We went to the beach, & my 3 1/2 year old had fun in the water. We weren't able to wash clothes there, so I laid out her swimsuit to dry over the tub before I put it in a Walmart bag to bring home & wash. Apparently it wasn't quite completely dry, because when I took it out of the bag to wash it when we got home there were some areas of mold or mildew. Anyone know of a way to get this out without damaging the clothing? It says machine wash cold on the label.
(The swimsuit is colored - pink tankini top & white bottom with colored hearts.)
After Hurricane Ike, I washed all of our clothes, blankets, towels, etc. in detergent, OxiClean, and white vinegar. They all came out beautiful.
I've found that hydrogen peroxide or white vinegar diluted with water make great pre-soaks for all kinds of stains. I had a similar problem with my daughter's bathing suit and I added about 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide to a sink full of water and let the suit soak for a few hours. That worked very well.
Wash it with vinegar. Use a heavy dose in a prewash and then just 1 cup in a regular wash with your soap (similar to how you would use bleach - but vinegar is ok for colored clothing whereas bleach is not). When you think the mold is out, dry it by laying it out in the sun (not the drier which may cause any residual spots to "set" and discolor clothes). The sun will also help rid the clothes of the mold/mildew. If concerned, wash with vinegar a second time.
Jut like the pink try the oxi clean put it in at the same time will not hurt.
the best thing i have found is the clorox for colors. i soak my clothes in a big bowl with a lot of the clorox for colors and water. then i wash with normal detergent and more clorox for colors in the wash. seems to do the trick. good luck!
B.,
What color is the bathing suit? White, colored, or mixed? If the mold/mildew is on a white part, then try doing what I mentioned in your other question about the "pink on white" issue. If the mold/mildew is on a colored part, I would make a paste of OxyClean, dampen the mold/mildew part, apply the OxyClean paste, and then tightly roll up the bathing suit, ensuring to keep the paste on the spot being treated. Leave it overnight and then see if the mildew is gone the next day. I use this method to spot treat really tough stains (e.g. blow-outs from my almost 8 month old, chocolate stains, etc) and have a 99% success rate. If the mildew is gone, then rinse/wash the bathing suit as usual. If not, then try the paste again, but leave it on for a few days.
Hope this helps.
K.
