One thing about staying alone, away from mom is that, there is noone to turn to for some wise tips. One of them that I constantly face is to deal with the stains on my shirt, that I am quite clueless about, and often than not, I will end up leaving to my laundry shop to remove them.

And one day, last week, my maid took a week off, and I got so frustrated with the tomato stain on my favourite singlet I bought in San Francisco that, I took time to search the internet for some guides on Stain Removal, and got the stain off as instructed and I thought this could be useful for many bachelor's out there like me.... here it goes:

Coffee or Tea : Boil water in the microwave. Take off your shirt and pour the hot water through the stain. (If there was no milk in it, treat it as you'd treat the berry-pie stain shown below) Later: Rub in a few drops of vinegar or peroxide, then wash it in hot water.

Tomato Ketchup: look for some white vinegar, and rinse the spot under cool water. Then blend a few drops of the vinegar with water and a small amount of soap, and continuing to rinse it with cool water. Later: Squirt on a spot remover, such as Shout. Blot and rinse with cold water. Then wash it in cold water.

Iron Scorch Mark: If the burn is extremely light, immediately wash the shirt with detergent in your regular laundry cycle. If the mark is still there, sponge it with a solution of peroxide diluted with water and a few drops of ammonia. Later: Start sending your shirts out to be laundered - in most places it's only a few dollars a shirt.

Berry Pie: Fruits produce stains. So do wine, soft drinks, coffee and tea. Tannin diesn't like soap, so quickly lay your shirt on a cloth and sponge it with cold water. Later: Pretreat the stain with Stout or Biz spray, then machine-wash with colour bleach.