Tip - Stain Removers
This will be the last tip for our laundry week. I promised everyone a list of my favorite tried and true stain removers, and here it is so get your shopping list ready.
For general stains, I love to use OxyClean spray. For the most part, I find it extremely effective and love that it does such a good job. There is one major problem with it though - you can only spray things before putting it in the wash. If it stays too long, I have found that it bleaches some fabrics and has put HOLES in others (tiny little holes, but all over). I unfortunately learned that lesson the hard way. Don’t be scared off though - as long as you don’t let it sit for a couple days you should be just fine.
My other FAVOURITE is Sunlight Bar Soap. I think it has been around about a hundred years, but it is the only thing I know of that gets baby “explosions” out of their clothes. It requires a little elbow grease, but it will get any stain out - especially if treated fresh.
Another love of mine, is the Javex Bleach pen. The bleach pen is one you have to be careful with - you can’t let it sit longer than 10 minutes and realistically can only be used on white things that need a spot treatment. My recommendation is to have a list of stain removal tips (laminated is best) beside your laundry soap, for an easy handy reference. The biggest thing with stains is to deal with it right away, (use the Sunlight bar on anything, then hang the garment to dry, or throw it immediately in the wash so it doesn’t mildew), and to make sure that it does NOT go into the dryer until the stain is gone. Sometimes I will wash and air dry a stained garment 4 times before it finally comes out. Just be patient and work your Sunlight bar like crazy! Good luck treating your stains!
These are great references to print off, laminate and have beside your laundry soap:
February 1st, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Great tips! I find spray’n'wash to be pretty reliable. I just recently ruined a shirt out of sheer forgetfulness! I was rather upset with myself. Maybe I’ll reattempt saving it! A really good reference book is the Martha Stewart Handbook (it’s more like an encyclopedia!), which holds so much information! I highly recommend having a copy in every home!
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Sunlight is the only thing that takes baby “explosions” out. It is awesome, just treat it before you wash and -poof gone without a trace. Thanks Maja.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:41 am
OKay for real I have this product that gets out anything… berry stains, any baby stain it works like a charm. My sister in law told me about it and even Whoopi Goldberg on “The View” named it as one of her favorite things. It’s Spray & Wash Dual Power..( I dont know if this is the same product you were talking about.. because this is the new version of just spray and wash), it has 2 separate stain fighters that come together when you squirt it out.. you just put your clothes in the sink.. squirt on and let sit for like 2 min and throw in the wash.. it does wonder i dont use anything else.. you dont even have to scrub it in.. I have yet to not been able to get Anything out! Try it, its awesome.
February 7th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I use Zout - I have used it on my 2 year old’s clothes for the last year and a half. They look fabulous and I am so sad to put away clothes that look brand new when whe grows out of them. I have even been able to treat a hand-me-down white shirt and had it comeing out looking better than ever…I am a believer
March 4th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
A great product that I use - which is also more environmentally (and health!) friendly, is Norwex Carpet Stain buster. See http://www.norwex.ca for details. It is a great product that can be used even on clothes! A girl I know used it to treat a grass stain out of white pants. It doesn’t work with chemicals, but rather with enzymes.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:52 am
I used bleach on a white bikini to remove a satin and now it is yellow! Is there any way to get it white again?
June 11th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Wow Janet I totally feel for you. As far as I know, there is nothing you can do to get rid of the yellow stain. Did you leave the beach on too long? You can’t leave it on for more than 10 min MAX otherwise I have found that the bleach spot turns it yellow. Harsh lesson to learn, trust me… I know!! The worst is even when you know that, when you put on the bleach and think, “I will just run and quickly do…” and then promptly forget to come back. If you find anything that DOES work though, post it - I would love to know! I wonder if a bluing agent would make it less noticeable…
June 26th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
regarding the yellow stain, I have soaked clothes in Borax overnight and then you can put a drop of Bluing in with the rinse cycle. That SHOULD make it less noticeable. I have found that soaking baby clothes and such in Borax overnight also takes out most stains in clothes. I have grown children and a grand-daughter and my husband works with welding stuff (I call it crap) and it does get out smell and most of the stains. Unless it’s too old, then I have to admit, I don’t try to hard to get anything clean anymore. I am too busy! lol
Good luck.