Help with Stain Removal

I didn't have time to read everyone's response, but if you haven't heard it already, I soak my daughter's messy clothes in the kitchen sink with water and dishwasher detergent. I just have the cheap brand (from Costco) and then the clothes are ready to wash the next day.

Good luck! I'd definitely suggest you say something to the daycare about it too, or just buy him orange shirts all the time. :)

Try Biz Bleach. It is a color safe bleach and removes nearly everything. Once in a while, I could not always get carrots out of the clothes, but everything else! Good Luck! Kati

I got this recipe several years ago in a parenting book. For clothes stained with unknowns take 1 cup non chlorine bleach, 1 cup dishwasher detergent and 1 cup of laundry detergent and soak clothes for 24 hours; so far I haven't found anything that this hasn't taken out of clothing! Sometimes I will do this to dingy clothes and they look bright again. I guess the non-chlorine bleach brightens the clothes and the dishwasher detergent takes out the food stains and the laundry detergent takes care of anything else! Try it and let me know if it works!

Hi J.,
This is D.. Try lemon juice and salt and let sit in the sun. This always works on mildew and you might have to treat more than once. I know my daughter calls me the queen of stain removal on her 18 mo. old girls stuff. She has the same problems with her day care. Some stains I soak for hours and wash them 2-3 times over and over.
Hope this helps for you.
D.

I haven't found anything that oxiclean doesn't get out if you use it correctly. Make a past out of the oxiclean and a little water and us something like a toothbrush to scrub. Do it a couple of times and then wash normally. If that doesn't work, soak it in a oxiclean solution over night. Oxiclean took out red wine stains from cloths in a suitcase. We brought a bottle of wine along on vacation and it broke in the suitcase. I thought all the clothes would be ruined, but every drop of red wine came out, even on solid white shirt and knit top.

There is a sain remover in a dark blue bottle. I think it's Shout for set-in stains. You have to let it sit on the stain for a while, but I have had luck with it.

Hi! I have 7yr old twins and they sure could be messy! I always use Clorox 2 and apply it with a toothbrush. I rub it in really good and let it soak that way for over 30 minutes and then was as usual. It works on everything. I am a stain freak! Cant stand them and have never sold any of our outfits at yard sales that still had stains on them. If it doesnt get it all out the first time try a second time. Ive never had to go over any stain a third time. Good Luck!

Hi J.,

Sometimes I have had to use carpet cleaner. Any spot remover you get from a professional carpet cleaner should take just about any stain out. You will still have to rub and let it sit, but once you wash, it should come clean. I like spot shot from Classic Carpet cleaning. Their # is ###-###-####.

Assuming that you try to wash them when you get home and they are dry, you may want to ask your care giver to put them in a baggy and seal it up. That will keep the bib and/or clothing moist so the food doesn't dry on them and will be easier to get out. Carrots and Sweet potatoes are always the worst. This may help a little. Good luck and God Bless.

Hi J.!
I read about a great recipe for stain removal. It's very close to Terri M's.
Just use below ingredients in 3 gallons of water and soak clothes overnight. Wash the next day, and they should come out. Always works for me.
1/2 cup Clorox 2 (non-chlorine bleach)
1/2 cup dishwasher detergent
Good luck!
E.
P.S. Don't daycares use bibs anymore? Gee whiz! :-)

When you say that the stains are dry by the time you get to the laundy, does that mean that you are not putting the shout on until then? If so I have always had good luck with the shout stick,it kinda looks like deodrant you rub it on and throw it in the basket it can stay on there for days! Or the other alternative, just strip him down when he eats!

Good luck!
S.

I am also a HUGE fan of Zout and I also use a ton of it. For stubborn stains, after it sits for 5 min. with the Zout I soak the clothing in hot water. If that still doesn't work I have had good luck with spraying the clothing with Zout and then putting it out in the sun for a while. The only stain that I have not had this product work on was black paint but it was a pretty big spot that really had no hope since it had completely dried before i could get to it...gotta love daycare! Carrots and sweet potatos weren't even a challage for Zout.

Hi! With red stains, I use stain remover, wash and then I put them out in the sun to dry. I know with tomato stains this always works, I'm not sure about other orange stains. Hope this helps!

When my kids were small, I presoaked a couple of hours or overnight in 'Biz'. It was wonderful! It took stains out of bibs that I'd not known were stained. When getting them out for my second, after having stored them away after #1 didn't need them anymore, they had formula stains on them. Biz took them out! I used Biz for presoaking cloth diapers too, and they were as white as snow. People always asked how I got them so white.

make sure you are washing stains with cold water. Warm water sets in stains so after you put the stain removers on the stains, let sit for a while then wash in cold water and also set your washer on the fastest agitating cycle.
I had a great washer when my kids were little and got almost every stain out. It was a Kenmore that had 5 different cycles and would set it on heavy duty for most loads and it got clothes clean that my brothers more expensive washer wouldn't as I took their stained clothes and washed them at my house and the stains came out. His washer didn't agitate as fast and most of the clothes would stay in one place and just swish around where our washer the agitator was in 2 pieces and had a spiral effect to it and moved the clothes all over so they got clean and we hardly ever had clothes with stains on them. I did put stain removers on the bad stains. Now I have a front loader and it doesn't get clothes as clean as that other washer we had so I really believe the washer had a lot to do with it but also know that cold water works on a lot of things especially fruit juices and most food stains.

My son was six months old when we moved into our new house, with BRAND-NEW carpets that had just been laid. What did he do? He promptly spit up sweet potatoes on the carpet. Now, I did not let it dry on the carpet, but I also did not have any "carpet cleaner". All I had was some Pet Stain Remover from Woolite. Took the sweet potatoes right out. In fact, I've found it works better than the regular carpet cleaners for many stains.

it is my expierience that the orange foods are the CLOTHES KILLER. hate to say that, however, i'm pretty sure they die after...THE CARROT!

The Clorox gel pen became my new best friend after my daughter started feeding herself. It works great on white clothes, but of course you really don't want to apply it to colored areas. I apply Era to stains on colored clothes then put the garment in the laundry basket until laundry day. So far this has worked out well and her clothes are stain free. Good luck!

I have found a wonderful product -- Zout. It can be hard to find sometimes. It is always at grocery stores, but usually not at others like Wal-Mart or Target. I really spray it on (my husband makes fun of me I use so much), I let it soak for quite a while and then wash as usual. Rarely do I have any spots left. It definitely works on baby food! I have used it since my oldest was an infant and she's now 6, we also have a boy who's 4 and a boy who's 15mos, so I use it alot!!! Ilove it! I hope this helps. Also, there is a great website for this kind of thing too www.thriftyfun.com