Mildew removal?

[LucyG]

Some of dd's clothes have mildew on them. It's tiny black spots where, I suppose, milk or spit-up sat for too long. I'd really like to get the mildew out, especially since one of the outfits is her coming-home outfit. Does anyone know of a good way to do this without damaging the clothing? Washing alone has not helped.

Also, how do you avoid this mildew problem (especially those of you who live in humid climates and have dribbly babies)?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[vikivoly]

Good question! I also live in a damp house with mildew problems. I've tried soaking in oxy-clean, pretreating, etc. and haven't had any success with removing mildew. I found it's best to just try to prevent it before it occurs. Since we started solids, bibs have been my biggest problem. I've been rinsing the dirty bibs and then putting them in a seperate bag until it's laundry day.

[nohomama]

If it's a white piece of clothing, a dilute bleach solution is your best bet. Spray the solution on the stain, let it sit for several minutes, then rinse with cold water. If it's really stubborn stain, I go at it with a bar of soap too. I've been successful using this routine most of the time.

As for preventing mildew, make sure that garments are allowed to air dry before you put them in the hamper. Pretreating promptly is also helpful but it's more of issue of clothing staying damp than an issue of stains sitting too long on a garment.

HTH,