Does Anyone Know How to Get Poopy Stains Out of Clothes?

Updated on March 13, 2009
J.G. asks from Tempe, AZ
31 answers

My baby has a diaper blow out almost every day and it's taking its toll on her clothes. She is breastfed so the poo leaves a nasty yellow stain. I have tried soaking her clothes and using laundry spot removers but I can't get out all the stains. Any cleaning advice would be appreciated!

PART 2: THANKS SO MUCH for all the great advice!!! Regarding going up a size in the diaper: She is in a size 4 diaper already and she is 8 months old and around 21 lbs. I cant believe she would already be out of a size 4 diaper? I think the blowouts are because the breastfed poopy is so liquidy that it goes up her back when she is sitting.

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A.F.

answers from Phoenix on

BIZ has always worked for me. I let it soak at least over night, stirring it around a few times. Then I usually have to scrub, but it all comes out.

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A.D.

answers from Tucson on

You can try colorsafe bleach, and then just wash again after with the Dreft. As far as preventing the blowouts, have you considered moving up a size in the diapers? Sometimes they blow out because the diapers are too small.

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S.O.

answers from Oklahoma City on

My little boy did that all the time. Oxyclean worked for me.

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❤.I.

answers from Albuquerque on

This happens with my 9 month old daughter all the time. What I do is right away rinse it with water, then spray it with pre-spot. Then when I do my normal wash I pull out this little wooden washboard (aluminum in the middle) and there's this pink bar soap called zote and just scrub it till it comes clean and throw it in the wash. It works every time!

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C.R.

answers from Las Cruces on

Dreft spray has worked miracles on my son's clothes.

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D.A.

answers from Phoenix on

I know a ton of moms have suggested OxiClean but I'm a Biz girl. With 5 kids, I've gotten tons of stains out with Biz. There are two important key steps -
1. Never dry clothes with stains on them (I air dry ALL my clothes all the time - they last longer and look better - although you do have to iron them.
2. Soak for THREE days. I fill a bucket with Biz & warm to hot water (not too hot as hot water sets stains) try to dissolve most of the Biz & then put in the clothes. Once a day, swish the clothes around to agitate the detergent. On the 3rd or even 4th day, dump the whole bucket into the washer (solution & all) and run a regular load (you can add extra clothes).

This gets out about 98% of my stains, especially blow-outs. Zout is good as well as the dual-colored stain solution that mixes as you squirt it on the clothes. I just ran out & forgot the name. I will pre-treat if it's really bad before soaking. Good Luck!

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M.S.

answers from Albuquerque on

I had a preemie who stained everything. Don't remember where I learned this but it works. Wash the item and place it on some grass (hopefully you have some) in the sunlight while it is still wet. It works every time. Good luck!

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A.D.

answers from Phoenix on

Ah yes, the breastmilk poop stains....don't miss those! My son still has regular blow outs, I really don't know how he does it!

The trick is to rinse in cold water immediately, as in put the new diaper on, set baby down, go straight to the sink and scrub as best you can. Then what I did was spray it with stain remover (I found that Dreft or Shout seem to work the best) and scrub the spot with a toothbrush. You need to let it sit on the garment for at least five minutes...then I would rinse and see how much came out...and repeat. Once it looked like a good chunk came out I would wash it (in cold water). However, I had lots of stains that wouldn't come out. I finally googled poop stains and learned about soaking with clorox 2. So I sprayed, scrubbed, and then soaked in clorox 2. I have an HE washer that doesn't have a real soak function so I did it in my bathtub. Most of my stains came out and they were old stains. I now use clorox 2 every time I do my son's laundry. There are still some stains that don't come out though, but in general everything comes clean. Oh, and if you're on the go, my husband and I found that using baby wipes to get as much of the poop out as possible is a great trick...then you can rinse it in cold water and stick it in a plastic bag until you get home. Try not to let the stain dry before washing it, even if you do a spray down first. Good luck!!

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S.S.

answers from Tucson on

I use Zout. You can get it at the grocery store or like target. I used it on everything. I works wonders! Best stain remover I have found.

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K.L.

answers from Albuquerque on

A sigh of delight often follows using Oxi-clean pretreater and bleach (pen) for stains in my whites. Winning combo for me. It's nice to have little victories like these- they can sometimes make a not so good day better, eh?

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C.C.

answers from Flagstaff on

try to use peroxide. Just pour some peroxide on the stain full strength then wash as usual It works wonders on blood stains so maybe it might work.

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C.C.

answers from Flagstaff on

It looks like you have some good replies, but one more tip...never dry an outfit that still has the stain in it. The dryer just sets the stain, so if you haven't been successful getting it out yet, put it back in to soak using a different cleaning product. I bleached everything, and amazingly enough it did not change the color of most items. Good luck!

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S.G.

answers from Phoenix on

I used to use Oxyclean -- just put a small scoop in a bucket of water and soak the clothes in that for a while (even a day or so) before washing. Hope it helps!

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I.K.

answers from Phoenix on

Hi J.,

I had the same problem and I discovered OxiClean. You can get either the powder or liquid and soak the clothes in that. It does work! It takes not only the smell out, but the stain as well. I hope this helps!

I. K.

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S.B.

answers from Tucson on

My little one had several blowouts when she was going from newborn to size 1. After lots of soaking and scrubbing, I have found that rubbing baking soda straight into the stain and letting it dry. Then spray it with white vinegar and wash in detergent with Dawn. This even worked for a light pink shirt that I had wadded in the diaper bag for 6 hours before dumping it in the soak bucket. I didn't even do anything to the shirt for about a week and it came clean. I now buy baking soda and white vinegar in bulk!

Good luck

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C.H.

answers from Flagstaff on

Use a coconut oil natural soap. Believe me, that gets out stains real good. When washing the clothes, use less detergent than you think, and use extra rinses. Accumulation of detergent on clothes lead to a lot of stains. Line drying clothes can help. I know that quite of few moms lay clothes to dry on the grass to help with stains.

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J.P.

answers from Phoenix on

Spray and wash. Works every time. :)

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S.C.

answers from Phoenix on

I don't have any stain removal advice, but I'm thinking, you're gonna need a bigger diaper! It might help prevent so many blow outs! :)

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N.F.

answers from Albuquerque on

I have the cheapest best solution: the sun. wash as usual and line dry in the sun.

R.D.

answers from Syracuse on

I know many moms have said soak in oxyclean, but I've found that making a paste with oxyclean and a bit of liquid detergent or clorox 2 will get out even washed and dried in stains. I got a lot of clothes passed down to me when I had my daughter and they were all stained. I applied the paste directly to the stains, rubbed it in and let it dry, then washed them in cold water; and the clothes actually looked new!

And the key to using bleach on colors is 10:1. Ten parts water to one part bleach. If you dilute the bleach this much it will not cause discoloration. This is good for getting smells out, killing mold, and disinfecting.

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P.S.

answers from Albuquerque on

If the poop (or pee for that matter) escapes the diaper on a regular basis, I'd go up to the next size of diaper. If your child is anywhere close to the lbs recommended, it may just be time. If you are using cloth, same thing- one size larger.

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K.U.

answers from Santa Fe on

another vote for: presoak in Oxy Clean!

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Y.V.

answers from Phoenix on

Oh yeah! Our son use to have the biggest blow outs, all the way to his neck! He's also breasfeed. I used to rinse the garment as good as possible and soak it in Oxybaby and hot water before doing his laundry and it worked like a charm! Even my nanny was amazed how good it worked. Now he eats solids as well, so very rarely he has a blow out:).

Good luck!

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B.B.

answers from Santa Fe on

OxiClean is great for those not so nice stains. Put a little powder in some warm water to dissolve a little then let the clothes soak for an hour or how ever long you want, then rinse them good and wash.

And you should put the little one in a diaper that is one size bigger, that will minimize the explosions.

Good luck and God Bless!

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B.R.

answers from Phoenix on

Try Resolve, scrub with toothbrush, let set and then apply a bt more and wash.

T.C.

answers from Albuquerque on

Hi J.,
One suggestion *not* on the oxi-clean bandwagon - lol!

Spray-n-Wash. I used it so much the first months for both my boys, I'd buy bottles of refill in bulk!

Here's the sales pitch: I had a yard sale, and a Mom asked me if my babies don't poop: NO stains; and no breastmilk stains on my shirts. Also awesome for spit-up.

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J.C.

answers from Phoenix on

I used Zout on all of my children's poopy stains. When that didn't work, I would put a dab of lemon juice directly on the stain and put it out in the stain. Be careful with this one and do a spot test first-it may zap some color out of certain items.

Another suggestion is to use Woolite. As soon as your remove the item from your baby, fill the sink with cold water and add a little woolite. Let it soak in there for 2-3 hours. This usually does the trick as well-it works wonders on blood and ketchup stains, too!

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R.C.

answers from Albuquerque on

Simple Green works for me. We have the same problem! :)

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L.G.

answers from Phoenix on

Try soaking it in BIZ and your detergent for at least overnight, stirring it once in awhile.

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P.S.

answers from Albuquerque on

When I was researching cloth diapers, a lot of the websites mentioned that drying your clothes out in the sunshine will remove any stains. We use cloth diapers and rinse out any poopy diapers (my husband connected a sprayer to the toilet...it's just like the sprayer at your kitchen sink, and it easily cleans the diapers without having to touch them too much). If there are still stains, I spray with Dreft, wash and then we hang them outside when it's nice.

Hope this helps!

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V.W.

answers from Albuquerque on

I have found that Dawn dish soap does wonders on stains. The key is to rinse right away, then rub and scrub with Dawn.

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