Best Stain Remover. Please help me.

[PoppyAmex]

I never understood all the questions and angst about stain removal methods.

Enter toddler extraordinaire and I'm really frustrated; it seems every single load has 3 or four food stained items that have to washed twice.

I use:

• Ariel Stain Remover Spray to pretreat
• Ecover Non-Bio with half a scoop of Soda Crystals Boost

Stains are mainly fruit/tomato/food in general.

What's the best way to do this?

Hang them out in the sun. The sun bleaches/fades the stains :)

Hang stained clothes outside. The sun & weather will sort it out. I have a pair of DD's leggings outside now trying to get rid of a blackberry stain. It's been a week. Nearly there!

Thanks star and mrsnw, love the smell of clothes hung outside, but when you live in the deepest darkest Scotland, sunshine availability is very limited

Doesn't need to be bright sun, just stick them out - tis magic !

I agree with the hanging of washing outside.

For tomato or oily stains I always use a proper stain remover too though. The best I've tried is an aerosol spray call De-Solv-it. It's magical. Blue and orange can. Available in Asda and Tesco. Only stain I've had which it couldn't remove was lily pollen.

Going against the grain here, but we live in the sunny sputh east and I gave never found that sun fades stains! With white baby vests that got tomato again on then-they hever came out and I ended up binning them and getting DS to eat in his nappy sometimes (in the summer in the garden!) and then just hosing him down afterwards!

The Dr Beckmann kids stain removing pack is good as is neat washing up liquid. The pink oxy stuff is good as well.

Outside is best (even in wet, dreary, cloudy West Coast of Scotland). If not, I second De-Solve-it.

I only use it sparingly as it has quite a strong chemical smell, like pear drops. I reserve it for stuff that I really like or was expensive (very few items like that here though).

Oh and I find steeping stained garments in washing soda crystal solution works better that a stain remover (except De-Solve-it but as mentioned, only used sometimes).

How do you use that De Solvit stuff? I haven't really found that did much either. Do you wet the stain first?

I'm in northern Scotland too. You really don't need bright sunlight a la SE England. What we get does the job!

I also use de-solve!! It's brilliant!! My DH is a copper and comes home with ever type of stain imaginable on his uniform! (Although thank god they don't wear white shirts anymore.... Grass stains and blood were a nightmare!!)

Before you wash the stained clothes, you may also want to rub a bit of washing up liquid on the stains. It is a good degreaser.

Thanks everyone.

I'm going to try every single suggestion (I have plenty of toddler stains to serve as control testers)