Life is messy, and it’s even messier with kids. Grass stains on their pants, ketchup stains on their sleeves, and marker stains on their shirts. It’s all in a day’s work. We did a little digging and found these 9 ways to get stains out of kids’ clothes.
Baby Poop. Wipe off as much excess poop as you can with a baby wipe. Rinse remaining poop off with warm water - let the water do the work, don’t scrub. Pretreat with a stain remover like OxiClean or Spray 'N Wash. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, then launder. Check the stain before putting it in the dryer, which might help to set the stain if it’s still there. If it’s still there, you might want to try soaking it in a color-safe bleach for 30 minutes, then laundering the item again.
Spit Up. First, remove as much of the spit-up from the surface as possible; try not to rub it into the clothing though. Coat the stain with baking soda. Then add club soda to the stain and watch it fizz. Scrub gently with a toothbrush, and then wash in warm water with a mild detergent.
Ink. Wet the stained area, then sprinkle everyday table salt on it. Rub gently, and the stain should disappear.
Markers. Place the stain face down on clean paper towels, dab rubbing alcohol around the mark and on the stain. As you continue dabbing the spot with alcohol, you might need to change the paper towels underneath as you’ll notice the ink transferring from clothing to paper towel. Then rinse and launder.
Gum. Either warm it with a hair dryer and scrape with a dull knife, or freeze it with ice cubes for 20 minutes then scrape it off with a dull knife.
Grease. First, blot away as much of the grease as possible. Sprinkle the stain with baking soda to lift the stain. Wait 5-10 minutes, then gently scrub the baking soda into the stain. It will turn brown, and you can scrape off the baking soda and repeat until it no longer changes color. Then you can apply a small squirt of dish soap (dish soap was designed to cut grease) right onto the stain and let it sit before washing. Before drying, check to see if the stain is still there. (If you want to take a short cut, you can just jump to the dish soap step, too!)
Blood: Rinse the clothing in cold water first. Pour a stain remover onto the stain right away, then rinse well and machine wash. Air-dry the clothing. Once dry, check to see if the stain is still there, as you might need to repeat, this time with hydrogen peroxide instead of a stain remover to get the stain out.
Ketchup stains. Try to treat this stain as soon as possible. First, remove the excess ketchup with a paper towel (or if it’s dry, scrape with a plastic knife). Turn the garment inside out and rinse with cold water. Soak the stain with mild laundry detergent for 10 minutes, use a toothbrush to scrub the stain, then rinse with warm water and launder as normal.
Grass stains. For white clothes, Cascade dishwashing powder is recommended. Let the clothing sit in super hot water and add a cup of Cascade powder. Let sit for 10 minutes. Then rinse with cool water. For colors, make a paste by mixing from 1 tbsp baking soda and a few drops of hydrogen peroxide. Spread onto the stain and let sit for 30 minutes. Scrub off, rinse in cool water, and scrub with detergent. Wait 30 minutes. Finally, rinse again in cool water.
We also found a tip using one part distilled white vinegar and equal parts water for grass stains, which yielded similar results. Coat the stain, let sit for 30 minutes, scrub and rinse with cool water. So if you’re out of baking soda, this is a great backup.
Previous
