Getting A&D Ointment off Clothes, Hair, and the Smell Out of the House

Hi J.,
My 3 year old decided to do about the same thing with vaseline. We used head and shoulders shampoo, I'm sure any generic shampoo would work. We washed his hair with it and then used about a cup of it in a bucket of hot water and soaked his clothes for 24hrs then washed as usual.
L.

Try using Dawn dish soap. That is what they use to get oil off of birds when there is an oil spill. And it is also good for getting vasaline out of hair. A friend of mine had to do this after a prank. Hope this helps and good luck!!

S.

My daughter did this too... OMG, what a mess! What you could do and your daughter would love it... get her to wear a pair of goggles and wash her down in the tub with Dawn dishwashing soap. The goggles will prevent the soap water of getting into her eyes and will break down the greasyness in her hair. You can also remove the grease from her clothes by rewashing them with dawn.. but remember, a lil bit of Dawn, goes a long way.. especially if you have well water.

Please let me know how it turns out. I used it on my own daughter just 3 yrs ago and it worked wonders.

Take care,
~Kim
Winfield

Dawn dish soap. it's what they use to clean oil slicks off seabirds and is gentle, just be sure not to get in her eyes. use it on the clothing too, soak it w/dawn or try white vinegar on the clothing too. You can do a rinse w/the vinegar and water in her hair too.

I used dish soap and my bissel green machine to get it out of the carpet (it takes a while), I assume it would work anywhere.

Something I learned-put ointment up VERY high.

As far as the smell goes, whenever I have odors in the house, I just put some straight vinegar in a bowl and leave it out for a couple of hours. Works so well. You could but several bowls around the house! Try it and see if it works for you!

Good luck!

I don't have any ideas but hope u don't get mad at me but when i read that i laughed so hard i can picture a baby doing that that was a good one. I hope ma and dad laughed too if not when she gets older they will have a funny story to tell her

Wet the spots and apply dawn dish soap. Use an old toothbrush on spot then spray an OXY clean or such cleaner on the soapy area and use brush again. Throw in wash machine without rinsing first and make sure you do not use hot water to wash laundry. Hot sets in stains. If that doesn't work and you have to use items as dust cloths, you'll have learned a lesson and it will become funny after time. All kids get into something they shouldn't at one time or another. We parents will learn from it and not leave things where the little ones can get them. It may take a few shampoos but the cream will come out of the hair just as it comes off the baby with soap and water.

I'm not sure about the smell but you can use dishwashing soap on her hair and it might work for the smell too. When my youngest was about that age, she coated herself down with hand lotion. After 3 washes her hair was still greasy. The dishwashing liquid cut right thru the grease in the lotion and removed it all. I was worried about what her hair would look like when we were done but it was actually really healhty looking.

I got something like that in my hair as a young girl. My Mom used Spray n' Wash to wash my hair and then shampooed it twice. Spray n' wash is a de-greaser, so it might help. But since she's little you would have to be extra careful to not get it in her eyes. Otherwise some kind of de greasing agent. Good luck!!

Powder the child's head with corn starch. Allow to set & then wash. You will need to do this multiple times. But it gets in out of hair.

Dawn liquid soap is your answer!
Barb R.

I have not had experience removing A&D ointment from clothes, but for every other stain I always try this method my mom read about years ago. 9 times out of 10 it does the trick. (It's also a great way to keep white clothes white!)
You need 1 cup of dry dishwasher detergent (Sunlight, Casacde, whatever) and 2/3 cup of non-chlorine bleach (Clorox 2)
Mix it in the washing machine with HOT water. Let it soak for at least a half hour. Sometimes I've had things soak overnight - whatever. Then when you are done soaking it, add your regular laundry detergent and continue the wash cycle.
This usually gets spit up stains, mud, food, etc. completely out of clothes. Worth a try!

I swear by Carbona Stain Devils. There is a formula for just about evewry kind of stain. My favorite and most used is the formula for oil/grease. It usually works on the first time. We go to the movies often and inevitably someone will have a small (or many) stain from a single piece of popcorn. One or two drops of the stuff takes it right out. It does also work on things that have been previously laundered, although it may take a couple tries. EVERYONE I have ever recommended this product to has thanked me profusely. I recommend using Dawn on her hair as others have. Good luck! J.

As far as the clothes go, try rubbing Dawn dishwashing liquid on them. I have used this successfully for my kids and husbands clothes even after they have been dried and got the stains out. You can also try it in her hair, just be careful of her eyes. As far as getting the smell out of the house, I'm not sure. Maybe open windows with a fan, your kitchen exhaust fan and/or burn a candle.
Good Luck!
J. H.

I always rub some dawn liquid dish detergent on all my clothes stains, let sit for a little bit or overnight and then wash. You would be amazed. It really works, especially on greasy stains. Try it!

Try cornstarch. Sprinkle in the hair and allow to sit a few minutes. Follow with a good clarifying shampoo, Neutrogena makes one. They may need to try this several times, but the cornstarch should help. They can also try baby powder and baby shampoo, but the cornstarch is supposed to work better.

A full can of Coke in the wash (after the washtub fills) removes grease, my aunt did this with my uncle's greasy work clothes for years. Good luck to them!

I have read the other responses and agree that the dish soap may work in the hair but I'm not sure how drying that would be. What I would recommend is a product by Shaklee. You can find distributors of it in the business pages of the phone book or you may even be able to find some on this site. They have a product called Basic H. It is awesome. It can be used for anything and everything. You could use it on her hair, in the wash and in a carpet shampooer. It will not dry out that scalp at all. I used some on my son when I couldn't get rid of his cradle cap. As far as her clothes go, another thing that i am sure would work perfectly is a spray cleaner called Jungle Jake. I buy it at Farm and Fleet. It is in with all their regular cleaners and laundry products. It is a degreaser safe for almost any surface. It even works on some stains that have already gone through the dryer including lip balm that your daughter leaves in her pants pocket. As for the smell of A&D i'm not sure. When my son emptied a tube of it in his room it was nice enough outside that we were able to have the windows open for several days and let it air out like that but right now with the need for the A/C i'm not sure what the best solution there would be.

Try dishsoap. It can cut through the greasy stuff. If you can get Prell shampoo, the plain original one, that will work too. As for the smell? Maybe bowls of baking soda.