Gettng rid of stains on clothes - what works - advice very gratefully received

[FrannyandZooey]

I am at the point of yet again having to chuck out ds's best shirt because it has got a stain on it (I blame party food )

We use crappy eco liquid washing stuff which does bugger all, but we have not found anything effective on shifting stains once they have been washed and failed to come out.

I am at the stage where I don't give a toss if it is something toxic, I just want to avoid throwing out yet another beautiful shirt.

PLEAAAAAASE who knows what will work?

Sunlight?

Oxyclean in the white tub seems pretty good.

vanish spray and in the wash powder oxi action - pink tub
I also am eco nut and use wash balls but rely on vanish for stains

I use vanish pre-treater for the kids clothes, plus add napisan to the detergent. Works a treat

Spray with that stain stuff from Poundland and put a shake of soda crystals in with the soap powder. Worked last week for a stain that I had been trying to get off for 2 months!!

Thanks chaps, I don't know whose advice to try first

I was hoping there would be a massive consensus that X product was the one

If you've not tried bright sunlight, that's an easy one to try first It shifted bolognaise sauce stains from DDs white top last week.

...where do you buy sunlight from? I have a beautiful beautiful MONSOON denim baby girls dress for sale 12-18 months, but have just noticed a piggin stain on the front. Must be gravy or something, but an ordinary wash hasnt shifted it. xxx

Um... it's the stuff outside that makes it warm and light?

I thought Wolfgirl was making a joke that there was no sunshine where she was!

Soupy this is probably a daft question but does it need to dry outside in the sunshine, ie should I wash it again, or does just leaving it in sunshine do the job as well? (I have often wondered this )

Yes, I think she was joking too

I think you can just leave it out in the sun although mine have always been straight from the washing machine. I would imagine just wetting it would suffice if it needs to be wet though IYSWIM.

Doesn't seem to work with washed in chocolate though. Or paint.

the Astonish stain removers you can get a fab, think Lakeland sells them.

1. Pretreat with some kind of spot treatment (depends a bit what kind of stain it is, though). Scour the aisles at Sainsbury's and take your pick.
2. Wash on a hot setting (60 deg, or 75 even) with some fairly vicious biological washing powder and an extra scoop of in-wash stain remover.
3. When wet, lay item out in direct sunlight (on grass or on a bush is ideal -- something about the chemicals emitted by green vegetation or so my grandma would have us believe).
4. Repeat stage 3 as necessary, rewetting the item each time. You don't need to rewash, just wet the affected area.

Oh thanks frogs and everyone else

it was some kind of pink juice

i don't get the sunlight thing either

if ds' clothes come out of the machine still stained, hanging them out to dry doesn't make any difference at all.

FandZ -too late for this shirt but the one thing I have found taht works is to treat stains immediately. I was once rather embarrassed to find that the tea cloth I had used to mop up blackcurrant coulis was in fact my friend's ds's white shorts (what they were doing on the table I don;t know). I was mortified, ran straight off, squirted them with vanish and put them in teh washign machine - I kid you not there wasn't a touch of stain. It really was like something off an advert. I remain convinced it was the speed rather than the vanish.

I always use the Vanish stick - have had same one for about 5 yrs and it's still going strong - it's like a bar of soap in a twist up container !

That works fabulously well with greasy stains - like bolly or curry ! Also agree about sunlight - it definitely does fade stains - I have even got rid of lily pollen stains in the sun ! It does work if you hang a dry garment up I find - but it needs to be outside rather than sunlight through a wondow !!!

Fruit juice stains are the worst. Dd1 school had some kind of an art activity where all the children had to bring in fruit to draw. And afterwards they ate it all. Lovely and creative, and all that, but Dd1 came home in a formerly white PE T-shirt completely covered in pomegranate juice stains. They never really came out, though were persuaded to fade a bit.

ThePA, it's not just hanging outside that works, it's laying out in direct sunlight. It's the same principle as sunlight fading curtains or carpet, but you use it to your advantage. It works brilliantly with washable nappies -- by the end of the winter our terries always used to look really scuzzy, but after a few months of sunshine treatment, they were always lovely and white. Aaaah.

ok, might have to give thaat a try then!

Oh christ, this is pomegranate juice I didn't want to say so because it sounded so poncey

"pomegranate juice" ?? Hardly "I blame party food ", at least not in my neck of the woods

aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggggggh no I wasnt joking - just being a morning numb skull it seems! I thought (laughs as typing) it was sojmething you buy in a piggin bottle! ha ha. DOHHHHHH! well heck, you never know these things! these companies tea leaf any ole name, easy confusion ladies.
xx

no stop it!!!!!!!!! is it April 1st - shit! whats going on. Its april 2nd. Im not taking part anymore Im tooooo confused.

washing up liquid is superb for removing stains on clothes - squirt it on, rub it in then wash as normal but with super-rinse function (if you have one) to get rid of the extra bubbles!

Oh thank you, Wolfgirl, that's made my day I thought you were joking but something about the phrasing did make me wonder.

Snort! If only you could buy it in bottles...

youre welcome soupy - just imagine being married to me, pity my poor DH! LOL and Im allowed to raise children - whatever next!