getting stains out of baby clothes

[Danielsmom]

I'm going through ds's baby clothes (the ones that are gender neutral colors) and noticing a lot of stains from either breastmilk drool or food.
Any suggestions for getting the stains out?
I thought I would do a vigorous wash once, then wash with either a free and clear detergent, or Dreft.
I don't know if I should bleach the whites or use oxyclean, or Tide with bleach. I checked out the natural home management board and someone had recommended soaking the clothes in a tub of water with oxyclean added.
And for the color clothes, what stain remover is recommended?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[CajunMama]

I would try the oxycleen( shouldn't hurt your colored clothes) and if that didn;t work get an enzyme stain lifter to use with detergent.

I'm about to go get DS's clothes from storage so I might be in the same boat. We can experiment on stains together.

[MAMom]

I usually stain stick stuff first, then use oxiclean. If they are older stains I would 1. stain stick & let sit for 10-20 minutes (I use shout gel usually), 2. soak in oxiclean & small amt of water (directions are on package) for an hour or so, 3. then wash in regular load of laundry with both detergent & 2 addt'l scoops of oxiclean.

[Metasequoia]

Popping in from March, I use Ecover stain stick & for whites I use Bi-O-Kleen Oxygen Plus Bleach - both totally safe. I have to go get the gender neutral clothes from the basement as well. Beware of Tide, can be very irritating even on adult's skin & Shout is made with Trichloroethylene (TCE) VERY toxic, I wouldn't even want the fumes in my house. TCE is a nasty chemical byproduct of metal degreaser tracked by the EPA - it's used in tubing companies.

The Bi-O-Kleen will bleach, so don't use it on colors.....I've had decent luck with Ecover. HTH

[My Three Boys]

I used OxiClean and it worked really well. Have fun!

[beanbean]

OxiClean is just sodium percarbonate. You can get it in bulk from www.thechemistrystore.com. I pick mine up from the Dollar store.

[AndiG]

thaks for the tip about bulk oxyclean! that's AWESOME.

Honestly I had a lot of dd's stuff be ruined as nothing seemed to take our her constant spitting up..... (baby three is gonna wear a LOT of blue, regardless of gender I think!)

I have found that Z'out, sold only at Walmart (in Canada), is awesome stuff. I know lots of folks hate walmart, but this stuff is really quite amazing.

[clane]

I like the spray on gel formula of oxy clean. It even gets the lunch stains out of DHs clothes (amazing stuff!)

[beanbean]

Originally Posted by AndiG

thaks for the tip about bulk oxyclean! that's AWESOME.

Honestly I had a lot of dd's stuff be ruined as nothing seemed to take our her constant spitting up..... (baby three is gonna wear a LOT of blue, regardless of gender I think!)

I have found that Z'out, sold only at Walmart (in Canada), is awesome stuff. I know lots of folks hate walmart, but this stuff is really quite amazing.

I use Zout for baby stains, too! Works great!

Here's the direct link to Sodium Percarbonate (OxiClean) if anyone's interested:

http://www.chemistrystore.com/sodium_percarbonate.htm

[Danielsmom]

Thanks for the replies! We'll be doing some experimenting with laundry this weekend.

[alllyssa]

I just recently started using a cup of baking soda in the wash with my liquid detergent. I buy it at COSTCO - it's about $2.50 for a 10 lb. bag.

My daughter had horrible stains in several (light colored) sweatshirts that did not come out in the wash, so I rewashed them w/baking soda and they are totally gone. I didn't dry it in between, I know that often sets them, but you might give it a try.

Alyssa