When babies do something adorable, you can’t help but gush over them. However, they can be little menaces when they do something that soils their clothes. When that happens, what do you do? It’s one of those times you need to know how to get stains out of baby clothes!
Get Rid Of Stains From Your Baby’s Clothes
You should prepare for so many things if you are having a baby. One of the things you should be ready for is that while the babies are young, you will be changing their clothes several times a day.
There are a couple of factors why you need to change the baby’s clothes. They won’t be comfortable if they are wearing something stained and dirty.
Notice how babies seem agitated when they pee or poop in their diapers. They would whimper or cry until you changed their diapers and clothes.
If you are not used to dealing with the amount of laundry that comes with having a baby, it can get overwhelming.
Step 1. Identify The Stain
Before you start doing your laundry, you need to know what kind of stains you would be dealing with. Think of it as preparing for battle!
If you know what stain you need to remove, it’s easier for you to figure out what other steps to take. You might encounter stubborn stains that might be harder to remove than others.
You need to know what course of action to take to ensure the proper removal of the stains from the baby’s clothes.
Step 2. Wash As Soon As Possible
One of the very first things you should do with stained baby clothes is to wash them quickly. Whenever a baby’s clothes get dirty, don’t wait until the last minute to wash them.
If you don’t remove them as soon as possible, it would be so much harder for you to get rid of whatever stains there are on their clothes.
When it comes to stain removal, it’s advisable to soak the stained clothing in water. However, you also need to know which works better – hot or cold water. Well, it depends on the type of stain you encounter.
Step 3. To Hand Wash Or Machine Wash
If there’s one golden rule you should remember, it’s to wash your baby’s new clothes before using them. And once they have worn the clothes and get stained, you have to know if you should hand wash or machine wash them to remove the stains.
When it comes to using a washing machine to wash stained clothing, there are no strict rules whatsoever. You should check the clothing label for the washing instructions. Some fabrics should not be machine washed, even if they have stains.
If there are stains that are very difficult to remove, you can try hand washing them. When you are hand washing the baby’s clothes, you know where the stains are exactly, and you can focus on it more.
Step 4. Choosing The Right Detergent and Stain Remover
A baby’s skin is pretty sensitive. With that said, you have to buy a laundry detergent and a stain remover that won’t harm your baby and their skin.
There are so many options that you can find in the supermarket or online. It’s just a matter of knowing which ones would work best, especially if you deal with babies who constantly soil and stain their clothes.
When there’s a stain on the baby’s clothes, the goal is to remove them. While you might have a detergent at home that can remove any type of stain, you can’t just automatically use them for the baby’s clothes.
Some detergents, stain removers, and even fabric softeners contain many chemicals. These can cause allergic reactions to your baby’s skin, including laundry detergent rash.
Step 5. Using Natural Stain Removers
There are also natural ways to remove stains from your baby’s clothes. You don’t need to search far and wide for these products. These are often stuff that you could also find at home.
Before using any of these, make sure that your baby is not allergic to any of these ingredients.
- Baking Soda
If we are on the subject of stain removal, you can’t miss this one! It should be a staple in your home. It’s not just something you would use for baking or cooking.
If the stain on the baby’s clothes is tough to remove, leave it to the Baking Soda to do all the work. Baking Soda can get rid of sweat, smelly stains, and vomit because it is a natural stain remover.
Before washing the clothes, you can pre-treat them with baking soda. You can start by mixing two parts Baking Soda and one part water. Apply the paste to the stained area and let it sit for an hour or two.
Step 6. Washing The Most Common Baby Clothing Stains Away
If you are a parent, then you are familiar with the most common stains that you see on your baby’s clothes. These are probably the same stuff you have to deal with over and over again.
- Formula Milk
Since they are too young to feed on anything else, babies crave milk a lot. So it’s no surprise that there’s milk residue all over their clothes.
Make sure you soak the clothes in cold water for about 15 minutes. After this, scrub the stain as much as you can. If it’s difficult to remove, it’s time you use a detergent or stain remover that contains Protease.
- Breast Milk
Just like Formula milk, Breast milk also leaves a very obvious stain and can be hard to remove. You should also soak the clothes in cold water for about five minutes.
If you are dealing with breastmilk-stained white clothing, you can use lemon juice to help get rid of the stain.
- Pee
Babies can’t control their bladders, so they pee whenever they have to. It’s not that hard to remove pee stains if it’s fresh. You can just run the soiled clothing under cold water and wash it.
However, if the pee stain has been sitting there for a while, you can soak it in a water and alcohol mixture for about 15 minutes.
- Poop
As a parent to a young child, this could be the bane of your existence. However, since it’s something that occurs naturally, you just have to learn how to get the poop stains out of their clothes.
If it’s a fresh poop stain, it won’t be as difficult to remove. After removing some of the more solid parts, you can use cold water to rinse the clothes.
You can apply a detergent on it directly if the stain is a little stubborn. Make sure you rub and scrub well before running it under cold water again.
- Baby Spit
If your baby leaves spit stains all over their clothes, soak them in cold water ASAP. If you don’t, the spit would dry, leaving a crusty and sometimes smelly residue.
It also helps if you have an enzyme remover. It can remove stains, especially protein based ones. If that is not available, you can always use baking soda as an alternative.
- Creams and Oils
Taking care of your baby involves lathering them with creams and oils. And sometimes these can leave stains on their clothes. Before washing their clothes, make sure you have removed any excess product.
If you want to remove the stain, pour some talc powder on the area and wait for it to absorb the oil. You can leave it for about 10 minutes. After that, you can go ahead and wash it.
Rinse Twice
Since you might have more product than usual to get stains out of the baby’s clothes, you might consider rinsing them twice. Doing this double rinsing process helps get rid of the detergent, stain remover, or any other product that you might have used.
Dry ASAP
Never leave your wet laundry unattended. Once you have managed to remove the stains and washed and rinsed them away, hang it out to dry as soon as possible. If you are using a dryer, turn it on as fast as you can. It’s never a good idea to leave the baby’s clothes wet and lying around.
Make Your Baby Comfortable In Their Stain-free Clothes
Being a parent involves stains, spits, and a whole lot more. However, you don’t have to stress over these. It’s one problem out of the way if you know how to get the stains out of your baby clothes in the best way.
As long as you are making sure that your baby is comfortable and clean at all times, you are doing a good job!
Jessica Oliver is a fashion enthusiast with more than ten years of experience in the industry. She previously managed her own clothing store in New York before becoming a mother of three. With a passion for sustainability and a desire to share clothing care and recycling tips.