Cleaning Kids Clothes

NOOOOOO!!!! I hope you'll reconsider. There are markers that don't stain, I have heard of them, but haven't used them as I don't have kids yet. Otherwise, crayons?

Good advice from the other moms. Also thought I'd mention, my girls seem to enjoy painting/coloring outdoors on the patio in this nice weather, in their swimsuits! That way we just hose them off after. =)

Hi D.,

I would teach her to use an "apron". Whether it's an old shirt of daddy's or whatever, but I wouldn't take away the drawing board. Some kids only develope their artistic abilities at young ages and you wouldn't wan to diminish that.

As far as cleaning her clothes out, soaking the shirt in cold milk overnight, then washing it begins to remove the stain, but not completely. I've tried everything and some stains are just there forever. Maybe those shirts can be her painting shirts :O)

~N. :O)

Rubbing alcohol works best.

Use spray n wash.

Don't take away her drawing board, just make sure she uses washable markers, colored pencils, or crayons.

The only way I know to get ink out of clothes is rubbing alcohol or hairspray (has alcohol in it). However, if this is a constant problem, why not just try to get her to wear a smock? Maybe make one out of one of Dad's old button-down shirts?

D.,

Don't take away the art board! I have had success with hand sanitizer for stain removal. Also, there are pens/markers that are washable or can only be used for certain paper. They don't get on your hands and are a lot of fun for kids.

Molly

Dear D.,
Don't take away her drawing board! It sounds like she really likes using it. I hope you will get some great advice from mom's about how to remove the stains, but I have an idea that worked like magic for my kids.
My husband wore suits and ties to work. When one of his dress shirts had to be "retired", I saved them and hung them in the hall closet for the kids to wear over their clothes while doing artwork. I admit I wore them too for staining furniture, outside painting, doing crafts, etc. They work great! Once they got too stained up, I cut the buttons off to use for other things and tossed the shirts.
You can go to any second-hand store and find long sleeve button up shirts for next to nothing. An "art shirt" will spare your daughter's clothes from being stained in the first place.

Best of wishes!

Sometimes the really cheap brand aerosol hairsprays such as Aqua Net will get ink out of clothing. Also, W-D40 sometimes works...wash in warm water to get the oil from the spray to rinse out.

I have the same problem and my daughter gets SO upset now when she stains her clothes. I told her that if she wants to keep her clothes clean, she needs to wear her art apron. Good luck!

In my daughter's art class, several little girls wear sleeve covers. They are plastic tubes with elastic on each end. I think they get them in China Town. I have NOT seen them at Daiso, but I haven't looked for them either.

Don't take the drawing board away. Let her color with out a shirt on, in short sleeves, or just let them get dirty. As long as she is not intentionally or carelessly dirtying her shirts, it seems okay that they get dirty.

Stephanie

If it is dry erase marker, I was able to get an ink remover by going to the manufacturer's website. It worked great! The product is called Amodex. As a teacher who works with children who use dry erase pens regularly, I know that kids don't always look where they are writing.

Try spraying the clothes with hair spray & rub the item until the spot goes away, then launder as usual. I know this works for ink stains. Just be sure to rub it all the out before washing!Good luck!

Hi D.- My absolute favorite stain remover is original (blue) Dawn liquid dish soap. It has gotten out every food based stain I've ever tried it on without bleaching the fabric. I put it on the stain (undiluted, on dry fabric) and I can leave it that way until my next laundry day. I also put it on stains I discover as I'm loading the washer. Its amazing stuff and its cheap!

As for the markers, I'd ask a teacher. They use those EXPO type markers daily and get covered with spots. Good luck.

You don't mention the age of your daughter. Is it possible that she needs to do her drawing at a time when you can sit with her to supervise?
Definitely go with some sort of cover-up for her clothing, but know that sometimes children thwart those and stick their hands, with the markers, under the cover up. Perhaps you should simply take some of the already stained clothing and keep it for drawing time, so you won't be as worried about more ruined clothing too. Stain removers are great, and what others have suggested sound like what I might suggest, but they don't always work.
One more thing, not all 'washable' markers are equally washable. Stick to Crayola brand as much as you can, because they've proven best over the years... and you don't run into the question of safety as you might with some of the off brands that may be made in China.

I have a dry erase marker stain on one of my creamy white shirts (that I also use as a "jacket" on cool days or for overly air conditioned rooms) from when I was teaching preschool before getting pregnant and accidentally got a long red streak on the sleeve. I have tried lots of things on it and now, with my son 6 3/4 years old, the red stain is now finally only a spot, instead of a streak. This tells you how stubborn those dry erase marker stains are!

I would simply switch her to WASHABLE markers and crayons from Crayola, and pin paper to her board if it is a dry erase type board. I think you can get a large roll of newsprint from newspaper printing places, my husband's cousin got one and gave us one which has been nice to use.

Dont let her color in nice clothes. Teach her to use a smock or apron (big shirts with sleeves are probably best, since aprons dont protect sleeves.) Hang it on/near her drawing board (I'm not sure if it's an easel or a portable lap board?) and teach her the habit of using that. If it is a lapboard and her stains mostly get on her lower clothing, maybe a towel across her lap/tummy then she can draw away??

Anyway for stains, there are different things - once things have gone thru the dryer, it is VERY difficult to remove, so always check before tossing clothes into the dryer.

Checkout a chart of different stains/inks and what stain remover to use with each. For some (grease) you need to use hot water. For others (blood, and most other things) you NEED to use cold water first or the heat will set the stain.

I have had good luck using the stain remover Zout on some serious stains like ball point pen (I haven't tried it on marking pen stains). Spray it on and rub the stain with your fingernail. Let set for a few hours (or however long), spray again. Every few days you can run it through the washing machine (but NOT dryer). If the stain persists, go through the routine again. It may (or may not) work. Good luck. E.

I don't know about getting out the marker but instead of taking away the drawing board, why not give her a smock to wear. They make vinyl type ones that you can rinse in the sink!

please don't take away her drawing board! my daughter is always getting paint and markers on her clothes. (and she is 11 now) our cure has always been her *play clothes* (hand me downs and shirts she almost has grown out of, and have already ruined) I encourage her creativity. as far as stains go, depends on the stain. we usually soak before if we get it on time. but for the most part... we have several stained shirts that will never be free of stains ( the little stinker likes to play) and she wears them for rock painting, markers, mud pie making.. we call them "play clothes"

good luck!
Barb

Don't take away her drawing board. Get her washable markers from Lakeshore or Toys r US. My daughter draws around the house, on my arms, she makes happy faces on my hands. I just need a wet cloth to make everything go away. What if your daughter is a talented artist?

Don't take away the drawing board! Better some stains than to remove an interest in art.

What I've been doing and has worked so far is; rub dish soap directly on stain and then soak overnight in a large bowl of hot water with oxy clean. You can then either wash right away or rinse and put it in the dirty laundry. Usually the day before I do my daughters laundry I go through her clothes and find the really dirty items and pull them out, I get a small bucket and pretreat everything, soak it over night with the oxyclean and then dump directly in the wash the next day. So far, there hasn't been a stain I haven't been able to get out. Good luck.