OK, Internets, we had a small accident today. Actually, a not-so-small poop explosion. Mira was sitting on my lap this morning, her back against my stomach, and she let go with one massive dump. I didn’t think anything of it until I felt something warm and wet. Yep, it went out the back of the diaper, all up her back and onto me.
I can handle a stain on my shirt, since it’s just your average t-shirt. But Mira was wearing a cute white onesie with pink elephants that Cordy had once worn as a newborn. You know, one of those clothing pieces I planned to give Cordy when she was older to remind her of how small she was, so she could roll her eyes at me and tell me to accept that she’s a grown up now and geez, mom, get over it already. But it was so cute that I couldn’t bear to see it not worn again, and I knew Mira would look adorable in it. Which of course means this had to be the one time she had a massive diaper blowout.
Now, I’ve never been good with stain removal. I had to deal with formula poop blowouts with Cordy, having some success with stain removal, but breast milk poop is entirely different. White onesie + bright yellow-orange poop = serious stain problem.
So to all of you laundry goddesses out there: how do I get this stain out? I soaked the onesie in hot water as soon as I took it off of Mira. I’ve since gone back and rinsed it again and soaked it in fresh hot water with a little laundry detergent. It’s still bright yellow-orange all across the back of the onesie.
I have yet to try any intensive remedies, because I don’t know where to start. But surely someone out there knows the trick to getting breast milk poop stains out of clothing, right?
Help a (domestically challenged) fellow mama in need out, won’t you? I’ll even give you my prized Butterball potholder if you can save this onesie!
Hi there!! My mother swears by hydrogen peroxide!! You might try to put some on the stain and let it sit out in the sun for awhile. Then throw it back in the wash and see what happens. Good Luck!!
you can try that spray and wash, i had a shirt of elorah and it was stained really bad with…well i dont even know what it was, but it had been on there for at least a year and i used spray and wash and washed it and all of the stain came out, i was like WOAH thats some good BS
I used Oxyclean Baby stain remover on all of Abby’s clothes and never once failed to remove a poop stain. I think I got it at babies r us, or Target maybe?
Regular plain Oxyclean will do the trick. Use warm water as hot can set the stain. If it does not come out after the first soaking dump the water and re do it. I usually let my stuff soak for days.
I never soak stains in hot water. Only cold. I’ve heard the hot sets it.
But good luck getting it out! 🙂
I use this: http://www.oxicleanbaby.com/
And none of my son’s clothes have any visible poop stains – and believe you me, we’ve had a few explosions around here!
I usually just rinse out the clothes in cold water right after it happens (I also thought that hot water sets stains) and then toss the thing over a railing to dry. Once I’m ready to do laundry (usually many days later), I spray the stain until it’s soaked, then rub it a bit and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then I just do a normal wash. And presto — no more stain!
My son was a champion pooper. I swear nothing works better than plain old blue Dawn dishsoap. Squirt it on the spot and scrub it together or use a scrub brush. Worked every time for us.
Who knew that a poop explosion and laundry question could get me out of lurking?
Anyway – I swear by Zout spray stain detergent. I spray the heck out of the stain, let it sit for a bit and then wash it in a load with Tide detergent. (I also swear by Tide – since I started using it – stains just come out much better than the cheapo brands.)
If it comes out of the wash still stained, spray it again and let it sit. DO NOT DRY IT. Once you dry it, it’s all over and the stain is set.
I never knew I felt so strongly about stain removal. Lots of luck to you.
I’ve had pretty good luck with Shout Stain Stick.
spray n’ wash dual action i think it’s called – with the pink and the white? it’s AMAZING. it gets out stains that were set in 5 years ago. i swear. use it liberally and let it sit overnight. it’s like a miracle!
When Henry had the Pooping Virus, we had this very same situation. Over and over and over again.
I’m no laundry goddess, but we’ve had great luck with the Dreft stain spray. That spray will get the shiz out of ANYTHING.
My absolute favorite for all stains is oxy-boost. It is like oxyclean but waaaaay stronger. The Whole Foods in Milwaukee sells it, as well as a few health food stores. You can also order it online, but I don’t know if the time issue might factor in. I have used it to take out red wine that has sat overnight and it worked like a charm.
http://www.oxyboost.com/products/oxy_boost.html
There’s this laundry soap bar called fels naptha (not really sure about the exact spelling), it’s only $1.29 or something. You can get it at most grocery stores in the laundry dept, or in most walmarts as well. Get the onesie wet and rub some of this in real good, for like 10 minutes, then throw it in the wash. It should clean it all out! It even gets out blood stains and grass stains!!
Oxyclean…its magic. Let is soak a day or so…wash it. It may not come out the first time…do it again. I swear, overtime it will magically disappear. I did this, the stain was still there…i put away to get rid of the shirt..went back a few days later, seriously, it was gone. I thought i was crazy. good luck.
I use the Shout spray gel on everything. I spray it on… let it sit a while… then wash normally. It almost always works.
Combination of Dreft stain remover and oxyclean. Dreft on the stain and scrub it to get it out mostly. Rub it together, sometimes rinse. Then oxyclean poured on. If its bad, I take water laced with oxyclean and soak it in there after the dreft. I had a plain white cotton once piece that was BRIGHT yellow from breastmilk poop, and its back to being white.
Are you still looking for suggestions or have you gotten the poop out of the onesie?
I didn’t realize there was an OxiBaby product – we just use the regular Oxiclean and soak. It has always taken breastmilk baby poop out of our baby clothes – also works really well on mud stains, food stains, and just about anything else kids’ clothes tend to get on them. Even though I know that hot water sets some stains, when I soak with Oxiclean I use the hottest water I can get out of the tap, dissolve a scoop of Oxiclean, throw the clothes into a sink or a small bucket with the solution, and let it sit overnight. Or sometimes three days, if I can’t seem to get to the laundry for a couple days… Anyway, always works for us.
Dreft stain spray is the best. I use it on my clothes all the time, that’s how awesome it is!
I use Oxyclean and I hang things in the sun. The sun has gotten some really awful stains out of things.
DON’T dry it in the dryer until the stain is out.
I have never used Oxyclean. But my son has a really cute, white tee-shirt that has a mom “tatoo” on the sleeve and it had a stain on it. I used a bleach pen, so that I had more control over where the bleach was going and I could just treat the stain. I then washed the shirt. And then I washed it again, just to make sure the bleach was actually gone, and the stain was gone.
Good luck.
Carrie
I have never used Oxyclean. But my son has a really cute, white tee-shirt that has a mom “tatoo” on the sleeve and it had a stain on it. I used a bleach pen, so that I had more control over where the bleach was going and I could just treat the stain. I then washed the shirt. And then I washed it again, just to make sure the bleach was actually gone, and the stain was gone.
Good luck.
Carrie
I swear by Spray & Wash. I’ve come across nothing, even OLD stains that S&W hasn’t removed.
One thing about any stain…once you’ve washed it, don’t ever throw it in the dryer if the stain is not completely gone…if you do the heat from the dryer really sets it in. I did that once with one of my granddaughters white onesies and it took another washing with S&W to remove it. (Rotavirus can make some NASTY poo!)
I use OxyBaby stain remover on EVERYTHING. It works wonders on baby poop too especially that breast feed baby poop!
If it’s any help by now, never ever rinse out anything that might stain in hot water. This will set it.
I have Spray and Wash stain stick, sent to me in the UK from a friend in the States. You can leave it on the clothes up to 7 days. I don’t think I’ve ever not got a stain out.
Good luck.
I promise you, this solution works on EVERYTHING. Even OLD wine stains!
Mix one part hydrogen peroxide and one part natural laundry detergent (7th generation or something like that). Soak the item in that solution for about an hour. The stains should be gone. If it’s still faint, put the shirt out in direct sunlight and that should do it. Good luck and keep us posted on what solution worked! 😉
I agree with the person who said to try a Clorox bleach pen. It’s like bleach in pen (duh) that’s gel like. You apply it only where you need it (so it doens’t bleach out colored parts of the onsie) and then wash it like normal.
Jennifer
I don’t use chemicals on our clothes, but I can tell you that cloth diapers come out nice and white with some good old fashioned borax and a a bleach in the sunshine.
Go with the peroxide; hospital workers use it for blood and body fluids. It really works!!!!!!!
For breastmilk poop OxyClean didn’t work so well for me. It would take DAYS of soaking before the OxyClean took care of it.
Since it is a white onesie I recommend a Clorox Gel Pen. It is pretty powerful bleach and can be easily applied to just the stained areas.
Those yellow poops are the hardest to get out. I have found Zout to be the best stain remover but for for yellow poop stains the Clorox Blean Pen has never let me down.
We use cloth diapers (some of the time) and wash them as follows (and they come out clean):
cold water rinse with BAKING SODA
hot/cold wash with regular detergent
That’s it. If the stains don’t come out after the first cold water rinse, do a second.
Not to sound like a commerical, but have you tried Oxi-Clean? It’s cheap, widely available, and I’ve found it to be VERY effective on …uh… “organic” stains, shall we say? 🙂
Oxy Clean spray!!! Takes out even tough stains. I also put a scoop of Oxy Clean Baby powder in eaach load. The spray even got stains out of hand-me-downs that had already been washed. When you spray it, you can actually see it working.
I’m all about the Oxyclean. If it doesn’t come out the firs time, try re-washing it with Oxyclean. Sometimes it takes a few washes to break down the stains. It’s also taken old stains out for me too. Okay, let’s hope that no one who knows me in real life knows I’m giving out cleaning advice; it would ruin my reputation 🙂
It sounds weird, but I’ve had a lot of luck with plain white shaving cream. Not the gel, just the plain white foam. I don’t know about breastmilk poop (thank you, Lord!) but it will get red nail polish out of white rugs and airplane grease off of white shirts. Good luck!
Oxyclean. Only, don’t mix as directed. Instead, mix 1 tablespoon with enough water to form a paste. Rub into the fabric and allow to set. Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat. Good luck! I know how frustrating stains can be!
I agree with the Dawn dishwashing soap, but I used the Direct Foam version. One pump goes a very long way and I even got out old stains from outfits neglected in the laundry room for a couple of days (the outfits generally came home from daycare in a plastic bag to contain the smell, my husband tossed them in the laundry room and I was surprised by them days later!).
Try Clorox Ropa Color (it is a specilized formula for white garments). In US they have a different name. It is tuff removing stains but gentle with your garment. Do not use Clorox Regular Bleach.
Good luck, and a suggestion keep copy this blog for ypour child’s memories!!
My Mom is the stain Guru and she always said, “COLD water first, hot water sets the stain.”
I am a true advocate of BAKING SODA , It does so much more then bake. So here is copy from their website:
Gently Clean & Freshen Baby’s Laundry
ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda is gentle enough for even the tiniest baby clothes, yet effective enough for big baby odors. For tough stains add 1/2 cup of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda with your liquid laundry detergent, or a 1/2 cup in the rinse cycle for deodorization! For cloth diapers, dissolve ½ cup of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda in 2 quarts of water and soak diapers thoroughly.
I will also make a paste and rub it on the stain and soak.
If that doesn’t work I pull out the BIG Guns and use ‘SOILOVE’ Laundry stain remover. It is cheap and works every time!
Good Luck!
THE SUN! I’ve been breastfeeding and cloth diapering for about 2 months now as all you need is good old sun light for poop stains. The stains come from the billy rubin that is produced when baby’s liver breaks down of old red blood cells. Just like a UV light works on a new borns billy rubin levels, so does the UV rays in the sun on the stains. A few hours will take care of it!
The sun! Lay it out in the bright sun for a few hours and the breastmilk poop stain will vanish! It’s amazing! I cloth diapered my daughter and now my son and that’s how I got stains off our diapers and clothing!!
Key hint when using the sun: the laundry should be wet! Leave the item to dry in the sunshine. I’ve had to do it a couple of times (wet, allow to dry in sun, wet again, allow to dry again). Supposedly it works great even if it’s cold outside and I am pretty sure it also works if it’s overcast; enough UV light gets through.
Liquid dish washer machine detergent. Pour a thick amount over the entire stain after soaking it in sit water. Then let the detergent set in for 5-15 min and scrub.
Rinse in hot water. Fill sink with hot water and then grab ur dishwasher detergent and pour a large glop of it on the stain. Let set in the hot water for a at least a few min. Scrub rinse and wash.
I use dawn dish soap on Ariahs and any color clothes and I use a bristle brush like an old tooth brush and then I through it in a cold bucket with more dawn and I let it sit in there a couple days then I look at it and its almost gone so then I just scrub just a lil bit more and its goonee