Lilies are beautiful flowers, but orange lily pollen can stain your clothes, household surfaces, and carpets easily. This guide explains how to remove lily pollen stains with a few simple tricks.
If you often bring lilies into your home, consider removing the anthers (the pollen-bearing oval tips inside the flower) early on, before the lily has opened properly. At this stage, they should still be rubbery, and therefore easy to gently remove without marking anything. If the flower has already opened, avoid lily pollen stains by carefully using a tissue to wrap the anthers as you pull them off. Dispose of these carefully, as lily pollen can be incredibly poisonous to pets.
1. Use sellotape, or even a vacuum cleaner (carefully – use the nozzle without the head attachment, and open a valve to keep the pull gentle) to lift off as much of the pollen dust as possible. Do not scrub while there is still a loose pollen stain on carpet fibres, as you risk spreading the stain.
2. Sponge the stain with a dry cleaning solvent, and then blot until the lily pollen is gone.
3. Use a laundry product containing enzymes. These can be actively effective against lily pollen. Use Persil biological washing detergent, or if you’d prefer a specially designed stain remover, to cut into the pollen and pull it out of the fibres. As before, check the label on any cleaning product you use to ensure that you apply it properly and safely.
4. Alternatively, you can dab the stain with isopropyl alcohol. Remember to test this method on a small unoticable area first and make sure the room is well ventilated. Then, blot the mark with a clean paper towel.
