Help. Stain removal!

[Teaandcakeordeath83]

Hi. I'm terrible at washing clothes and I was wondering what advice anyone has to make me better!

I have a decent machine (Haier 10kg) that I make sure not to overload. I wash on a 40 wash for most items on an hour long cycle with an extra rinse added- so usually about 1hr15 in total. I use daz washing powder and don't tend to use softener. I use a dosing cup to make sure I'm using the right amount of powder. I run a machine maintenance cycle every month as we use cloth nappies. I've used oxi stain removers in the wash in the past but haven't noticed a reduction in the amount of stains coming out of the machine so I stopped because it was pointless.

I've got three kids (7,5 and 2) who are constantly staining their clothes with food/ pen/ mud/ god knows what and I can just never get the stains out of their clothes. Yesterday the 2 year old had tomato spaghetti and despite washing at 40 the top he had on is still marked with red/orange stains. Where am I going wrong? I'm sick of constantly rewashing stuff to try and get stains out or just giving up and having clean but stained clothes.

Hi @Teaandcakeordeath83 I have 3 kids too and I totally understand where you are coming from.

Where you are going wrong in my opinion is you are no treating the stain before the wash.

So say for instance ds10 comes back from s hand his white polo shirt has mud marks all over it, if I just put it in the wash even on a 60 it will definitely not come out clean. I use the top of a detergent bottle with one of those scrubbing tops, pour some on the top, give the stains a really good scrub and wash. Wash whites with Ariel powder and Lenor, colours I use Daz liquid and Lenor.

Unless it is tomato based like tin spaghetti for example the stain will always be gone on a 40 wash.

If the whites are looking a bit grey I will soak in the kitchen sink over night with oxi then wash in the morning.

You just need to scrub first honestly! Scrub the stain until it’s nearly gone.

Stains like tin spaghetti, harder to get rid of - the oven night soak will help but if it’s coloured it will fade the clothes. Here sunlight is your friend. Hang it out on a sunny warm day and as it dries the stain disappears as if by magic!!

Sorry for typos!

I also do pre wash treatment to each stain with Vanish Oxi action, colour or white depending on clothes and cold water. And I google what kind of treatment might help for the specific stain. Google how to get rid of pen marks with hairspray. It’s a life changing info for me - DD’s school shirts were regularly ruined.

There's a thread on AMA started by a laundry detergent developer. It's actually a really interesting read (if you like that sort of stuff) I've picked loads of tips up from it.

Here it is

I developed laundry detergents AMA www.mumsnet.com/Talk/AMA/3308661-I-developed-laundry-detergents-AMA

@workinghardeveryday I can't use laundry liquid. Don't suppose you know if there's a standalone stain remover that's good for the same sort of pre wash treatment?

Never thought of pre treating tbh as pretty much everything would need pre treating. 😂 Looks like I'm going to be busy. 🤦🏼‍♀️

@greenlynx so do you do a pre wash treatment in the machine or by hand?

How have I got to almost 40 and still not know this stuff... 🤦🏼‍♀️😂

I use washing up liquid or one of those laundry soap bars to pretreat stains. Rub the soap into the stain before washing

[quote Teaandcakeordeath83]@workinghardeveryday I can't use laundry liquid. Don't suppose you know if there's a standalone stain remover that's good for the same sort of pre wash treatment?

Never thought of pre treating tbh as pretty much everything would need pre treating. 😂 Looks like I'm going to be busy. 🤦🏼‍♀️
[/quote]

Vanish do a stain remover spray. I'm sure supermarkets do their own versions.

Vanish Gold is brilliant on most stains - you just rub it on, leave for 5 mins then wash. Line drying on sunny day also helps (particularly good for poo stains). Stain devil ink remover also good for that specific stain. But also sometimes you have to accept that they will have stained clothes, particularly white school polo shirts!

For food stains just pop them in the sun after washing (a sunny window will do).

I do by hand, and ASAP, rinse some stains in cold water and rub with Vanish soap or with Vanish liquid pre wash treatment something ( depending on what I’ve got) and leave in the bath or in the bowl (again depending on size and amount) for how long it needs, usually it’s 5-15 mins.

DD trained from the beginning of periods to rinse with cold water and soak just in a cold water straight away - it helps a lot.
However to be honest some stains are still stay whatever you do. DH ruined a few shirts with tomato sauce so he’s just not allowed to wear whitish ones when going out.

Yeah, you definitely have to treat beforehand. I use Vanish

You need to treat the back and the front of the stain. Just doing one side can be ineffective. You can buy stain remover sprays, or you can use a product called Elbow Grease for greasy stains and hairspray gets most ink out.

Never tumble dry a garment that still has a stain on because it will set it. If you’ve washed something and it’s still got tomato sauce/spaghetti type stains on get it on the line on a sunny day, even in the Winter. The sun will bleach it out.

Ecover make a non bleach scrub on stain remover , great for most stains, I use bio d liquid ( non bio eco liquid) from health food shops or online.
Add their laundry bleach as needed, tho in your case would buy a bio powder, pre treating first, and possible soaking ( don’t bother with pre wash).
Forget the ads of old tho