PLEASE help me with my stained clothes

[*Aimee*]

For some reason ALL my clothes are coming up with like, grease or water stains. I don't eat greasy food and I most certainly don't spill on every single thing I own. I'm noticing a few of these on DS's clothes but oddly none on DH's.

I use Biokleen detergent and Method liquid softener. I've tried spray and wash to get it off and its not working. Any suggestions on how I can get this stuff off my clothes? every single one of my shirts is stained and I can't afford to keep buying more. I hate going out looking like a sloppy pig.

I appreciate any help you can give me.

[mgilleran@earth-co]

Could it be the liquid softener? I have never used one, but have heard that they can leave spots. Are DHs clothes a different material possible that isn't as suseptible to spotting? I have really good luck getting grease spots out with washing soda. I wet the spot & dab on a little liquid laundry soap( you could use Dr Bs), or even dish soap then sprinkle with washing soda & scrub a little. Then let it sit for a few hours & launder with washing soda added to the wash along with regular laundry soap. My brother brings me anything he stains & calls me the stain queen! I have saved him many items.

[jocelyndale]

I have this happen often. If you google mysterious grease stains detergent, you can find some forums that discuss it. I haven't figured out a cause yet, but I suspect ALL free&clear reacts with certain dyes. :/

[melissa17s]

My mom's washer started doing this and it had a broken baring that was leaking grease. You may want to talk to someone about getting it serviced. Maybe take the stained item into an appliance store to see, if that is what they think the problem might be.

Dish soap is my fave degreaser- maybe it will wash the stain off your clothes.

[Eliseatthebeach]

Try regular Dawn dish soap. I have used it on old grease staing and it works every time! It is also what is suggested to use to "strip" cloth diapers. I keep it around for everything. HTH!

[*Aimee*]

Oh thanks Mamas! I'm going to do everything mentioned!

[mamabella]

We had this exact issue with our front loader - although I didn't use fabric softener - the repair guy told us to use this stuff called afresh - it gets rid of the residue in your washer - then use a little dawn or ivory on the spots and rinse as much as you can - then wash in your washer until there are no more bubbles - I was able to save my dh's work shirts this way - but it took a BUNCH of hot washes to get rid of all the detergent residue on the clothes. I switched detergents to mountain green as well (we were using cheer HE on our clothes and planet on the cloth diapers) and that has been helping tremendously with taking the detergent residue out of our other clothes as well.

[redhen]

Wear an apron when you cook. Seriously.

I had the same problem and I think it was olive oil.

[homefrontgirl]

Originally Posted by redhen

Wear an apron when you cook. Seriously.

I had the same problem and I think it was olive oil.

Totally agree! I change as soon as I get home into my "cooking shirts."

[redhen]

yeah, it doesn't matter what I'm cooking anymore. If I'm in the kitchen I put on an apron just to keep it a habit. My clothes have totally been saved.

[*Aimee*]

Unfortunely for me an apron isn't that easy. I have house clothes, and out of house clothes. I've never cooked in my out of house clothes and they're all trashed

[iowaorganic]

Do you have a water softener? This sounds kind of dumb- but if our softener runs out- our clothes get totally trashed from our rusty mineral ridden hard water. Stains that were out come back and spots mysteriously appear. Once they are in our clothes I have a very very hard time getting them out and mostly give up.

[JTA Mom]

Oxyclean. Seriously, as hot water as possible+oxyclean+soaking=completely clean clothes. I did this for some baby clothes my mother had kept. And these were really stained from spitup that was 16 years old. It took about 3 soakings (for 6 hours each) to get out the more stubborn stains, but it left them looking completely new again, with no damage to the clothing item (aka no fading, dissolving, etc). Just be sure to really rinse them afterwards to get the oxyclean scent out. I hate any scent so I'm really obsessive about that, lol.

hth

Ami

[Carlyn]

Subbing, I have the same problem! The stains seem to come especially on my little girls' special clothes I suspect that our washing machine is the problem. Good luck!

[melissa17s]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

Oxyclean. Seriously, as hot water as possible+oxyclean+soaking=completely clean clothes. I did this for some baby clothes my mother had kept. And these were really stained from spitup that was 16 years old. It took about 3 soakings (for 6 hours each) to get out the more stubborn stains, but it left them looking completely new again, with no damage to the clothing item (aka no fading, dissolving, etc). Just be sure to really rinse them afterwards to get the oxyclean scent out. I hate any scent so I'm really obsessive about that, lol.

hth

Ami

I do not like that stuff. I used some on one of dd's dresses (it was brand new and dd stained it with chocolate) and it bleached spots. I was a dark purple and I took it to a friend that did fabric dye and she said it was a common problem. I know others swear by it, but I am sticking with dish soap, which is not as harsh on the hands either.

[hipmummy]

Originally Posted by Eliseatthebeach

Try regular Dawn dish soap. I have used it on old grease staing and it works every time! It is also what is suggested to use to "strip" cloth diapers. I keep it around for everything. HTH!

I am having the same issue. Dawn does work great. Sometimes you just need to clean out the washer too.

[hipmummy]

Originally Posted by redhen

Wear an apron when you cook. Seriously.

I had the same problem and I think it was olive oil.

That is the answer to my problem!!!!!!!!!!

[Ironica]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

Oxyclean. Seriously, as hot water as possible+oxyclean+soaking=completely clean clothes. I did this for some baby clothes my mother had kept. And these were really stained from spitup that was 16 years old. It took about 3 soakings (for 6 hours each) to get out the more stubborn stains, but it left them looking completely new again, with no damage to the clothing item (aka no fading, dissolving, etc). Just be sure to really rinse them afterwards to get the oxyclean scent out. I hate any scent so I'm really obsessive about that, lol.

I do the same thing with Oxo-brite (which I get at Trader Joe's) and it doesn't seem to have any scent added.

I don't do it with items that I wouldn't wash with my "lights" though. Then again, stains tend to be a bigger issue with light-colored clothes!

Technique-wise, I just follow the instructions on the container for amounts, and mix up the solution in a bucket in the bathtub. Then I soak the clothes overnight there, right in the bucket.