Thursday, May 29, 2008
I'm Seeing Spots!
Do you have trouble getting spots out of your kids' clothes or am I just really bad at this? I know she's two and messy and that's okay but EVERYTHING has spots on it and it doesn't matter if I stain stick it or bleach the whites, they don't seem to come out. And I want to reuse these clothes for her little sister! Any tips?
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11 comments:
I need help in this area too!
My BFF can get any stain out. Her secret is Oxyclean. She makes a concentration of like equal parts oxyclean and water so that it's like a paste. Then she spreads it over the stain and let's it sit for a while....then she washes it regularly with oxyclean in the brew. Sometimes she repeats this up to three times. She is relentless. I have tried this with great success, but also ruined two pairs of pants ....there was like a bleach affect instead of just taking the stain out. So if it's something you really love, try spot checking.
Also just a few tips:
buy cheap clothes so that if they get ruined you don't feel as bad, and also you aren't like all over your toddler to stay clean.
second tip: be creative about salvaging clothes....embroider over bad stains, sew patches over them or refashion them into something completely different.
dye the piece something darker to cover up the stain or bleach it and then tie dye it....
I swear by oxy clean. I am lazy so I don't make the paste. I bought the spray that they sell at the store. It works great in itself. I also put a scoop of oxy clean in every load of my laundry and that seems to help with most of the ones that I don't catch as well (I honestly don't scrub nearly as much as i used to.) The one other thing that I always have on hand is Fels Naptha (its a yellow bar laundry soap). This works really well on greasy stains and some other types of stains that oxy clean doesn't work as well on. I can honestly say that I haven't ever met a stain that I can't get out (aside from the ones that were missed before laundry...once its been through the dryer theres almost no hope for it...)
On the laundry topic...I learned recently that to make your whites really white you use this stuff called Bluing. It works great. You can check it out at http://www.mrsstewart.com/
Happy washing!
So I was looking at the Bluing website a little more closely and found a detailed stain removal guide. It may be helpful to print off. The direct link to this chart is:
https://www.mrsstewart.com/pages/stainremoval.htm
I am a FREAK about stains. I will not put stained clothes on myself or Cecelia. It drives Scott nuts. But, due to my hate for stains, I have learned to get them out, which I've decided is a good skill to have.
I too, swear by oxyclean. Its is fabulous. Read the directions on the box/container though. Like Kage said, it can act as a bleaching agent if you use too much of the powder. One thing that I've learned is its best to get the stain out right away. I have a cheap, but large bowl that I got from Walmart and I put stained clothes in it. I treat them right away, then keep them soaking in water that I rotate out every day. This way the clothes are soaking and the stain is kept "fresh" so to speak, until I do laundry. Then I run the clothes through the laundry and DON'T DRY THEM. I hang dry things the first time or two after treating the stain. It might be overkill, but then I feel pretty sure that the stain is gone.
A few things to know- shampoo will take out a lot of stains... blood, grass stains, poop... My mother in law swears by it. If I don't have oxyclean, or oxyclean doesn't seem to be working, I use shampoo. For grease stains, I use dish soap. I put it on the stain right away and it usually takes care of it. Tide-to-go pens are awesome. So are Shout stain wipes. But, if you don't have those on hand, baby wipes work wonders. I use these all the time when we are out and about.
For set in stains (ie- ones that have been set in the dryer) I don't know what to suggest. By that point, I think its pretty much too late. I like Kage's ideas for hiding/disguising the stains.
What I use that is fantastic and even gets a lot of set in stains out is Lestoil. It is a household cleaning product for grease and stains. I love it because there is no scrubbing and you just put the lestoil on the stain, let it sit on it for atleast 5-10 minutes or for me, a couple of days, and out comes the stain. My mother has always used it and turned me into a fan. I love it because I don't always spot stains right away and usually gets rid of ones that have sit on the clothes for days.
I love oxyclean and Fels Naptha. The Fels Naptha has gotten stains out of clothes I have deemed hopeless (includ. ones that have been through the drier several times). The Fels Naptha last forever too, one bar costing approx. 1.20 will last years. So it's definetly economical.
Good Luck!
thanks for the tips guys! Apparently I need to get some oxyclean! :)
Wow, great insight into yucky stains!! I also use Oxyclean, and with four kids it's great!! I have a bucket in my laundry room also (with Oxyclean and water) and put stained clothes in there.
But, where do I get this Fels Naptha stuff? Is it just at Wal-Mart? I'm going to try this, too.
Thanks!!
Fels Naptha is a bar you can find in the laudry isle. It's a little longer than a bar of soap. I put it in all my shower gifts and sometimes it can be tricky to find on the shelf so look carefully. I am sure Wal-mart has it.
I have a suggestion to add - instead of Fels Naptha I use a bar of pink soap called Zote. It is found at Mexican type stores and I think I have seen it at walmart. I like it better than Fels Naptha simply because I felt like Fels Naptha had too strong an odor/fragrance. The Zote doesn't. It is really cheap, too, about $1!
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