Food stains on clothes!

[Andrea James]

Any suggestions on how to get food stains out of clothes? I've discovered that carrots stain worse than Georgia red clay!!

Thanks.

[Imperia]

This may sound strange, but supposedly it works REALLY well. I have gotten this advice from people on my Gymboree loops.

Oxyclean--buy stock in this stuff.

Method: heat water on stove until boiling, add a scoops of Oxyclean (2-3 to start more if needed), mix up solution and soak items in mixture OVERNIGHT. Wash normally. Supposedly this does not fade items and it gets out almost everything. I have not tried this exact method myself, however, I adore Oxyclean and it works REALLY well for everything Ihave tried it for.

Another laundry tip is a bleach pen. If the clothing is white you can colour around spots with this pen, pretty nifty.

I use Shout stain remover which I find works well on most basic stains. Some people like Spray and Wash Pink as well.

Imperia

[AngelaS]

I LOVE the Tightwad Gazette's stain remover recipe. This works AWESOME on light colored thing or on things so stained there's no hope. LOL

1/4 cup Cascade or other dishwashing detergent
1/4 cup Clorox 2 or Biz (color safe bleach)

Dissolve into 1 gallon HOT tap water and stir well. Put in the stained garments and stir a minute, then let the bucket sit for 24 to 48 hours. :D

Dump the whole thing in the washer, add your other light colored clothes and prepare to be amazed. :D

[jd11365]

Zout...learned about it here on BBB when Kayla was born and we love it!

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
May '03

[parkersmama]

I love Zout as well. It works on practically everything!

And a tip: Yes, *jarred* carrots stain worse than Georgia clay (not many things you can say *that* about!! LOL! Where in Georgia are you? I'm in Columbus.) BUT if you're willing to do it, homemade carrot babyfood does not stain like this. It's easy to make...peel and cut raw carrots and steam them until very soft then throw them into the blender with a little water and blend until smooth. I put mine in ice cube trays to freeze and then store them in a ziplok freezer bag. Easy, tasty and non-staining! :)

[Momof3Labs]

I try Zout first, and if it doesn't work, I use Oxyclean. You definitely need to soak for a long time - a day or longer - to get out the stubborn stains.

[jhmom]

Just a note on Oxyclean... I have heard it works really well if you soak the clothes in it, but DO NOT make a paste of Oxyclean and water and let it sit directly on the stain. I did this and it ate a hole right through my son's Gymboree shirt. Kerri (I have tried making a paste with Clorox 2 and water and that works great)

[ChicagoMama]

I have a sweet, little acid reflux baby who has to eat a jar of prunes every day to keep her little self regular ... so you can imagine how acquainted I am with food stains of all sorts. I second and third the recommendation for Oxyclean (all of my stains have come out with a few hours of soaking in HOT water), but the stain remover that I absolutely swear by for everyday stains is Dreft (not the detergent - the spray stain remover). It works WAY better than Shout, and even better than Zout for me. I have to spray every collar of every single item of clothing that Sydney wears b/c her reflux causes her to vomit/spit-up 4-10 times per day....so to keep my investment in her clothes sound (and not to just keep her in navy blue smocks all day or something), these are the products for me.
HTH!
Becky

Mama to DDs Shelby 09/19/02 and Sydney 10/16/03

[zuzu]

I second the recommendation for the Dreft spray. I learned about it when someone recommended it here last fall, and I've had great luck with it.

Melissa, mom to Sarah (5.10.03)