Stains in stored baby clothes??

Guillerma

Ugh.. So I finally got around to getting the nursery sort of put together and got out all DD's old newborn clothes from the attic. I washed all of these unstained clothes and stored them in sealed plastic bins and many of them now have stains on them that look like they appeared during storage! Must be old spit up, etc. Anyone have helpful tips for getting these out? One wash on hot water definitely didn't do the trick but I don't want to use anything that will irritate newborn skin like bleach or borax. Should I just trash them? They're mostly onesies, etc so it's not a huge deal

Edited because of bad mobile bumping typos!

CILLAJ8

Try oxi clean baby. I haven't used it yet as I'm a FTM but a friend recommended it. They make powder and spray. I've only found the powder so far. With old stains you may have better luck with the spray and letting it sit. Good luck!

bridge2005

I had this pinned on my pinterest. I'm mobile, sorry it's not clicky!

https://www.supermommoments.com/2011/03/preparingbabylayette

There should be hyphens after preparing and after baby. Mobile took them out.

Guillerma

CILLAJ8:

Try oxi clean baby. I haven't used it yet as I'm a FTM but a friend recommended it. They make powder and spray. I've only found the powder so far. With old stains you may have better luck with the spray and letting it sit. Good luck!

Ah thanks! I was thinking oxy clean but was afraid it would be too irritating. I'll look around for the baby version.

Artsyk23

Don't trash them yet!

Use the powder oxyclean. Put hot water in a bin or bucket depending on how many pieces of clothing you have. Add at least one scoop of powdered oxyclean. Stir to dissolve...wear gloves! Then add clothes and let sit overnight. Take the clothes out and wring out excess water. Wash them with regular soap I use the all free that will be used for baby laundry. Don't dry them!! Lay them out in the SUN!!

It has worked for me with lots of stains.

themargo

I had the same thing happen. Got them all out by pretreating with hydrogen peroxide and blue dawn mixture found on Pinterest before washing. Worked great! Highly recommend!

Artsyk23

Just launder them as normal after the first wash.

thegoodpotato

I have used the oxyclean gel stick with some success. But I also wash my baby clothes in regular ole laundry detergent, so I'm not sure if it's a little better on stains than the 'free and clear' type detergents.

periwinklebloom

Drying in the sun is also supposed to be a natural stain remover.

EagleWife

Artsyk23:

Don't trash them yet! Use the powder oxyclean. Put hot water in a bin or bucket depending on how many pieces of clothing you have. Add at least one scoop of powdered oxyclean. Stir to dissolve...wear gloves! Then add clothes and let sit overnight. Take the clothes out and wring out excess water. Wash them with regular soap I use the all free that will be used for baby laundry. Don't dry them!! Lay them out in the SUN!! It has worked for me with lots of stains.

I second the Oxyclean vote. I have a batch of sweet nightgowns that were hand-me-downs and they yellowed seriously around the necklines while in storage. I used a basin and put in about 2 gallons of hot water and a whole scoop of regular Oxyclean (stir to dissolve before adding garments).

I put the nightgowns in the solution for 14-16 hours, then wrung them out and washed them on my "whitest whites" cycle with free and clear detergent. They came out bright white and new with no yellowing left. I put them on a regular dryer cycle once I checked for the stains. Don't put them in the dryer if the stains are still there. Do another round of soaking for the stubborn ones. Good luck!

ETA: Skin oils in the clothes surface while the clothes are in storage. There was the worst sour smell when I first put the clothes in the Oxy solution. Pee-Ewwww! 

Mrs JillB

Another vote for drying them in the sun!

KikiCohen

My niece swears by Dreft's stain remover spray.  I haven't had the chance to use it yet, so I can't personally attest to it.

mittensonkittens

SarahDF84:

Drying in the sun is also supposed to be a natural stain remover.

This! It really works on protein stains from spit up. Get them wet and hang them in the sun, then wash normally. The stains disappear and the colors stay bright. My LOs were EBF, I'm not sure if it is as effective for FF spit up stains.

RumbleLina

Oxi clean is what I used and it worked perfectly. I let things sit all day or overnight and then ran it through the wash. I didnt use the baby version since I didnt know it existed until later but I just made sure to wash it twice afterward.

jill0211

bridge2005:

I had this pinned on my pinterest. I'm mobile, sorry it's not clicky!

https://www.supermommoments.com/2011/03/preparingbabylayette

There should be hyphens after preparing and after baby. Mobile took them out.

This is exactly the post with directions I used. Worked perfectly!!!

ellewoodsSC

I just pulled and washed some of DD's old clothing and noticed the yellow staining on the whites.  Something about the oxidizing effect on set stains that causes them to show up yellow.  One of the solutions I found was to soak for 5-10 minutes in household white vinegar and then wash with detergents. Since vinegar is  non-toxic, very washable and non irritating it's perfect if you want to avoid harsher chemicals or further oxidizing agents.  After the wash, hang the clothes in the full sun for a day or two and pretty much all of the stains dissappeared.  For stubborn stains I followed up with oxi spray and another wash/sun dry cycle. 

I also just did this with my pillow protectors and was really pleased to see them return to white again from the grungy yellow stained mess that they were.