By Tatiana
In How to Remove Common Stains From Kids Clothes - Part 1 I talked about how to recover cute kids’ clothes from ketchup, mustard, blood and grass stains. In this post I will provide proven tricks and tips on getting rid of other common stains.

Baby Food. Besides other ingredients, baby food contains proteins that cause most of the staining on cute baby clothes, so it’s important to treat those first. On fresh stains, use a spoon or a napkin to remove extra baby food. Be careful not to rub the stain in, however. If the stain is already dry, use a dull knife or a brush. Once the excess is removed, rinse or soak in cold water. Then gently sponge or soak the garment in cool water using a detergent that contains enzymes or chlorine-free color-safe bleach. You can also make a 50/50 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and cool water, apply it directly to the stain and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. Rinse and wash regularly in cold or warm water.

Baby Formula. We have baby formula stains on pretty much all of Jules’ baby clothes. It’s because I didn’t know these tricks back then. There are a few things you can do if you get formula on baby clothes. If it’s white, put a good amount of lemon juice on the stain and let it sit in the sun for 2-3 hours. For other fabrics, use any detergent containing enzymes. Enzymes will break down proteins that cause staining. Apply detergent directly to the stain, sponge it using cool water and let it soak for some time. Once you are done pretreating the garment, wash it regularly in cool or warm water. Make sure not to use hot water or iron stained clothes, as it will cook the proteins and make the stain much harder to remove. Use chlorine-free color safe bleach if possible.

Face Paint. You will have a better chance at removing face paint stains, if you catch them early. To cure the stain, submerge the garment in cool soapy water or apply vegetable/glycerin soap directly on the stain. Using thumbs and forefingers gently rub the stain in rolling motions to release the paint out of the fabric. Change water or rinse and reapply soap as many times as needed until the stain is almost gone. For really tough face paint stains, try soaking overnight or using color-safe bleach. Wash regularly in cold or warm water.

Poop. Yuck! I wish I never had to deal with those. But since we use cloth diapers, poop stains are hard to avoid. There are a few different things you can do. First of all, do not use hot water or iron on poop stains! This will set the stain and chances are it will stay for good. The first method is to rinse the stain thoroughly with cool water and then lay the garment out in the sun for a few hours. Supposedly sunlight gets poop stains out like magic, but I’ve never tried this method (I probably should since we are in FL). Another method is to pre-wash the stain with detergent that contains enzymes or soak it in cool water with Oxy Clean. Then wash regularly in cool or warm water using detergent with enzymes or color-safe bleach. Repeat, if necessary.

Happy laundering!

In my next post I will talk about removing Chocolate, Gum, Cough Syrup and Juice Stains. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please leave a comment blow.