My 18 year old daughter is a senior in high school, and a captain on her varsity cheer squad. As you can see from my picture, it's a bright white uniform with a little green trim. I don't know what posseses her to do some of the things she does, but she manages to always come up with something new, like yesterday, the squad held their spring photo day on the football field, which isn't in great condition to begin with, plus it rained. For her pictures she decided to lay down front first, she said it's the way a cheerleader should pose, except she failed to think about the mud she was laying in. It is soaked into her top and on the elbows of her turtleneck from where she was leaning. And to make matters worse, she didn't want to ruin her new cheer shoes, so she kicked them off, and walled the field in her white knee socks that I JUST BOUGHT her since they are a new part of her uniform!!! Any tips in getting out grass and mud out of these clothes before she needs them next week, and before I ban her from wearing white??
I either soak overnight in oxiclean or dawn (original dish liquid) and then do a cold rinse and wash as usual. Then line dry while they are still wet-the sun will bleach out anything the oxi or soap didn't get out.
Good Luck!
Thecheermom, Fel-Naptha/ laundry soap (Bar soap cost a little over a dollar) and a lot of elbow grease. I do my sons white Baseball pants with it. I wet the garment with cold water and then take the yellow bar of soap and scrub the mud and grass out of the garment then wash it according to the laundry instructions. I have done this for years with the baseball pants, the label says no bleach and I think the material is the same for the cheerleading uniforms. Good Luck let us know how you make out.
The only way to get natural stains out is with something that has natural enzymes to remove the problem. (I don't use Clorox either because it tears the fibers in the clothes and wears them out and it is also a neurological toxin that can be absorbed through the skin, even by simply wearing an outfit.) I use a line of natural products and their spot remover, PreSpot, has removed everything I have ever tried it on except heavy grease and I have another product for grease removal. Let me know if you're interested in more information. I buy it online.
M.
Probably can't order it in time, but for the future, I highly recommend Shaklee's nontoxic laundry products. Their Nature Bright is amazing. I have two teenage boys and they can get their cloths pretty nasty! There's never really been anything I couldn't get out with that.
You can find it at http://www.shaklee.net/healthforlife
Victoria
Try oxiclean. Get the powder and run the uniform under hot water. Pour the powder directly on the stain and rub it in. Let sit for 1 hour+ and then wash normally. If it doesn't work the first time, do it again and leave it sit longer.
I swear by oxiclean--it can get anything out! Be careful, though because one time I left it soak over night and the color faded on the shirt I was cleaning. But a couple of hours should be fine. And if you stay away from the green spots, you can't "fade" white.
For ground in baseball field dirt on my son's WHITE uniform pants (Grrrrr...), someone gave me the tip to use powdered dishwasher detergent and it worked great! (But wear gloves!)
I second the hot water & OxiClean, but take it one step further... boil a big pot of water, add a big scoop of oxiclean to a large tub, pour the boiling water into the tub and add the clothes.... Just be careful because there is a lot of foaming and it will overflow if you're not careful. Good Luck!
I've had tremendously great luck with the Shout GEL. For some reason, the gel seems to be much more concentrated and has even taken baby formula stains out of clothing that had been in storage for over 4 yrs. It may take some treating, soaking, washing and then a repeat or few, but it should come out. Please note that you don't want to dry the items before you see if they need treated again; heat will only permanently set those types of stains. I sooo feel for you! Best of luck!
My SIL turned me on to ZOUT. It's sold near the stain removers in the grocery stores, Walmart, etc. Not everyone carries it. But it's really amazing. It has taken out even "old" stains on baby clothes, grape juice, etc. even when I have dried stuff in the dryer, thinking another stain remover or Oxyclean would have worked...only to find the stain still showing through.
Also, I like Tide. I have found that the cheaper laundry detergents are either less concentrated or just don't have the same quality products to remove most ground in dirt and stains. I don't use it all the time, but when we have a load of grass stains, mud, baby diaper blow outs or messy foods, I use the Tide. It really does make a difference.
I do let my kids wear white--and they have never been careful with them...EVER. I do not use bleach at all any more. I am not sure what material the clothes are but get some Oxyclean, use warmer water and let a full scoop desolve in a dish pan of water (that is what I use for my little ones clothes that are awful). Let it soak for a full day at least. My little one likes to go outside in her sox and they get pretty bad with grass and mud stains. This soaking has saved a lot of clothes for me. Then wash the clothes as usual.
give her a bar of ivry soap and have her scrub it out thats how i get the mud out of our clothes
The best thing I have ever used is called Totally Toddler. I found it at KMart in the baby section. It never failed me, but I always treated the stain immediately after taking the clothes off. Didn't necessarily have to wash right away, I would just spray it and put it in the hamper. It worked great on grass, blood, formula, food.
Maybe she should be a football player instead of a cheerleader! :-)
I would use shout or tuff stuff first and then let it soak in a sink of bleach water but DONT over do it.....for a standard kitchen sink i would put two small splashes and fill with hot water....if that dont help i dont know what will... but your daughter is 18 and should be washing her own clothes by now.
we used dishwasher detergent on my sons baseball uniforms for the mud/dirt he would get when sliding into base. put about a cup full into a bucket of water and swish it around. soak the item in it for about an hour swishing every once in a while then throw the who buck full of water plus uniform into the washing machine to wash. should come out sparkly clean. you may have to do several rinse cycles to get rid of all the soap. good luck
SOL-U-MEL will get it out…whatever it is. I used it just this weekend to get non-washable marker off the fridge and pen off the furniture. I use it as a stain lifter on clothes too. It’s amazing! For laundry, I use SOL-U-MEL to wipe away as much of the stain as I can before running a regular wash cycle and the stains always come out!
LOL! I coached HS cheerleading for 5 years & your daughter reminds me of every one of my girls! I just wanted to let you know you are not alone. The image of her walking across the field & laying in the mud brings back fond memories. :)
As for the stains. I recommend soaking overnight in HOT water with oxy clean. Replace the water (& add more oxy clean - about a tablespoon each time) ever few hours & each time you replace the water scrub the stains with some soap. I usually use the hand soap I have in the bathroom. (When I'm taking stains out of my boys' clothes). When you get all the stains out then wash the uniform as normal.
