Methods for determining overall print permanence or image stability for digital ink jet and thermal photographic prints have been well defined and are used to represent typical "long-term, home storage conditions" for consumer prints. What these methods do not take into consideration are instances where a consumer might accidentally spill substances onto unprotected prints, resulting in unwanted staining. Typical substances can range from high staining materials such as coffee to lower staining materials such as milk. In these instances, damage caused by unwanted staining could certainly impact the long-term preservation of consumer prints. To date, the only existing international standards for this type of image degradation include an ASTM procedure for stain resistance and an ISO procedure for water resistance. This article will discuss the importance of considering stain resistance as part of long-term image permanence criteria for digital consumer color prints and shortcomings associated with the current international standards. Emphasis will be placed on the rationale and development of a more robust procedure for stain resistance and a final method proposal will be made. In addition, application of the proposed method will be discussed and the results from this for several digital ink jet and thermal imaging systems will be summarized.