Suggestions Needed on Treating Stains on Baby's Clothing from Diaper "Accidents"

Try soaking them in a bucket with a couple of gallons of water, 1/2 cup of borax, and laundrey detergent overnight...works wonders for me. I even got chocolate, and red sucker stains out at Halloween :)

Soak them in Baby Oxy Clean until you are able to wash it.....I have only found Baby Oxy at Target! Good Luck!

Dissolve OXY clean in a sink of cold water and presoak. A few dribbles of Dawn on the spots help also.

There is a product called BacOut by BioKleen - it is an all natural lime enzyme stain eliminator and it works better than any detergent I have ever used. I use it on my son's cloth diapers and it even took a red wine stain out of a white shirt that had been sitting in the hamper for days. You just squirt a little on the stain and let it sit for a bit and then wash. It contains no harsh chemicals and is safe for all fabrics. You can order it online at drugstore.com or babyworks.com.
Good luck!
T.

Have you thought about going up a size in diapers? My diapering skills weren't the greatest at the beginning, but the problems really coincided with my son growing out of a particular size of diapers. The weights are only a guideline, and they overlap so don't be afraid to try the next size up.

Trying different brands may help you as well. We used Seventh Generation at the beginning and found that he would grow out of them before he grew out of Pampers. And, as he has gotten older, Huggies seem to fit better.

In terms of stain removers, I swear by Spray n Wash stain stick. It even did an amazing job with a carrot/tomato explosion in my son's diaper bag last week.

Dreft stain remover is a lifesaver! I use it on everything and it works great on poop, orange veggies, formula, etc.
Congrats and good luck!!

there is a time in that age range when they are going to have a lot of blow outs no matter what you do.

I always use Oxyclean. It is a life saver and can get just about anything out. Sometimes for stubborn stains you have to let it soak overnight but it always works for me.

I too had a bf baby who had the lovely green stains. I started doing this. I would keep a bucket of cold water with a couple of scoops of Oxy Clean Baby in it. As soon as I would remove the offending garment, I would throw it in the bucket and let it soak. Sometimes I would have a couple of things soaking in there. If it was particularly nasty, I would use Dreft Stain Remover Spray on the spot before putting in my bucket (my baby has super sensitive skin-if yours doesn't, use any stain remover spray). This seemed to do the trick for me, good luck!

First some advice on how to make the messes stop...switch brands of daipers! I found as my children grew their body types were different and needed a different brand to prevent leaks. The daipers we started with leaked EVERY time and then I just bought some small packs of different kinds and found one that worked. If you are using cloth,(good for you, sorry don't have suggestions)
Shout Spray'nWash (I scrubbed with the gell because it has the brush on the end, but used the spray.)Recently I found OxyClean which I LOVE, and gets out so much of the kids messes now without even scrubbing, but didn't know about it when they were really little. Good luck, but mostly it is just time consuming to treat everything. It won't last long!

Are you able to use stain sticks with HE washers? I guess that sounds like a silly question; however if you have special detergents, I didn't know if you could use regular stain sticks.

Here's my miracle...Shout Ultra Gel...I would put the gel on the "area" and then if I couldn't do wash right away, it was ok. The gel was "doing it's thing". Then, popped the laundry in, all together, and out it came!

I am a first time "older" mom too...haven't been the June Cleaver in my "pre-baby" life. I worked. Dry cleaning...etc. So, getting stains out of baby's clothes was all new to me. This has worked from the very beginning and Maggie is now 2!

Good luck and enjoy your little one.

J.

I've had really good results with the Oxy Clean spray. Even when I leave the stain for days, I spray it on, scrub a little with an old toothbrush and it comes out good as gold. For less difficult stains I don't even scrub it and they come right out. Good luck and best wishes on your new baby!

C.-
I love baby oxy. I tried everything else, and nothing compares (it's a little pricey). I took a spray bottle, and mixed some baby oxy with water. I hang the spray on the inside of the hamper (with the lid closed, as my daughter is starting to pull herself up)so I can grab it quick. Spray it on the stain(I just get it wet...not drenched), and throw it in the hamper with her other clothes. Hope this helps.

My mother-in-law turned me onto Soilove stain remover that she found out west. I have NO idea what it is made of, but I can tell you that in 9 years of using it there has only been one or two small stains that I wasn't able to remove completely. This product is incredible! My girlfriends and I buy it by the case and split the shipping. It's also very affordable. I have an empty plastic ice cream bucket that I leave sitting in my laundry room. When I have something that needs treated I squirt a bit of Soilove on it and put it in the bucket with water and let it soak and soak and soak...voila--the stains are gone! Good Luck!
http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCod...
http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCod...

a quick scrub and soak with Dr Bronners Castile Soap works really well - I have 6 wk old bf twins

Fill up a bucket with soapy water and throw things in there throughout the day

I did EXACTLY what Carrie T did (see her response) and it got my both my son's soiled onesies clean every time. Good luck and congrats!
K.

Dreft has a stain spray that I found in the baby section of my Wal-mart on a bottom shelf. I used it on the blowouts that my son had as a baby and never had a problem. If it was real bad then I let it soak in Biz overnight and then sprayed it with the Dreft before I washed it.

Soak in Oxi-Clean prior to washing. After washing make sure stains are gone before drying because drying will set the stain.
If it is all white clothes you can also use bluing in your wash.

Do you use diaper wraps around your diapers? If not try then. A lot less accidents.

S.

I have actually soaked mine in water with dishsoap with great success. I have found that with the spray removers, sometimes the spots will show up down the road (like when you hand them down).

Hi C.,

This is tried and true (I have 4 kids!). Immediately rinse as much out as possible, spray the stain with a product called Zout (available at Walmart) and them soak in a bucket with about a half gallon of water and a scoop of Oxy Clean. Toss in the wash with the regular load whenever you get to it. This has worked for me on every stain I've come accross, including blood and chocolate. It has even worked on some old stains. You do have to be careful with whites that have red or pink trim, they will possibly bleed. I've heard you can colorfast new clothes by soaking them in vinegar before washing, but I've never tried it. Congrats on your little one...I'm and "older" mom too!

Try Totally Toddler spray. It is only available at Babies R Us that I know of, it used to be sold at Wal-Mart but I'm not sure anymore. I started using it with my 1st child and still use it on her clothes and she is 6! It gets a lot of things out, I have even gotten red Jello out of clothes. I have used it for diaper accidents with my 2nd and it did get them out, sometimes I did have to spray and wash the item twice, but it came out.

We use Oxi-Clean, rub some on fresh stain, then soak in a pail of solution in our laundry area. Most everything comes out :)

I used and still use Totally Toddler to pretreat all kinds of stains from my little ones.

YOu will get a lot of suggestions. This one worked well for me, as a matter of fact, when my children were young, I would go to garage sales, purchase stained baby clothes for a song, soake them in this solution, wash them and resell them for 5-10 times what I had paid for them. One summer I made a lot of extra money.

The products are made for HE and it uses other live enzymes. It does NOT damage the fabric and it comes from a company that has always been green, has always been effective and always guaranteed. Write me and I'll tell you who it is, how to get it, and how to use it.

I'm a loyal user of Oxy Clean spray as well. It works best on natural, organic stains (like food, blood and baby poo/spit-up, as opposed to kool-aid and grease stains). I watched a baby who had frequent accidents as well (a couple a week), and it took all the stains out like a charm. Spray the stain directly (do not rinse the stain or get the garment wet ahead of time), let it sit for about 10 minutes, then add a little water, scrub and rinse. It works even if the stain has already dried.

Don't know what kind of diapers you're using, but I've come to realize that with diapers you get what you pay for, and the Pampers Swaddlers & Cruisers are the very best for holding in messy poops and excessive pees.

Don't blame your diapering skills. I've had three breastfed children and I had to clean poopies that oozed out the sides and up the back more than a few times. The girls weren't too bad, but the boy is horrible. I have a mess at least a few times a week with him. No matter what diaper I use, he manages to wreck his diaper so bad it oozes all over the place.

I typically wet the item, spray it real good with Spray and Wash that I get from Costco in the big re-fill jugs, and then wash on my regular days. I typically start laundry every Monday and wash until Wednesday. I may do a load on the weekend if I have to.

I have found that I might have to wash an item twice to get all the yellow stains out, but they typically come out with two washings.

I've used All, Kirkland brand from Costco, and some other brand that escapes my memory at the moment. (Kids do that to you). They all work about the same.

Hi C.,
Try a different brand of diapers. My sister swore by Huggies, but both of my kids leaked when they wore them. I had the best luck with Pampers. Try some different kinds & see if that helps.

When my granddaughter was born, my son-in-law was in the military and my daughters saved all the soiled clothes in a plastic bag until she saw me 6 weeks later. She knew I could do some "magic tricks" with some of the Shaklee laundry products. I pre-spotted with the Fresh Laundry liquid (does come in HE) and then threw them in water with Shaklee's Nature Bright (laundry brightener). I soaked them for several days and then threw them in the machine. They came out like new. Recently I had a mom give me a child's white t-shirt which was stained and on which she had used a bleach pen. I wasn't sure how the Nature Bright would do with those stains. I probably soaked it 3 days applying the Nature Bright directly to the spot from the bleach pen. When I returned it to her, she thought it was a brand new shirt. What's great about the products is they are safe and nontoxic. You don't have to buy separate laundry products to use with a baby. You can do the whole family's wash in them. My children grew up before my intro to Shaklee, and I used baby laundry detergent on one of my daughters until she was 8. Everything caused her skin to break out. Take a look at Sloan Barnett's new book GREEN GOES WITH EVERYTHING to educate yourself on chemicals used in many of the products you use in your home. I now understand why she broke out from everything. Both my daughter and son-in-law had allergy issues growing up. My granddaughter's only issues were when my daughter used well known baby shampoo products she was given at a baby shower. I kept harping about unsafe ingredients. Finally she was desperate enough to listen. When she discarded them and switched to the Shaklee products, the scalp issues went away. Contact me if you have an interest in learning more.

Is she nearing the next size in diapers? I found when I was almost ready to go up to the next size, sometimes the diapers were "too small" for everything my daughter had going on. Going up a size when she needed it gave her more room for "stuff." Also, you may want to consider switching diapers. I've heard that some people say Huggies fits their kids better, but we always had better luck with Pampers, so I think it could depend on the kid. I use Shaklee laundry detergent with their Nature Bright, and that combination can take out anything. I was recently packing away small clothes and was ready to throw a few things away. Instead I soaked them in a combo of the Shaklee laundry DT with Nature Bright. It'll take out anything - it might take 2 hours or 2 weeks, but it will take out anything. So I let it sit there for two weeks, and sure enough everything came out absolutely spotless and brand new. It is awesome plus nontoxic and better than Dreft even. They make a liquid for HE machines as well. I'm a distributor if you'd like more info.

Good luck!
K.

Shaklee's HE laundry liquid is wonderful. You can use it for pre-spotting stains and then washing laundry. Check out www.shaklee.net/cpeterson. Go to the shopping tab at the top of the home page, then select home care and Get Clean laundry. Shaklee's products are environmentally friendly.

Oxy-Clean Baby works every time and has a great powder fresh scent!

I have found that the Oxyclean Spray for clothes works WONDERS. I have put it on clothes that went through the was and the stain was still there coming out of the dryer and second time around gone.

throw the clothes in a bucket of cold water to soak until you have time to get around to washing them...you can use bar soap then to scrub them...then rinse...if there is some residue still left just spray w/ shout or spray & wash & rub with an old toothbrush...this should do the trick!!!

let me know!!!

Hi C.,

Congratulations on your bundle of joy! I have found that nothing works as well as Oxiclean spray (dark blue bottle). The other important thing is to spray the stain as soon as you can after it happens. I've had Oxiclean pull older stains out of my clothes, but your chances go way up for the stain to come out if you spray it quickly. Before my son was mobile, I kept Oxiclean on each floor of my house within reach so I could treat it as soon as I changed him.

Good luck!

Here are some time and energy saving tips:

Formula stains...breast milk doesn't.

Buy nice, cheap resale clothing and if it stains real bad, throw it out. The cheapest clothing comes from hand me downs and yard sales (no taxes paid).

Dress daughter in stained clothes and save the "nice" clothing for company (grandma).

When doing laundry, don't bother folding the clothing, just stack it flat. It looks cute folded, but so not worth the time and energy...

Poop comes in many colors, but again...it's the formula that is staining the clothing...

Hope this helps!

Time to move up to the next size of diapers...I know they will look huge on her but if she's leaking out all the time it's not your diapering skills it's the size of the diaper. About the stained clothes...I would suggest you just throw the clothing into water at least so the stain doesn't set. Congrats on being a new mom!!!! I have 4 teenagers and I love being a mom!!!!

Like another has said, sometimes it doesn't matter how well the diaper is on, you can still get some leaks. I think the hardest part is taking off the clothes. Yuck. I totally agree with the Oxy Clean, however, some kids can be very very sensitive to it so I would suggest additional rinses. Also, I have had clothes I soaked in it too often because the clothes ended up wearing through much more quickly. If you purchase the powder, watch how much you use. I currently use Shout and Dreft. I soak the clothes for about an hour if really bad and then do an extra rinse. I don't know how this works for HE but you could soak in a sink or bucket first. It is extra work but later her clothes won't be so bad. None of my daughter's clothes have stains-either from spit up or the other end. I used this for my triplets as well and their clothes usually looked brand new.

This probably isn't a suggestion you are interested in hearing, but you could switch to cloth diapers. The only blow out I ever had was with a disposable diaper, and it was the only time I ever used one (took my 7 week old into the city for the day).

They make these wonderful all-in-one diapers now that are just like using disposables --they are a bit pricey, but in the long run it is still much cheaper than using disposable. Kiss-a-luvs are also amazing with little ones.

FWI, sun bleaches out breastmilk poop. It might work with breastmilk/formula.

I just recently learned this little trick, and it is completely bizarre, but it works! I didn't give my baby formula, so hopefully it will still work for you, I don't know. But for breastfed babies who get that poop all over their clothes, wash them like normal. Don't worry about stain treated or anything. Before you dry them, put them outside in the sun. The stains totally vanish!! It actually still works if you've dried them, just not as quickly or as well. I had a ton of clothes I thought I would just have to throw away then I put them out in the sun, and voila!! Stains gone. Now that my baby is eating solids I haven't tried this, because we don't have so many bad stains. Too bad I didn't know this trick with my first!

i usually wash them out by hand right away, or i have a bucket with a little dreft and water that i just throw the clothes in to soak until i can get around to washing them. if you dry them its got to be on low heat or fluff. the high heat tends to cook the stains in( smile).

I think everyone goes through these accidents with their little ones. I found Felsnaptha Soap worked on all stains. It is a bar soap that is only available at Ace Hardware. You wet the stain area, rub the bar onto the stain and then work the soap into the stain. then it's just putting it in the washer. Will even take out older stains. My boys are older now but I still keep Felsnaptha on hand for baseball and football pants. It's the only thing that takes out all the ground in mud and grass. Good Luck

Get some Oxy-Clean spray. That stuff is the greatest ever! It will get out spit-up stains, pee pee stains, or any other food stains. But beware of poop stains. NOTHING will get that out. If my daughter had a major leakage incident in the poop department, I learned to not even bother trying to clean it. The item went straight into the garbage can. : )

Hi C.,

Two things...
1. Both my girls, now 4.5 and 6.5 were very sensitive to dairy through breast milk. In other words, if had any dairy (milk, ice cream, etc.) they would have bottom explosions that inevitably led to diaper leakage.
2. I have found as they've grown that I continually use Dawn to treat stains, just plain old Dawn worked in with an old toothbrush.
good luck.