Should I worry about this stain?

Who's been in this situation? There you are, getting ready to go to work (and getting the kids ready to go to school). Then someone gets something all over their clean white shirt. Is this a disaster? Naturally, you're going to have to change the aforementioned shirt, but is the shirt itself doomed? Will the stain be impossible to shift?

Well, that really depends on what the spill or stain is. But what you should definitely do is to get that shirt into a bucket of cold water, where it can sit for the rest of the day until you get home to tackle the laundry and all those other household chores that you do every day. In fact, that may be all that you need to do. But, on the other hand, it may not be. This list of common spills and stains should help.

Egg yolk: Getting the shirt into the cold water straight away is the most important thing for cleaning egg yolk stains, as this will stop the protein setting into the fabric. Spending the day soaking should have got most of the muck out, but if any yolk is still lingering, then give the spot a good rub with a bit of soap - enough to make a lather - to get the rest out before tossing the shirt into the wash, preferably a cold wash.

Beetroot: No need to panic. Beetroot is not as a dire a stain as it looks. It may be tricky to wash out of your fingers if you have been cutting up raw beetroots, but the juice washes out of most fabrics without any bother. Just throw the shirt in the wash.

Curry: If the curry had plenty of turmeric in it, this is a bit more of a bother, as turmeric can be used as a natural dye. Glycerine is your best bet here. After squeezing excess water out of the shirt, rub glycerine into the spot and leave the shirt to sit for a while with the glycerine working on it ("a while" means something like half an hour or more - you may even need to leave the shirt until tomorrow's laundry session). Other possibilities involve soap and elbow grease (don't try this on delicate fabrics), biological washing powder, Sard Wonder Soap (involves slightly less elbow grease and you have to leave the shirt to sit around a while again before washing). You can try washing as normal, but it will take a couple of washes to remove the turmeric stain fully.
Ballpoint pen: Little bits of ballpoint pen just come out in the regular wash. However, a full-scale leak of ink into a pocket requires something a bit more heavy-duty to remove the ink stain. Douse the stain with meths, vodka or some other strong alcoholic spirits to soften and break down the ink. For goodness's sake, wash the shirt in the regular laundry before wearing it to work or you will smell like a drunk as soon as you get out the door.

Felt tip pen: Water soluble, so just toss the shirt in the regular washing.

Blood: The cold water soak was the best thing you could have done and will probably have removed the stain. Wash as normal in cold, just in case anything's left.

Milk: Washes out as normal. Only stinks if left for too long.
Cereal: Again, this washes out as normal.

Salad dressing: May require a little scrubbing with ordinary soap to help break down the grease in the fabric. Then wash as normal.