How does one remove poo from a towel?

[KentishMaid1977]

My 5 month old pooed on a lilac-coloured towel during a nappy change. I know I was asking for trouble by having the towel underneath her, but how do I remove the stain?

I immediately put the towel in a bucket of cold water, then put it in the washing machine on a cold wash using ecover washing liquid but the stain is still there.

Hang in up in sunlight, it'll bleach it out in no time. Doesn't have to be bright sun just day light, even putting stuff on a windowsill in winter works.

You're not going to get poo stains out on a cold wash .

Its a towel - hot wash it. Rub some neat washing up liquid or Vanish stain stick or something like that on the stain first. Biological powder would work better on a biological stain like that but if you need to use non-bio then do it on a hot wash at 60 and line dry in the sun.

Shouldn't towels be washed at 60C?

Ahha, I see this must be your PFT.

A cold wash was a really bad idea. You need to give it a good hot wash (to kill germs if nothing else) and then hang up in the sun for a day or so. Ecover washing liquid is fine for slightly grubby washing, but a pooey towel needs something a bit stronger IMO. I keep some supermarket non bio in for those moments.

I always thought that towels and bedding should be washed at high temperatures (ie 60+) for hygiene reasons. Clothes, which are generally cleaner, are OK at lower temps.

Or am I wantonly destroying the environment due to my old fashioned ideas?

Wash it on 60 or 95.

Then stick it on the line for a few days to bleach it out.

Cheria - I always wash all towels, bedding, tea towels on 60 and always will. Am very enviornmentally conscious in other ways (ie. have washing hanging on driers all around the house in winter rather than use the tumble drier), so don't feel remotely guilty.

You've got to 5 months with no poo on anything washable? Wow. The idea of cloth nappies is obviously alien to you!

It's easy because it was a towel and not a silk shirt. Just wash it at 60 with some vanish rubbed in. I see others recommend a bio but I wash my nappies in non-bio, although after pre-soaking, and they're OK. The sun works wonders so it's happened at the right time of year! Sort of.

Sorry, should have explained myself better - I normally do wash towels/bedding/baby muslins etc at 60 degrees, but I'm sure I'd heard somewhere that washing at high temperatures "fixes" stains making them even harder to remove, hence the bucket of cold water, then a cold wash.

I'll do a hot wash, then hang the towel in the sunshine.

ChaosTrulyReigns - what's a PFT?

Shoulda soaked it in Napisan first. And then hot wash at 60 deg C to kill any remaining bugs.

As an aside - I don't believe cold washing gets much clean - I washed one of DS's toys on a 30deg wash, and it came out just as grubby - put it in the 40deg wash instead and bingo! clean.

PFT = precious first towel

Easteregg - I did investigate using cloth nappies before DD was born and would like to switch to using them, but can never seem to find the time to get my head around the options. I've been to the nappy lady's website, so guess that's a good start :)

Hot water fixes in wee smells not poo stains lol Give it a wash on a 60 and hang it in the sun, i do this with my terry nappies and it gets stains out.

Oh now I see your logic. Yes, hot water does fix stains but if you cold soak first then hot wash with the right sort of detergent it is ok. Just don't use hot water to soak a stain before you wash it IYSWIM? Cloth nappies are not complicated to use but you do have to have a high tolerance for stains if you don't want to go down the napisan route. It's great in the summer when you can dry them on the line, but they do look a little less pristine in the winter when dried indoors.

Soak in cold water, wash in the hottest you can find, sunshine is a bonus extra.

chuck it in the bin and buy some more from Ikea

Ace laundry bleach is probably going to work if you haven't got the right sort of sunshine

Soak in Napisan then spray with Ace gentle bleach, wash at 60 with a bit more Ace bleach and hang outside for the sunlight to bleach any remaining traces (leave outside for at least 24 hours).

i WANT to reply

"one washes it"

but i won't., i am slightly drunk. i have no advice. sorry.

sunshine?

Agree with normanTebbit you will never be happy with it again bin it, towels at supermarkets are sooo cheap. You will probably spend more money on washing powder and running your washing machine over and over. Wait till your potty training you will end up throwing pants away.

I used to wash resuable nappies at 40 degrees. They often had poo on them :)

The stains seemed to come out.

Scrape off poo, rinse, spray with Vanish, leave about half an hour and wash as hot as possible. Have done it, it works. Alternatively, throw in the bin!

I don't think you can compare nappies with towels. Would you dry your face on a nappy after being washed. I wouldn't.

Biological detergent, hot wash 90 degrees.