Need Advice on Getting Paint Out of Clothing

I find soaking the spot in nail polish remover works best...it is also great for ink or an oil stain.

I recently switched all my cleaning stuff to non-toxic. I use a company called Melaleuca. They have a great stain remover called sol-u-mel. You can use it to get out anything. Fingernail polish, paint, tar, grease, anything. I use it as a cleaning booster also. You can only buy it if you become a preferred customer but if you wanted it I can get it for you. Oh, & it has a 30 day guarantee. It's $9.28, I know a little pricey but it works & its non-toxic. Better for you & your family. Call me or send me a note if you want to get it or more info.

Hope this helps,
M. ###-###-####

If you go to Lowes or Home Depot, they will have a product in their pain dept. Just ask someone that works there. I think it's called Goo Be Gone, or something like that. Read the label before you buy it, just to make sure it says it will get paint out of clothing.

I really think you should buy her an art apron, sort of like a cooking apron, that will protect her clothes during arts and crafts. They probably make one easy for kids to put on. If it's not easy to put on, maybe you can add some velcro to it and a strap, instead of a tie.

You can look online to see if there is a Children's Orchard store near you home. It's a second hand store that actually has a lot of BRAND NEW clothes, with the tags still one it. Many people buy clothes and their kids outgrow it before they get a chance to wear them. I have bought $18 outfits for $4. I've bought some out of season items, or items they've had too long in the store, for .99 cents.

From what the others have said, it sounds like you need to just ask the teachers to put soap in the paint, instead of water. Maybe they have never heard of this trick. If your child's teacher doesn't give you the response you want (I can't imagine why she wouldn't want to) then talk to the preschool director. Not to go over the teacher's head, but because it's a great idea that should be used throughout the school, not just in your daughter's class.

What happened to the Dad's shirt (dress) buttoned on each time they paint. Leave at school for each paint day. If you don't have a shirt, thrift shop have them. Good luck
also good for projects at home.

I have to agree with Sabrina...kids that age don't need many expensive clothes. Its nice to have a special outfit or two for big outings, but for the most part your child needs play clothes.
I'm not saying you should let your child look like a vagabond. Even cheap clothes shouldn't be stained and ratty. Try a soak in OxyClean before you attempted to launder. But if the stain really won't come out, you'll feel better tossing something that hasn't cost a ton of money.

I don't have good "paint removal" advice. My advice is a bit more practical -- don't send her to school wearing the nice, cute stuff that you wouldn't want her to get dirty. My kids are much older (6 and 10), but I remember our pre-school director telling us that pre-school IS FOR GETTING DIRTY and EXPLORING (and I assumed she meant stained). Best of luck!

I am a preschool teacher and I Have found that a 2 or 3 day soak in cold Woolite can get a ton of stuff out.
good luck
A.

Heh - I feel you on that one. I have four kids altogether, and OH MY GAWD, the stains! (So...horrible...) OxyClean is one of my best friends; not only in the wash itself, but I'll fill up a sink with warm water and let the really badly stained things soak with a dollop of it for half an hour or so.

My big anti-bankruptcy secret is thrift stores. I get the same adorable outfits for pennies on the dollar - I suspect a lot of people get these lovely outfits and then refuse to let their kids wear them around because they're too expensive or cute or whatever. Then they end up at Goodwill, and I buy them for a buck and send my kids to school in them. 8^D

I'm surprise that your preschool doesn't provide some kind of apron or cover-up for the children. Send one of your old shirts, or make a painting apron and insist that the school make sure the children are properly covered. Good luck with getting the paint out.

Keep a paint t-shirt and sweatshirt at the preschool to put over her clothes. Long sleeves work the best.

I Renee
Sorry to hear about the paint. I am an art teacher and have the problems even myself, ha!
Red is the color which does not go out at all very well, because it has the strongest pigments.
I can suggest you get her an tshirt of course, which she can wear over her nice clothes when they paint. She can put the tshirt in her box or shelf where they have their things. Let the teacher know, that you would like her to wear the smock (tshirt).
best
A.

Ok i think i can help you with this one. I have 3 kids. I have tried everything, one day i was going to throw away something of my daughters, but i had just bought oxy clean. This was a really old stain on her pants, i sprayed them first with Shout then put a little bit of Oxy Clean on them, i let them sit over night, then threw them in the wash the next day. To my amazement, the stain was gone.
Shout and oxy clean, overnight. Hope this helps.
Good Luck,
A.!

Renee-
Hi there I have twin boys that also go to school and let me tell you I don't send them with the clothes I bought from Macy's or Gymboree. I save the cute outfits for when they are Not in school. I think they are too young to even care what brand they are wearing anyways plus they are learning by getting messy. Your only a kid once right? Good luck! :)

Possible solution: Why don't you send her to school in her "ruined" clothes? Preschoolers get dirty, or if the school doesn't provide protective clothing, you could send some along for her to wear specifically while painting.

I was having the same problem and I do two things. First I asked the school to add Dishsoap-- no special kind, just dish soap to the paint and now it comes out really easily. I also always put oxyclean in the wash in case I miss spraying with shout and I have significantly minimalized the clothes that have to be thrown out. I will say though as your child gets older you may want to consider having play clothes that you don't care about and the nice clothes for other times. There will always be stains and kids at school don't care if there is a stain in someones clothes they just want to have fun.

GooGone works great and will get paint out of clothes. However, I would speak with the pre-school and tell them they should be using water soluable paints that can easily be washed out. Tempera paints work well and normally wash out easily.

Kids should be fully covered when painting, regardless of the type of paint. An easy cover-up is a modified man or woman's shirt big enough to go to mid calf or ankle, depending on preference. Put the shirt on the child backwards. Cut the sleeve just above the elbow or wrist. My kids never were allowed to paint in pre-school without their cover-ups, and parents had to supply shirts for this purpose.

I'd say just don't send her to school in the 'nice' clothes. You can get fine clothes at Target and not spend a fortune. Let her wear her good clothes at Church or other important functions. That's what I do anyway.
:)

Hey Renee...

I'm with you...tisk tisk on those moms!

Anyway, I have a preschooler who is very artsy - sometimes more on her clothing than on her paper! :-) I use an Ecosense product called PreSpot. This stuff is amazing and very same for your family! I use it on nearly every piece of clothing my daughter has and it WORKS!

Best of all...it doesnt have any harsh chemicals or bleach!

Good Luck! S.

Try using Zout...it's like spray and wash. I used to work as a costumer on TV shows, and we used it on a costume that had tons of paint on it and it came out (the paint wasnt dry yet though). Spray it on, maybe let it soke in a bit, then wash it in cold water. dont put it in the dryer until the paint is all the way out--heat will set the stain/paint. If that doesnt work, use oxy clean. mix the powder with a little water to make a paste and put it on the paint spot really thick. let it sit overnight, or for longer. then wash in cold.
If all this fails, send you daughter to school with an apron--a cute one that she likes and will wear.

A little about me: I have been married for 1 1/2 years and have 4 step kids. The 3 boys live with us, they are 7,9 and 11 yrs old. I am 39. I used to work on TV shows but now am selling Arbonne so I can stay at home with my new family.

Try soaking in vinegar and water. Works like a charm.

I guess now you have several outfits that have been categorized as "school clothes." She wears the dirty ones to school and nothing else. Why stress over it? She is gonna get them covered in paint anyway, just start out the day that way and reserve most of her clothes for the rest of the time when she does not get to enjoy her messy activities!

PS Have you tried oxyclean? My daughter was a mess everyday too, but just using detergent and oxyclean got most of the extra stuff off.

buy your daughter's clothes at Target and Old Navy so that you don't care about the paint. You might be focusing on her clothes a little too much rather than her having a blast at school.....in the meantime try Goo Gone.

Save the fancy clothes for special occasions and not school!

Hi Renee,

You poor thing. I'm new to Mamasource and was just reading through things and came upon your request for help. It seems that most everyone concentrated more on scolding you about the clothes your child wears instead of the paint problem.

I agree totally with Susan R. I also use the same eco-friendly products she uses and I can guarantee they are incredible.

I did notice alot of advice for using convention store brand spot and soil removers, please be careful with those. They contain so many chemicals that are now being linked to many childhood/adult illnesses. As Susan said, the products we are using are eco-friendly so there are no harsh chemicals in them.

If you haven't found a good source of cleaning yet, I'd be happy to share more with you.

Best wishes,

T.

I am an Early Childhood Educator and adding water to any brand of commercial paint will not make stain clothing any less. So I'm not sure what her teachers mean by adding water either! I have found that if I pre-treat the item immediately with ZOUT spray then many times the stain will come out. Sometimes it will take more than one washing and another application of ZOUT. Just check the garment after the initial washing. Once the garment has gone into the dryer then the stain is set forever. You can find ZOUT at Target.

Hi Renee:
Well, first and foremost...take a smock or an old t-shirt for your daughter to wear at preschool and have them make sure that she wears it during art time. Let them know you are having a hard time getting the paint out as well...maybe they can look into a better paint that is more water soluble. I'd try Spray and Wash with Resolve or some Goof Off or even some nail polish remover. Once it goes through the dryer though you are pretty much done in.
Good Luck,
C.

I also have the "paint" issue. I have yet to find something that works. I have 3 year old twins, and don't want to go broke buying clothes. Our school suggests only using the same certain clothes for school. This way you don't ruin everything you own. The school understands kids get dirty/stained and don't care if the kid come in old clothes, used or hand-me-downs. It's the parents that need to get over kids looking "pretty" for school. Try giving up on keeping the kids neat. Focus on only sending your kid in older clothes to school. That way you have nice stuff for other times, and school stuff for school time.

I taught preschool and you may want to check to see if they are buying washable paint. If they are not, instead of adding water (which seems pointless to me too), they can add dishwashing soap. It makes the paint last longer because you need less of it and helps get the paint out of clothing. Still the washable paint is really great (although blue never comes out) and you should campaign for it at the school. Mention to the director that you are not the only parent that would be happier if this happened.

Also, make sure that you soak everything in cold water at least overnight. You may also want to try soaking with SOILOVE which you can buy at the 99c store. Do NOT soak or wash with warm water because this sets stains in.

The other thing you might want to consider is sending in hand-me-down clothes that you don't care about. You can get them through friends, Children's Orchard or garage sales. It may be less heartbreaking if a $1.00 shirt gets messy vs. one that cost $15. Save the cute clothes for relative and special occassions, etc.

Oxyclean is the greatest at getting stains out. I use it in every load. It almost always works. I check before I put clothing from washer to dryer and if it hasn't worked I just soak the stained item in a bucket of Oxyclean before I wash again and dry. Good Luck!

PS -- the school my duaghter goes to puts soap in with the paint, which seems to work. None of her clothes are stained from paint.

I have had great success with Borax. It comes in a green box in the stain removal section of the grocery store.

For really difficult stains I will first get some borax with water and make a paste and rub onto the stains. After I've let that sit for a bit I'll then boil some water in a large pot. I'll add the article of clothing and more borax to the boiling water. My mom showed me this and at first I thought she was nuts for "cooking clothes", but it works.

Good luck.

*Ask the preschool teachers to add liquid soap to the paint they are using.
*When painting with your child at home, encourage her to put on an old t-shirt or easy smock on her own. Its great independant skills.
Ask the teachers if she can keep it in her cubby or hang *somewhere in the class.
If the school has not yet purchased smocks for the children, maybe you could donate 4.
*"Shout" brand normally works for my child grass/grease ect. stains.