On New Year's Eve my grandpa shared his chocolate ice cream with my daughter, which spilled down the front of her favorite shirt. I can't get mad, I thought it was really sweet that my 89 year old grandpa and 4 year old daughter shared a fun treat. However, I've washed her shirt twice (stain treated both times) and I'm getting nowhere. The shirt is pink, cotton-knit, nothing special except for the fact that its one of those "bedazzled" looking shirts and she LOVES it. Any suggestions for getting this stuff out? I've used stain stick and spray with resolve power. TIA!
Nikki
I had some very tricky "old" stains that I wanted to get out of some of my boys' clothes. The only thing that worked for me (and please do a color test first as it did change a green terry cloth shirt orange) is to fill up your sink (or a tub) with very warm water, then get Oxyclean and mix a teaspoon (or so) with a little bit of water to make a paste. Rub that directly on the stain (you may need more if the stain is big). Then, after you've rubbed it really good on the stain, let it soak in the warm water for about 30 minutes. It got every single stain out of those clothes-- I couldn't believe it... I had treated them in the washing machine with every other product available. The paste is the trick.
Good luck!
Amy
treat with clorox 2 - soak five minutes. wash normal (cold water - warm water will set the stain)
I have had incredible results with ERA; but you do have to put the detergent right on the stain and let it soak; it's good to get it wet, with cold water as suggestd. ERA works with enzymes that eat the stain. The others suggested here may work just as well, though I would avoid Clorox on a colored item, but I have never tried them. Good luck.
I use
Spray and wash stain stick. it's the roll on one (like a stick deod. It works best when you leave it sit for a few days.
I also use BIZ . Buy the powder kind and make a paste to put on the stain. Mix some dry biz in the palm of your hand with water and then apply to the stain w/your fingers.
Good luck.
Try pretreating it with Dreft and (half cup/ sink of water) then let it soak for about 24 hours (if the gems can take it) Dreft has enzymes in it that can even get out really old stains.
I haven't tried this yet for myself, but my husband's sister in law swears by pine sol or even the generic brand for stain removal. Incidentally, I don't think that I have ever once seen a stain on her or her family's clothing, so she must be on to something. She says to pretreat the stain with the pine sol, let it set in for a little while, and then throw it in the wash. Since you have already washed this shirt a time or two, maybe it won't work, but you can give it a try. Just don't put it in the dryer until the stain is out, because the heat of the dryer will set the stain.
It may be a little late since you've already washed the clothes, but I always use Oxi-Clean powder in loads when I have tough stains, and I can't think of a time that it didn't get the stain out. They have one without perfumes, which is good for kids clothing (and they even have a baby variety). With tough stains, I use it along with the stain stick or spray, and I use a full scoop and then use a "soak" mode in my washing machine.
Hi Nikki-
I used Oxyclean for stains on my babies clothes for a while but it didn't always do the trick. My cousin told me about OxiBaby by the same company and it has removed every single stain I have used it on. I'm really impressed with it. It is great. I wondered if if would only work on food based stains but it also works on ink, blood, etc. There is also a stain eraser pen that I've only found at The Container Store that works great. Oh yeah, I have only been able to find OxiBaby at Babies R US. Good luck.
Try soaking it in Oxy Clean, the miracle stain remover, for an hour or so before washing. I usually mix a half a scoop and some warm water in the sink to soak.
This isn't really going to help since it's after the fact, but for future reference, protein stains like chocolate, kool-aid, juice, blood, feces, etc -- you should soak the garment in cold water with no soap, detergent, or anything. Most times it will come out on it's own simply from soaking.
NEVER use hot water on protein stains. Heat opens up the fibers of the garment and allows the stain to set, plus it kind of "cooks" the protein making the stain worse. Cold water tightens the fibers, making it easier for the stain to "release".
I have yet to find a stain remover that actually works. I've tried oxy-clean, spray and wash, shout, etc. A while back "orange clean" was the thing, and that never worked for me either.
I have had a few stains that I've missed and didn't soak set in, and I've used dawn dish detergent to scrub them out, and that seems to work most of the time - but that's about it.
But cold water soaks almost always work for us :) And we sure do have stains (I've got 3 boys, lol, and one not-so-messy girl).
Good luck getting the stain out! I hope you find something that works!
Try Dreft detergent (for babies). It is not necessary for babies in my opinion, but it does do a good job of removing stains. Dissolve some of the powder in a little water and rub on the stain (or get the liquid variety and rub on directly). Chocolate is REALLY hard to get out-harder than grass, oil, blood in my experience!!
hi! so sorry to hear about your tuf stain! i work w/a group called motivated moms...we are joined w/a wellness company that has awesome products (for not only your health but for your home as well). if you would like, i can order you a bottle of the stain remover and send it to you. it is a 24.oz for $5.24 - yes a little higher than over the counter in your local store prices, but the difference is this...it is safer for your home environment and it WORKS!! let me know if you are interested. this is not something you can buy at your local discount stores. + becoming a member will open 2 great opportunities for you (IF you are interested).... 1.) you will have access to a wide variety of safer products for you, your family and your home and 2.) you can build your own home business. let me know if ANY of this interests you. good luck on your stain! MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!
PEACE,
AMANDA
Oxiclean is the only fool proof stain remover that I have found; however, it did not remove hot chocolate from the front of my daughter's white shirt. After soaking it for 24 hours I had to use a bleach pen
Drying it in the dryer will also set stains, so if you have a stain that didn't come out in the wash, it's best to let it airdry if you can't wash it again right away.
I have used a combination of oxyclean and dishwasher detergent (like Cascade, or the store-brand version of it) to soak a bunch of hand-me-down clothes with old babyfood and formula stains - I'd say that 90% of them came out even though they had been washed and dried many times since being stained.
Hi Nikki
I use Wisk an a stain remover and my detergent there is not much of anything that I can not get out with it. I put wisk on the spot rub it together and then put it uder running water and rub it together then put in washer. I let it set for a bit and then wash.
Hope it works for you.
Jarvis FArrow
Hello,
I am not sure if this will still work, since you washed the sirt already and tried the stain, but I usually use "Stain Devils" for Blood & Milk, they work actually very good, they sell them in grocerystores or maybe in Walgreens etc. they come in little bottles for all kinds of stains. But for this one u would use Blood & Milk.
Usually for tough stains I use almost an entire scoop of Oxi-clean in one of my glass mixing bowls and fill up the bowl with the hottest water the item of clothing can stand (if it's normally machine wash cold, I use warm water; if it's machine wash warm, I use hot water).
Then I completely soak the garment in the bowl of solution for sometimes up to 2 days. Trick is to keep a spoon handy and keep giving the water a stir in the first half of the first day, every now and then, to get the bubbles reactivated. Works like a charm every time... just recently got DARK chocolate stain out of my 3-year-old's brand new, pink princess shirt - you can only imagine the drama when she thought it might be ruined!! ;-) And this was AFTER I'd washed/dried it. Hadn't notice the stain 'til I was getting it out of the dryer and my Oxi-clean regiment still worked!! That stuff works wonders.
have you already dried it in between washes... if so that may have set in the stain firther. If not I would definately try Totally Toddler you can get it at walmart babies r us ect. I swear by it it has worked for everything so foar for me. Good luck
I echo the oxyclean/oxyclean baby recommendations. I just used it on my daughters favorite beige reindeer sweater that had blueberry stains all over it... I was sure they were not going to come out but they did. I soaked in cold water and a few scoops of oxyclean baby in my sink with for most of the day...swished ocassionally...rinsed and all stains came out of the beige part of sweater without damaging the other colors in the sweater. I've used on other stains in past as well and always had good luck. Give it a whirl. :-)