# Getting baby poop out of laundry



## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

I still have not figured out a sure fire method to getting baby poop out of clothing (breastmilk-fed, 5-month-old baby) - does anyone have any helpful tips?? I soaked the garment in hydrogen peroxide and cold water for about 12 hours, but it didn't look like it helped at all. And yes, the thing that got dirty last night was white! Is bleach my only hope?

TIA


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## channelofpeace (Jul 14, 2005)

Nope, no need to bleach! Wash it regularly and then lay/hang it in the sun to dry. I have no idea why, but the sun takes out breastmilk poopy stains very very well.


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## phillychiquita (Feb 14, 2006)

I have resorted to using oxi clean spray stain remover. That in combination with sun exposure seems to get the worst of them.


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## 3kidsclmr (Apr 7, 2007)

I clicked onto this thread hoping for suggestions! I have a 5 month old EBF baby too. The only thing that I've found to work is using the powdered oxyclean (the baby variety) and really hot water, soaking it for an hour or so, and then laundering regularly. It works, but it's so time-consuming, plus you have to use a lot of the oxyclean (more than recommended) to get the stains out. I'm going to try the sun!


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## AnyMama (May 25, 2007)

I like shout spray, it worked well for us.

but oxiclean and sun bleaching sounds good too, though it might fade your colors some.

I wouldn't dry something in the dryer either unless I was sure the stain was gone.


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *milkydoula* 
Nope, no need to bleach! Wash it regularly and then lay/hang it in the sun to dry. I have no idea why, but the sun takes out breastmilk poopy stains very very well.

So, when you take the garment out of the wash before you dry it in the sun, are the stains still there? And then do they just vanish in the sun??? Wow.


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## SBradbury (Sep 7, 2006)

The sun will naturally bleach it ... the stains are there when you set it out and gone when you go back to get it. We have also had great luck with the Oxyclean spray ... just wet it with cold water, spray it on, rub together vigorously, and then rinse ... usually its completely gone.


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SBradbury* 
The sun will naturally bleach it ... the stains are there when you set it out and gone when you go back to get it. We have also had great luck with the Oxyclean spray ... just wet it with cold water, spray it on, rub together vigorously, and then rinse ... usually its completely gone.

Wow - I can't wait to harness the sun's power! And I might try that Oxyclean spray too.

Thanks mamas, for your help!


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## CanBoo (Nov 17, 2006)

Sunning here too.
A cold water rinse as soon as we tool the clothes off and then dry in the sun. Then we throw in the landry basket, wash with the other clothes, and dry in the sun again. No poop stain seem to have survived that.
Now if it would only work for avocados stains too that would be wonderful!
By the way, you don't need a sunny day to do it. I've had success in the rain too


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## kiwiva (Apr 17, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *happy2bamama* 
So, when you take the garment out of the wash before you dry it in the sun, are the stains still there? And then do they just vanish in the sun??? Wow.

Yes, the sun is the magical poop stain cure! The clothes come out of the wash looking totally bad and then they are perfect. It even worked on a white dress. My cloth diapers look like new when they come in too.


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## earthgirl (Feb 6, 2006)

I agree about the sun, but Bi-o-Kleen Bac Out is good stuff, too!


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

I just got some Bac-Out, but I've had great success with the sun as well.


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## bonnydays (Apr 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kiwiva* 
Yes, the sun is the magical poop stain cure!









:


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## Novella (Nov 8, 2006)

My old favourite method was: hand wash ASAP, using comfortably hot water and SUNLIGHT yellow bar soap. (This worked much, much better than other brands of soap. We even carried some in our diaper bag!) This removed the stain almost entirely, even on white clothing. Then I would just (later) use whatever was my favourite stain remover and launder as normal. For quite a while, I used Stain-away solid stick (package has a green screw-top cap).

My new favourite method is: who cares about pre-washing to avoid the stain from setting in. Simply apply the 2-part Oxy stain remover (I think it's a Stain-Away brand product). This is a liquid that is sold in a bottle with 2 compartments. The liquids blend and react as you squirt it onto the stain. It is awesome. Only drawback is that it's expensive (b/c you must squeeze in order to properly dispense both sides of the product, making it difficult to use small amounts of the liquid). This stain remover gets out that strong yellow baby poo on the first try in about 90% of the cases. The other 10% of the time I need to do a second treatment.

The only time it has not *completely* removed the stain after second treatment were cases where I didn't know the stain was there and dried the washed clothes in the dryer. Then the 2X stain treatment and washing helped a lot, but a faint stain was evident. This usually fades out over the next few uses/washings.


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## lunapier (Feb 15, 2007)

Yeh, I am so excited to post my trick.









Have a bucket filled with water and vinegar on standby. When you get poopy clothes, immediately pop them in the bucket. The clothes should be swirling in the water.

No rinsing, no washing, no scrathing the stain.

When you are ready to do a load of laundry (or the bucket is filled), put the entire bucket (poopy vinegar water) in the washing machine. Set the machine to rinse and add a bit of soap.

Then, add your normal dirty (but not poopy) clothes to washing machine and wash as you would normally.

This works for us.


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## quietserena (Apr 24, 2006)

Yup, ditch the chemicals, use the sun.


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## mama sadie (Jun 1, 2007)

for almost all stains now that we are in the solid food department, i swear by immediately rinsing and soaking in cold water, then wash normally when its time to do a load of laundry. bio kleen bac-out for anything tough, and i am glad to hear sun works, too - can't wait to try it! will it work on food stains ?


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## steffanie3 (Mar 17, 2002)

sun


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

Wow - the sun does wonders!!! I really couldn't believe my eyes when I took the gown in from outside and it had NO stains on it - it's like magic (and it's free)!

Now for the hard question, how does the sun do that??!


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## SashaBear (Aug 24, 2006)

Baby poop is full of bilirubin. And just like you sit a jaundice baby in the son, it takes away the yellow.


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## GradysMom (Jan 7, 2007)

REALLY DOES WORK!


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## GradysMom (Jan 7, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *happy2bamama* 
So, when you take the garment out of the wash before you dry it in the sun, are the stains still there? And then do they just vanish in the sun??? Wow.


Yes they vanish in the sun... they would come out of the dryer all yellow and the sunlight made it all better


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## Twwly (Jan 30, 2007)

Another vote for sun. None of DS newborn sized cloth dipes have any staining thanks to those golden rays.


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## Visions (Mar 29, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SashaBear* 
Baby poop is full of bilirubin. And just like you sit a jaundice baby in the son, it takes away the yellow.

holy c*ap SashaBear, i have a biology degree and didn't even THINK about the bilirubin in the poop!! THAT's why the sun works?? cool!!!







:


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SashaBear* 
Baby poop is full of bilirubin. And just like you sit a jaundice baby in the son, it takes away the yellow.

Nice work! Thanks for the info.









I'm assuming that this sun method also works for colored garments too, am I right?


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## reezley (May 27, 2006)

Wow, the sun thing is cool! I'm going to try it. And why does everyone know this but me!?


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## honeybeemac (May 31, 2007)

Nothing worked for me (I tried everything), even the Clorox pen, until I used Clorox Clean-Up on the stain. Its not really for laundry, but now I use it on all my whites (even if the stain is old and I dried the clothes) and the stuff works like magic. I haven't used it on colors, but did use it on my daughter's clothes where the base was white (even if it had flowers or other designs on it) and it never affected the color. The stain would disappear right before your eyes, I would then rinse it good in the sink, then put it in the wash.


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## torio (Jun 14, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *happy2bamama* 
Nice work! Thanks for the info.









I'm assuming that this sun method also works for colored garments too, am I right?

Yes, but depending on the strength of the sun it will also eventually fade the colored dyes. AZ, TX and FL sun have all faded colored laundry on me. WI sun was always fine.


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## bdoody11 (Aug 16, 2005)

Wash the garment right away and then sun out the stain. I was so afraid I had ruined a cute Hannah Andersson dress, but all is well!


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## Stace (Jan 4, 2007)

I've found a water/vinegar mixture to work well - spray and let it sit for a bit. Adding vinegar to the wash water also helps, and for tougher stains, I'll soak overnight in OxyClean.


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

I'm asking for your help once again everyone! Now that DS is starting solids, how do I get things like avocado, sweet potatoes, peas and other colorful foods out of clothes? And, will the sun still take the baby poop away from clothes eventhough the poop is mostly (but not all) from breastmilk?

Thanks again!


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