Prespotting treatment employing singlet oxygen

Enhanced cleaning can be obtained by applying primarily to a stained region of a washable soft substrate a prespotting composition that contains at least one molybdate and which can generate singlet oxygen in situ in the presence of a peroxide, optionally applying to the substrate a prespotting composition that contains at least one peroxide, and rinsing, laundering or otherwise cleaning the substrate, using a peroxygen-containing built detergent to clean the substrate if a prespotting composition containing peroxide has not been applied to the substrate. Preferred embodiments of the method can provide stain removal comparable to that obtained using chlorine bleach but with better color safety. The method preferably is performed using a prespotting kit containing a molybdate solution, a peroxide solution and instructions for applying the solutions primarily to a stained region of a washable soft substrate, thereby providing a treated article whose stained region has preferentially absorbed thereon an aqueous singlet oxygen-generating mixture comprising peroxide and molybdate.