What to do about ruined baby clothes?

[User36258]

I’m currently pregnant with my first baby. My mum (who has been so amazing and generous about this pregnancy) offered to take the baby clothes we have bought and wash them for us so they’re ready for the arrival of the baby. We gratefully accepted this offer of help.

Unfortunately, due to an unnoticed pen which was in the pocket of some of my dad’s trousers when they were washed, the majority of the clothes have been ruined by the pen exploding and ink leaking everywhere. They are still technically usable, but covered in huge, ugly, black ink stains.

My mum is beside herself and has said she will replace everything. The trouble is, we are talking a couple of hundred pounds at least, and it’s money she doesn’t easily have to hand as she is now retired. She has also already paid for so much - she bought all our nursery furniture for instance and has spend days helping us paint and decorate.

We can’t really afford to replace the clothes either. But I feel guilty accepting her offer of replacements when it was a total accident, and it’s not easy for her to replace them. So I’m thinking I could just buy some inexpensive basics to replace what has been ruined, knowing that people will likely gift us nice things when the baby is born anyway.

My mum is really pressing us to let her replace the clothes, and I think she might feel less guilty if she did. But I don’t want her to feel guilty, she was doing a nice thing and accidents happen. So should I just insist that it’s fine and she doesn’t need to replace them, or should I accept her offer?

I've been buying bundles on marketplace. Saves a fortune. I have some wee bits from when DS was born you'd be welcome too but he was big and nothing is below a 0-3.

Could she claim on the household insurance?

We had already bought a few things in bundles from eBay, so will definitely be making use of that again!

I really don’t want criticism levelled at my parents - as I said upthread the baby clothes weren’t washed with the trousers (they were washed after, the pen had just gone unnoticed) and my dad is usually really careful about pockets and also does most of his own washing. It really was just an accident caused by a moment of oversight, something that can and does happen to everyone!

I wouldn't let her replace anything. She's spent more than enough money on you already. There's nothing wrong with the cheaper stuff from Primark, the supermarkets etc and your baby will outgrow the stuff so quickly anyway. Try FB local groups, eBay etc for more stuff.

I'd still use the stained stuff, too. Who's to know when it's just parents and baby at home.

plain white items try soaking in a bucket of cold water and bleach, always worked on school shirts. The wash.

You will be bought bits just get some basics for new born and 0 to 3 months then see were you are.

Get some supermarket’s baby gross to wear at home and a couple of outfits for when you have visits/go out.

Honestly it won’t cost much money at all, the nice outfits probably would only get used twice before they outgrow them and is so easy to put a full wash of white babygrows and vests in the washer rather than separating them by colour etc. They are also more practical than separates when they are little and born during the cold season.

@Oysterbabe

I would just put the baby in them and not worry about it. They'll only fit for 5 minutes anyway.

So would I!

I had baby gro’s and sleepsuits but didn’t buy any clothes before baby arrived. Yes it’s annoying to have them ruined but I bet people will buy you some as presents and you really, really don’t need that many clothes for a baby. I’d tell your Mum not worry you’ll have babysitting vouchers instead 😊

Babies grow out of the clothes so fast, let her replace one or two and try to get the stains out of some or use them as spares , clean dirt is fine indoors on the odd occasion.

Can she claim from her accidental cover on her house insurance?

This happened to me with my own clothes, biro (which had already come apart) was left in machine from previous wash. It's not your parents' fault, it could happen to anyone. Unless like me now (and probably your parents too) you obsessively check everywhere in the drum and the load for hidden Biros!

House insurance is a really good idea, I will definitely look into that

Take them back as you want to try and get rid of the stains and then tell her you have. Replace some of it with what you can afford.

I feel for you, you both sound lovely and it's a rubbish thing to have happened. My DM also washed the mountains of clothes that we bought for DD1 before she was born, and she would have felt terrible if this had happened.

I would buy the basics from supermarkets - Sainsburys have some lovely things - and suggest that your Mum buy one special outfit to ease her conscience. I'd probably bleach the stained clothes white to wear around the house.

Try Stain Devils

Hand sanitizer removes pen ink from clothing

Well done @Hamm87 maybe the only positive if this awful virus!!

That’s good to know - there’s plenty of hand sanitizer kicking about at the moment!

When I first read I just assumed they were clothes out of the attic from a first child being washed but when you said all new clothes I would have been gutted.

Anyway yes I think it would unfair to ask her to replace it all with everything else she has done for you , lots of the supermarkets have great cheaper clothes , where did you originally buy most of the clothes ?

Dylon... you put it in the washer and everything comes out that colour... maybe baby won't mind rocking some navy for a while

Might a dry cleaner be able to help? I once got biro, red white, grass stains and something unidentifiable on a white suit (it was the 90s!). They got the whole lot out.

I second considering a house insurance claim

Time to get funky with the tye die

You can definitely dye the patterned things with Dylon and they will be fine. Just do a load red / a load blue / a load green.

But, I confess, I wouldn’t worry either. You will have clothes that I call “clean stained” when they’ve been washed lots but stained and that stain is just there and they wear them anyway. If you look closely at babies and small children lots of them wear clothes that are clean but stained!

www.dylon.co.uk/en/home.cky.html