Not everything is reversible. Sometimes the problem is not the type of stain, but an especially delicate fabric. This is not at all what people want to hear. But Barndt, who is director of the Grundy Testing Laboratory at Philadelphia University's School of Textiles and Material Technology, is an expert on fabrics - and the stains that afflict them. And more commercial products are available today to deal with spots and stains.
Dry cleaners have new techniques.
And, for most home-laundry problems, detergents do a pretty good job. Yet it seems the problems outnumber the solutions. And they're right. The experts are Barndt and his colleague, laboratory supervisor Janet Bulan Brady. Their jobs actually don't involve giving stain advice.