost. Like curry, the residual yellow breaks down in strong daylight over days to weeks.