I have a suggestion for the clothing stains; but a lot probably depends on the frabric also. If you live near what we call here " Dollar Tree." They sell a cleaning solutiong called "Awesome.". It is what it is called. I use it on everything and it is my laundry pretreat for all stains. I bought Oriental Lillies last year for the first time, not realiazing what the pollen can do. I got home took them out of the car... and discovered I had pollen all over my new turqoise top. I used cold water and awesome and worked it in the sink and then put it in the wash with my other things and it all came out! Have no idea if it would work on the carpet though. Do hope you find a solution. OH yes..they have orange awesome too and it is good; but the regular yellow in the clear bottle works best.

When I was a florist I used tape or a piece of chenile stem (pipe cleaner) delicately lift it off.

BUMP for Ladybuggyz :0)

Thanks Phylrae.....I've read the above posts....But my question is, is it possible to clean the pollen off the fabric if you've rubbed it already with your hands? I didn't know that you weren't soppose to touch the pollen at first so....I did and now I have this really ugly orange-yellow stands on an few items of clothing. Any help would be appreciated.

Hello does anybody have any suggestions for removing lilly pollen stains from wallpaper?

hi, i got some on me last night and foolishly rubbed it in. been soaking it all night, but it doesn't seem to have made a difference. with regards to wall paper, (and i'd try this somewhere that you can't see, at least at first) have you tried bleech? that works for red wine, suprisingly
i'm not sure what to do about my top, might try vanish oxy i guess.. who knows

I just answered this in another forum I know this is frowned on but.... All you have to do is wash as usual, the stain will still be there, put out in the sun and it disappears like magic. A friend of mine had pollen on her backside, sat down on the upholstery, she just cleaned it off, placed the cushion out in the sun for awhile, Stain gone.

A......

If the stain is wet or has been wet in the past, try dabbing/rubbing the area with white spirit / turps (the stuff to clean paint from paint brushes). It sounds weird but it does really work. Then wash the turps out in normal warm soapy water.

Thankyou Davedo!!! The white spirit worked like magic and took away the mustard stain off my rug. I am so pleased I saw your message. Thankyou thankyou thankyou!!!

Pollen stains are a real nuisance and very hard to remove, and sometimes impossible. Perhaps those of us who enjoy the beauty of lilies might find a way to avoid them by using pollen-free lilies. Only a few are available-and we need to let brokers, and growers know that we would like them and search our breeders who have them. If florists spoke up too, it would help.

Many good clothes and table clothes have been ruined by pollen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Turner's Patch

I like the look of the pollen! I think it adds to the flower's beauty.

Thanks to everyone for tips. Need to remove pollen stains from baby clothes and blankets. New Mum was given lilies. Only problem is, here in England , we have had an awful summer, and never see the sun.............!

Thank you Davedo, I sucessfully removed an orange pollen stain from a large manmade fibre rug with white spirit-great tip! However it didn't work on my 80% wool stairs carpet. Any more ideas for that?

I am sooo thankful I found this forum! I work as a florist at my local grocery store, and was wearing a white top today (stupid me!). As soon as the lily dust got on me, I RUBBED IT! (again, stupid me!). Then I found this forum (THANK GOD!) I soaked my shirt in cold water with bleach and then put it out in the sun for a couple of hours. It worked like a charm. Stain's gone, I'm happy! :) thanks again forum people! xo

Amazing! I tossed my pink shirt in the wash & dryer without a second thought and was dismayed to see a bright orange spot front & center afterward. So I scrubbed with Tide and did it again. Still orange. That's when I googled 'how to remove pollen from cotton fabric' and found this forum. So I put the shirt outside on the sunny deck railing and checked it 2 hours later. Magic! Fantastic! There is no trace of orange pollen!
HOW / WHY does this work???!
Most of these posts are several years old but obviously are still very helpful! THANK YOU!

Got lilly pollen on one of my favorite shirts and didn't know it until it was ground in. Read all the suggestions above and thought I would start out with a basic cold water rinse, soak and then sun treatment. After soaking even overnight, most of stain was still there. Stuck it out in the sun and in 1 hour it was all gone!!! Can't believe my eyes!! Thank you so much for the help.

Got stain on my car seats what can i remove the lily pollen with

I just have to say is THANK YOU!! I got a lot of the brown pollen on my brand new curtains. Needless to say I was upset knowing that pollen stains. I found this website and thank you to the people who suggested using tape. Every bit of the pollen came out. Thank you so so much!

YAY...Thank you so much davedo for your turpentine idea...We are in the midst of wintery weather here and the sun option wasnt going to be a good idea...So I asked hubby to get the turps out to try on my new (worn once) fleece jacket...and VOILA, it worked an absolute treat. Have it now in the wash giving it an extra wash to get the turps smell out...Really maye...Thanxabunch :-)

Thank-you. My "Mother's Day" flowers brushed up against the beige drapes and AHHHHHH - pink & orange all over. I took the vase outside and got it on my shirt. I wet the shirt to see how easily it would come out and yech - now blotches of orange smear. THEN, I found this site. The celo tape worked wonders and so easy and my drapes are beige again. As for the shirt, I will try the other techniques tomorrow.

Wow! Thank you so much for all the wonderful advice. After washing a favorite shirt to remove a pollen stain, I tried peroxide alone and it did nothing. Then I mixed baking soda and peroxide together, treated the pollen stain, and left it out in the sun. The pollen totally disappeared within 15 minutes.

I had a surgery recently and came home, and I was given some lily's. I don't have a lot of table top space to put them so they were put in front of my mirror where I do makeup. I found this dark dried-blood looking stuff several times on my shirts and could not figure out where it was coming from. I found it on my face several times too from smelling the flowers, I found out later. I was surprised to see the stains on my shirts even AFTER they had washed. When I saw that they had not been removed, I threw them back into the wash with some OxyClean. Did not work. I'm really hoping the sun trick works, because it affected at least 6 of my shirts. I'm hoping I don't find anymore that got stained.

Thanks everyone!

I was thrilled with the method recommended of using Dunwaukin's suggestion to remove the pollen stains from a favourite shirt, by laying the item in the sunshine, from the Tiger lilly's when vacationing in Canada last week.
It is quite difficult here in Costa Rica to find decent stain removers/washing powders.

These suggestions are great but the only problem is that I've got a dry clean only tux that I got the pollen on and rubbed it in! Any ideas for something that can't be laundered? It's winter but I'll see how much sun I can get.

Please and thanks!

These suggestions are great but the only problem is that I've got a dry clean only tux that I got the pollen on and rubbed it in! Any ideas for something that can't be laundered? It's winter but I'll see how much sun I can get.

Please and thanks!

Just wanted to say thanks to all who advised on getting rid of lilly pollen. Yesterday I had on a white cotton summer jacket and we happened to stop at Home Depot and I picked up some lilies to plant. I wasn't even thinking about the pollen and was reaching across them to select the ones I liked. It wasnt until I got home and removed my jacket that I saw the whole sleeve was yellow & orange and I had some spots on the front of the jacket as well. I knew better than to wipe it off or throw it in the wash but didn't know what to do. I found the helpful advice on here and followed it. I used almost a roll of scotch tape trying to get it off (the whole underside of the sleeve). It still left some yellowing. I then put it outside this morning to catch the sun and I can't believe it - it's white again. Amazing! Thanks so much to everyone here, I salvaged the jacket. Wasn't expensive but my favorite, otherwise I probably would have just tossed it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Has anyone tried Zout? I've never tried it for pollen but Ive seen it work like a charm on other stains.

Also Folex Profession Carpet Spot remover has worked pretty well on spots on my carpet and fabric furniture. Its also safe to use around pets if you just dab/rub it up with paper towels or whatnot which is a relief to me.

I tried the advice to rub another section of the material with the stained section. Very bad advice as I now have two stains on my expensive and much loved linen top.
Still needing useful advice as not much sun at this time of the year???

Sorry to say, at this point the sun is probably your best bet. I pretty much use the scotch tape trick or a make -up brush to brush the pollen away....But both of these methods work best if you allow the pollen to dry first.

You might still try the tape method to at least get some of the stain off but it is probably well embedded in the fabric now.

Then carefully fold up the linen so that the stained areas are not contacting any fabric and set it aside till next year when sunshine reliably returns. I don't recommend trying to use any products until after you see if this works. If you happen to use something that the dye dissolves in it will likely spread the stain.

Omigod - it's magic! I got lily pollen ALL over my pale pink cotton night shirt, my pale pink terry towelling dressing gown, my pale grey cotton shorts, my two pink cotton singlets and my white cotton pants... and I wet it with water as soon as I saw it - and smudged and rubbed it into ALL of these items (yeh great plan)...so had massive orange-yellow blurred stains everywhere. I came to this forum, decided to give it a burl. So I put everything in the wash with a squirt of stain remover on the pollen smudges. Pulled it out of the wash, all the stains were still robust. Figured 'okay sunshine you've got your instructions' and put them all out in full sun with all the smudges facing to the sun... 2 hours later and the stains are completely gone. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!? FANTASTIC advice guys, ta heaps!

I made the mistake of immediately trying to rub out the pollen from the front of a favorite blouse with a damp cloth. Made a big mess of it. The next day, I blotted and then rubbed the stain with some Goof-Off. Then I washed it under the faucet with kitchen dish soap and warm water. I used dish soap because Goof-Off is a little oily and did not want a grease stain on my blouse. It worked!

Husbands shirt - rubbed pollen off, washed 3 times with stain remover, tried washing with whites, nothing worked. Tried leaving it in full sun and stains completely disappeared like magic in about 2 hours!
SUN WORKS!! Thank you SO much :)

The tape was brilliant!! I had a brand new (to me) very light antique wool rug and got a big pollen stain on it immediately. The clear tape picked it up and and there is no hint of stain remaining.

I just want to thank all who contributed to this column..My husband had used Dawn Dish Soap on his new shirt that had hibiscus pollen on it and washed it as well as dried it. I read your column and tried the clear tape trick..viola! Gone completely even though the shirt had been washed and dried. Thank you all!

SUNLIGHT TOTALLY WORKS!! Thank you guys so much!! Your tip saved a brand new awesome pair of shorts!!! I made a hot mess of these shorts-there was pollen EVERYWHERE- I even managed to get some in the tops of the pockets! I put them on the clothes line outside, still wet, and within an hour or so the pollen was gone. The shorts are bright estoril blue and the fabric didn't even fade. Simply amazing. I cannot thank you enough!! I signed up for this website just to write this post...that's how much it means to me!!! Thanks again!!

I've just found dried in pollen stain on my grey wool jumper.
It must have been on a couple of hours so is dried in. Can anyone tell me what will bring it out. Many thanks

It is important to not rub at the pollen stain. Put it out in the sun first. If it isn't sunny then just set the garment aside until you get some sun. If the color doesn't fade within a day or so, try the tape trick. Press tape straight down on the stain, then lift. Repeat if necessary.

Remove as much as you can with sticky tape. Then, place the garment in the sun for a few hours. This is what I've done, it works.

Sunshine really does work! So glad I found this forum. My partner and I both got lily pollen on our clothes - a pale blue shirt and a cream cardigan - and we had rubbed it so ended up with large yellow stains on both. We live in the west of Ireland, not a huge amount of sun and lots of rain so I left the items inside in the window where they would get the sun if, and when, it shone. Couple of hours later, stains gone!! Wonderful! Going to spread the word to family and friends, it's a wonderful tip! Thank you to all who suggested it.

First washing with Oxiclean and Borax and BEFORE drying laying garment in the sun absolutely works. I couldn't believe it!

We recently had a bridal tea and the flowers were Casablanca lilies with those beautiful orange/brown stamens. We had a white faux embroidered (stamped) plastic table cloth by Martha Stewart we purchased years ago and has always been a last minute staple we threw over a colored cloth for punch bowls, etc. Stained from the lilies, I tried tape, Tupenoid, Goof-off, Oxyclean, and bleach! Nothing!!! Set the damned thing out in the sun for two hours and the stain is gone!!! My wife laughed at me telling the stories of this site, but you should have seen her face when I laid the white table cloth in her lap this evening with no stain!!! Lol! I cannot believe it myself, but it's perfect again! I don't know how many blouses, shirts, tablecloths, etc we've thrown away because of the stains!! The sun must have magical powers!!! Tell everyone you know and quit depending on the chemicals! I grow these lilies in my garden in the summer and this is a wonderful solution to an age-old problem!! Thanks so much!!!!

The first flower I knew the name of was Tiger Lilies. My grandmother had them around her house, and gave me (my Dad) some for our garden. They grew taller than me when I was a kid. I can remember how she got pollen on her top one time, and my mom was concerned that it was ruined. My grandmother just smiled, and said, no, it will be fine in a few hours. She blew off the loose pollen, used tape for the rest, and then hung in on the clothesline in the sun. In about three hours, it was gone. My mom was amazed and I never forgot Grandma's 'magic'.

Today, I bought some new tiger lilies. I thought I was being careful, but when I came in, there was a pollen smudge the size of my palm all on the side of my light blue shirt. I did what my Grandma did - blow it off, tape it off, and set it in the sun for a few hours. Can't see any pollen at all now. Speaking of Grandma....it's about time to write her another letter!

My one year old daughter touched the pollen from our lilies and rubbed it on our soft beige couch. Do you guys think i should just set the cushion out in the sun? Or should i get it wet first? It looks yellow because she rubbed it in so i don't think tape would work....

This happened to a friend of mine had the pollen on her slacks and then sat on her light blue couch :(. I think she tried upholstery cleaner first which didn't remove it so she then put the cushion out in the sun and the stain disappeared like magic.
I'd try sitting it out in the sun first, see what happens if that doesn't work try a cleaner then set out in the sun, that should do the trick. I had lily pollen on my clothes more times then I can count, I just throw the clothes in the wash as usual, the yellow stain is still there but when put out in the sun it disappears. Hope this helps.
Annette

I got pollen on my cars headliner need advice on how to get the stains out can't put the headliner in the sun

Not much you can do but try the tape method mentioned a few posts up in this thread. Press tape straight down on the stain and then lift. Don't rub back and forth! Repeat.

After washing my shirt three times (no rubbing, no stain removal products, etc.) the lily pollen stain was still there so I googled for extra help and found the suggestion about putting it out in the sunshine. Wow - voila, the stain disappeared after about two hours. I was thrilled because it was one of my favorite shirts that can't be washed in hot water. I'm certainly glad to hear about this tip!

Thanks for the advice! I had stains all over my tshirt. I didn't wash it. Instead, as suggested, I left it in the sun for two days. I couldn't believe it, but the stain was gone!

I am not positive, and I believe the sun removes the lily stains because of its UV rays. If you live in an area without much sunlight and have a uv-grow light, you may want to experiment by placing a stained cloth beneath such a light source. G' luck.