Stains the size of half a dollar bill - Nishmat Yoatzot Halacha

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Stains the size of half a dollar bill

January 26, 2016

Question

Someone just told me that her rabbi told her that a stain bigger than the size of a folded dollar bill on a colored garment renders someone a niddah. I was under the impression that a stain on a colored garment doesn’t count. Am I wrong, or is she?

Answer

Stains on colored garments do not render a woman niddah. This is true even if the stain is larger than a gris (about the size of US dime or Israeli shekel).

Some poskim feel that if a stain is very large, it is no longer considered a stain but is actually a flow, which would render a woman niddah even if found on colored garments. We have heard of this position of treating stains the size of half a dollar bill as a flow. However, this is not a universally accepted position, and unless this is how you were taught, or you were told this by your Rav, you do not have to treat stains of this size as a flow.

Please see our article on Stains for a more detailed explanation of these concepts, and feel free to get back to us with any further questions.

B’hatzlacha!