Tips for Getting Baby Poop and Other Stains Out

Second post today! I told you guys I was going to try to blog more...

So with a baby, it is inevitable that you are going to get stains on your clothes and their clothes. Poop is the hardest thing I have had trouble getting out. Today I sorted out all the stained clothes and tested different methods and every single item got clean! This is what I did.

For the fresh stains (those not already gone through the washer and dryer without me noticing), I rinsed it in warm (tap) water and then used dish soap (a lot of people say Dawn but we don't buy name brand and it worked just fine). By use, I mean scrub it in until it suds. Then rinse and wash as normal (stain should be visibly gone before you throw it in the wash. If not, try a method below).

For the stains that had gone through the wash already, I used imitation oxyclean I got at the dollar store. It's called totally amazing oxygen or something like that. You put one scoop of that into a gallon of water and mix. Then I soaked the stains for 30 minutes. After that, I rinsed them and washed as normal.

I will also mention I tried hydrogen peroxide on some of the tougher stains but this method didn't work for me so maybe I didn't leave it on long enough or something. I know a lot of other people also use the sun (either outdoors if the weather is nice or indoors by a sunny window) but since here in Wisconsin, it's still winter, the sun isn't an option. Plus, people have mentioned that this can fade the whole fabric instead of just the stain.

I am really impressed with the dollar store stuff and will definitely have to keep some on hand because I have more things that are stained!

For other, non baby related, stains it depends on the type of stain to get it out. For blood, soak in cold water, especially if the stain is still fresh. For grease, I recommend the dish soap method. For coffee, grape juice, or other dark beverages, I recommend the dollar store stuff (or oxyclean but that is expensive).

Sometimes, rubbing liquid laundry detergent directly into the stain before washing (and then adding more detergent to the machine) is effective. I don't use liquid detergent so I can't attest to this but others say it works.

Whatever the stain, don't despair! I was ready to throw some of those clothes away (seriously) because the stains were that bad but I managed to get them out without a lot of work!