Tips On Removing Stains From Children’s Clothing
There are many skills that you need as a parent, but one skill that you’ll not only need but you’ll use a LOT is the skill of removing stains from your kid’s clothing. Kids seem to attract stains to their clothes, food stains, grass stains, marker stains, and the list goes on and on. Some stains are harder to get out than others because not all stains are created equal, but here are some tips for you to get some common stains off your kid’s clothes.
How To Remove Marker and Crayon Stains
Arts and crafts time can be a little bit messy, especially when your kids want to become the art themselves. For this reason, finding crayon or marker stains on your kids clothes is a pretty common occurrence.
Marker stains are the harder of the two to get out, so we’ll start with those. All you’ll need is some rubbing alcohol, paper towels, and the piece of clothing that you’re removing the stain from. Lay the piece of clothing (stain-down) onto the paper towels and begin to dab rubbing alcohol around the area before dabbing it onto the stain itself. Continue to sponge the spot until you’ve gotten as much ink off the clothing as you can. After you’re done, simply rinse the clothing off and put it in the wash.
Extra tip: Make sure to change the paper towels out several times during the process.
And now onto crayon stains! These are far easier to get out than marker stains. First you’ll need to place the stained piece of clothing between paper towels, but instead of using rubbing alcohol like in the previous example, you’ll need a warm iron. Press the warm iron into the stain over the paper towels, and similarly to the marker stain tip you’ll need to switch out the paper towels occasionally. After you complete this step, blot the stain with some pre-wash stain remover and let it dry. And finally throw it in the wash.
Extra tip: If the previous trick didn’t remove the stain then depending on the fabric you could rewash the article of clothing with chlorine bleach.
But wait! I didn’t forget about the dreaded situation in which you accidentally dry your kids clothes and there was a crayon included in the laundry. And thankfully, melted crayon isn’t as hard as you’d think to get out of clothing. Just pour some white vinegar and dish soap over the stained clothing, add your detergent, and wash your clothes normally.
Extra tip: To avoid any of your other clothes getting the crayon treatment, make sure you clean any leftover crayon from your dryer.
How To Remove Ketchup, Jelly, Chocolate, And Juice Stains
If anything is messier than arts and crafts time, it’s definitely meal time. Food seems to go everywhere but your child’s mouth when they’re young. And some food related stains can be really tricky to get out, so here are some tips to help out.
Ketchup might be one of the toughest stains to get out, but it’s not impossible. Start the process by scraping off any excess ketchup that is still there. Then you’ll need to turn the piece of clothing inside out and rinse it thoroughly with cold water before turning it back to the right side out. Next, spread some liquid detergent on the stain and tap the area with a clean toothbrush to begin breaking up the stain. Rinse it again, and then begin the final stage of the process that you might need to repeat a few times which is to: sponge the stain with white vinegar, keep tapping it with the toothbrush, rinse and repeat until you’ve gotten as much of the stain out as possible. Then throw it in the wash.
Extra tip: You could wash the piece of clothing with chlorine bleach if the fabric can handle it.
For jelly stains you’ll need to put together a small mixture of things to combat it, but first make sure you rinse out the clothing with cold water. Then start on your mixture, adding a tablespoon of white vinegar and half a teaspoon of liquid laundry detergent to a quart of warm water and mixing it all thoroughly. Soak the stained clothing in this mixture for about 15 minutes before rinsing it. If the stain is still there then you can sponge the stain with rubbing alcohol and rinse it again, repeating until the stain is gone. If the clothing is white then you can wash it with bleach after the stain is removed.
Extra tip: Get to this type of stain as fast as you can to rinse it out, time is of the essence!
And now onto an easier stain to remove, the chocolate stain. Much like with the ketchup stain method, you’ll need to begin by scraping off any excess chocolate still present on the clothing. Then you can rub some liquid laundry detergent into the stain with your fingers and let it sit for about 5 minutes. And then you can simply wash the clothing.
Extra tip: Wash the clothing with chlorine or all-fabric bleach if it’s appropriate for the type of fabric.
Now for our final type of stain in this section, onto the juice stain! This one might be the easiest one of all, which is fortunate since it is also one of the most common. Start by letting the clothing soak in cold water for 30 minutes, then sponge the stain with white vinegar and let it sit for another 30 minutes, and finally wash the clothing as you normally would.
Extra tip: Just don’t stress about this type of stain, you’ll get it out in no time.
How To Remove Grass, Mud, And Sap Stains
Kids should and do spend a lot of time outdoors, but that can lead to various stains on their clothes that can be difficult to remove. But with these tips, you should be able to take care of them with no problem!
Let’s start with the most common one of all which is the grass stain. The method for removing grass stains is really simple, just rub laundry detergent into the stain and let it sit there for about 5 minutes. Then you’re free to wash the clothing as you normally would.
Extra tip: This is the juice stain of the outdoor section 😉.
Mud stains are a bit tougher to remove, but you can’t even start the process until the mud dries. After it’s dried, then you can scrape off as much of it as possible to make the stain removal easier. Then you’ll need to pre-treat the stain with pre-wash stain remover and wash it as you normally would.
Extra tip: Remember to check and make sure the stain has been removed before you put the clothing in the dryer. If it hasn’t then you’ll need to repeat the process again minus the initial scraping of the mud.
The removal of tree sap stains is similar to the method used with mud stains. You just need to pre-treat the stain with pre-wash stain remover and wash the clothing normally.
Extra tip: If there is still sap after the first wash then sponge the stain with your trusty rubbing alcohol and wash it again.
How To Remove Other Common Stains
Finally, we’re going to be discussing some common stains that didn’t fit into the previous sections but still need to be talked about. These are our honorable stain mentions, enjoy!
For blood stains that are unfortunately common after a small injury, you’ll need to rinse out the clothing with cold water before beginning to remove the stain. Then you can treat the stain with your pre-wash stain remover, and all that’s left is to wash the clothing like normal. You can even include it in a load with non-stained clothes.
Extra tip: If the stain didn’t come out after the first wash then you should treat the stain with some hydrogen peroxide, and air dry the clothes.
One type of tricky stain is the gum stain which is more difficult to remove because you have to remove the gum itself first. First, rub an ice cube over the gum until it freezes and try to knock as much of it off as you can with a knife. If there is remaining gum then spread some glycerin on it to loosen what’s left and scrape it off. Then rinse the clothing before you rub some liquid dish soap on the stain. And after that, you can wash it as usual.
Extra tip: Use a dull knife to knock off the gum, safety first!
And now, for our last type of stain which is far more common with babies than with older children: the poop stain! You should start by rinsing the stained clothing with cold water to remove as much poop as you can. Treat the stain with stain remover and after you let that sit for 5 minutes you can wash the clothing normally. If the stain is still there then you can soak the clothes in some color-safe bleach for about half an hour before washing it again.
Extra tip: Don’t put the clothing in the dryer until the stain is gone.
And that’s all I have for you today, I hope you found these methods helpful and please share your tips and tricks in the comment section below. Good luck with your laundry!
