Ask the Readers | How do you treat laundry stains?

Today’s question comes from one of my own cousins! Jenna lives in California and she and her husband have two little boys; a preschooler and a newborn.

Here’s a picture of Jenna and me in 1994. 🙂

What do you do to treat laundry stains? I am in the thick of it now with 2 babes between food, spit up, poop/pee, dirt etc. I used to hand scrub every spot before putting in the wash but it’s just not practical anymore.

I’ve been using oxiclean stain remover spray on EVERYTHING lately but end up using like a whole bottle per giant load. It gets the job done but I think it’s kind of hard on the clothes (and costly in the end).

I didn’t have much in the way of creative solutions for Jenna (I mostly just used Shout, purchased in a giant container from Costco), so I asked her if I could use her question for an Ask the Readers post, and she said, “Yes, please!”

I do have one tip for stubborn stains: if the stain is food-based (like a tomato sauce stain), you can place the item in direct sunlight, and the sun will usually make the stain disappear.

Obviously, you wouldn’t want to do this repeatedly with dark clothes because the whole outfit would fade. But for light-colored fabrics, this works super well.

So, whatcha got for Jenna? She needs a cost-effective, easy-to-apply stain remover solution.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Nichole

Friday 13th of January 2023

Mothercould.com is an excellent resource for all things childhood. She swears by miss mouths messy water jstain remover, it is on Amazon.

Ally

I might be lazier than everyone else, but I just ignored stains. I used to soak baby clothes in oxyclean but if that didn't get it out I wouldn't bother working any further at it. I had twins so was already overwhelmed. Since I knew the outfits were clean I didn't sweat any stains too much. They grew out of things so quickly too and I wasn't trying to pass on the outfits to anyone else.

smartart

Thursday 12th of January 2023

... I meant to say.....oxiclean is NOT the same as oxygen bleach. Patric explains this on his youtube channel. Also, he breaks down stains. If you have an oil based stain you need a recipe that includes oil based soap. It is very interesting and effective/useful info.

I have just discovered Patric Richardson akaThe Laundry Evangelist/The Laundry Guy on you tube. He also has a website. This guy loves,loves, loves the laundry and knows his stuff. He swears by oxygen bleach (not the same as oxygen bleach) and soap flakes. I think if you used a vinegar/oxygen bleach/soap flake combo it should work for your cousin's household of young children. Also, he is a big advocate of simple, non fragranced, no phosphates, dyes, etc.....He also does fb live events with questions. Very entertaining and very useful info. I think he's schedule for an hgtv show premeire in spring of 23 too.

Karen @ Living Unabridged

As has been mentioned: prevent them before they start. I was never a fan of bibs but we were fine with babies and toddlers eating naked (well, wearing diapers) weather permitting.

Also, kids need clothes they're allowed to get dirty / stained / ripped. So set aside some clothes for "best" and then let the rest get clean or...not. Use smocks or already stained clothse for painting or messy play.

Two of my favorite stain removal tips are: 1. boiling water for fruit stains. Totally counterintuitive but boiling water has gotten blueberry, cherry, and grape stains out of shirts and tablecloths for me. And 2. Body-temp water for blood stains. Not cold, not hot, but body temp seems to help blood "flow" out of the fabric. (Of course, the sooner you get to it, the better any trick will work.)

And if you're up for a whole book on laundry, "Laundry Love" by Patric Richardson is a fun read with lots of helpful hints.