Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Getting rid of set stains

Recently I had a breakthrough with getting set stains out of some of our clothes so I thought it would be fun to share what I found out.

   I had a cotton knit white shirt that I really liked but had stained the elbow of at some time. (I guess I put my elbow in something without realizing it.) I was wanting to wear it the other day but didn't want to wear it with the stain so I tried to figure out what I could do to get the stain out.

    I am all out of bleach (and trying not to use it much anyway) but I remembered that Hydrogen Peroxide can remove stains at times. I put some H.P. on the stain (that was well set at this point- it had been through the wash many times) and it started to fizz and seemed to be working. I worked with it and then rinsed it out. The stain didn't all come out but it seemed to be a bit lighter. Then I sprayed it with shout and put it through the wash and YEA! it was all pure white again! (and I didn't think to take any pictures of that one!)

   Later I tried it one various different stains on white things. It didn't work on everything but it did on some.
This stain on Mara's shirt....

....disappeared.  Yea!


Sorry I wasn't able to get very good pictures but I was excited about the results so I wanted to tell you all too! It seems like inevitably we end up with stain white clothes and then though they may be perfectly good in any other way they are basically ready to be turned into rags. If I can get the stains out instead that will be a very good deal!

Removing set stains certianly works for me!

I would love to hear your greatest stain removing tricks!

9 comments:

Mom2fur said...

I have a favorite shirt with a mystery stain, and I've tried many things. I think I will have to give this a shot. BTW, I'm pretty sure one of the major ingredients in things like Oxy-Clean is Hydrogen Peroxide, but don't hold me to that. It does seem to be where the OX in OXy comes from. (I know this from reading the label of a cheap brand...I don't think the name brands tell you.)

All in a Day said...

I have a couple white shirts I'm bringing down for your boys at retreat time if you want them; I think they'll work anyway...

So Sunny Day said...

awesome idea! does it work only on whites? or colors as well?

~ Emily N. from "too Blessed to Stress"

In The Potter's Hands said...

Thanks for the tip, I always find mysterious stains on our clothes. I had to laugh at your picture though, The first one is a white shirt with a yellow stain and then it looks like, instead of the stain being removed, the whole shirt was turned yellow to match the stain. I know it's just the lighting but it is kind of funny. :)

Abbi said...

Mom2fur, That makes sense about the oxy clean. I have never used it. I hope this works for you!

Shelly, Thanks! I am sure we can use them.

Emily, I have mainly tried it on whites. I have been nervous about color.

Michelle, The pictures are bad! Your observation made me laugh!

Nola said...

I finally found something that works. I got at my grocery store a natural product that is basically powder- hyrdrogen peroxide and washing soda. Its marketed as "safe bleach" or "oxygen bleach". I put the clothing in a dish pan in the laundry sink, and add a few TBS of the powder, a small amount of laundry soap (for washing clothes normally) and the hottest water the item can handle. Then I let it soak. Sometimes the stain is not gone, and the water is cool. I fill and do it again. The stains always come out this way. Even old set in ones! And its all natural and I love that. The only thing it doesn't seem to work with is grease. So far I have found the only thing to work on that (like olive oil etc) is to put some Dawn dish detergent on it. Just a small amount. Then rinse it out by hand, as it creates a lot of suds in the washer. Its not natural, and I don't even use it for dishes as I use a natural dish detergent, but when it comes down to getting rid of a shirt or rags vs. this, I use it.

Nola said...

PS....my method works on whites and colours!

Nola said...

Oops sorry to add yet another comment...I meant to say that I leave this all day soaking. Sometimes I have to leave it several days, changing the water every day, but 95% of the time, I only do it for one day and do not change the water.

Abbi said...

Thanks Nola! I will have to look into that!

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