Never thought I'd ask but.....which washing powder gets whites whiter than white? Pleeeaaasssseee!

[sylvev]

Hi, my ds (9) now plays cricket and wears cricket whites. I struggle to get the grass stains off and am fed up with having to wash them at least 3 times to remove the stains! At the moment I use Vanish gel and Ariel. Any other suggestions??

I use a scoop of Oxiclean powder in with my nappy wash - if it works on nappies i'm sure it'll work in cricket whites!
Blue tub about £6 from supermarkets.

napisan might work too, i found its good for taking fake tan stains of bra straps!!

sylvev, IME they just won't come out in a normal wash because they've been ground in. I always wet the stains, rub them with soap (any old soap, my washer is in the bathroom so it tends to be handsoap but your Vanish gel would probably be better) and then scrub them with a nailbrush until the stain's virtually gone.

Works for trousers anyway because they're made of thick nylon - shirts and jumpers are a bit more fragile but they don't get as dirty either. Good luck!

Have you tried ringing the Ariel helpline?

DH used to play cricket and also football where the shorts were white. He also played rugby in his white England shirt once...

The only way I got the mud/grass stains to shift was scrubbing with a Vanish stick of some description and washing the item a few times It took my mother's careful attentions to get eh England shirt white again - soaking in something like Biotex for quite some time was the answer I think!

Just saw that Dylon do a range of stain removers called - fabric care?!?

Apparently the blue labelled bottle is for getting grass stains out. I am going to try it as they suggest it removes ink which my dh seems to be always getting on his shirts.

YOu might like to give that a try.

Thank you all. Valuable suggestions that I shall try in turn....off to the supermarket then.....

While we're on the subject of stains, I don't know if I've ever mentioned my red-wine-stain remover for washable fabrics? Works like magic, on cotton at least, not sure if I've ever tried it on anything else, and it doesn't matter if the stain is dry so you don't need to frantically throw white wine or salt on it at the time:

1. wet with cold water
2. rub with hand soap - this turns it blackish but don't panic
3. wash as normal

In fact if you just leave it damp and blackish you can watch it fading - go on, try it on an old tea-towel - it's brilliant! (I tend to treat all stains this way - tea, coffee, ketchup etc - found it works on wine too by accident.)

I agree with Bobsmum, Oxiclean is fantastic on stains

Recently I've had some awful stains to get rid of, back to ice lolly season....

First sprayed with Shout then washed in Persil non-bio which didn't work then rubbed Vanish stick remover then rewashed, took them out of the machine and stains still there. Hung them on the line and by the time they were dry the stains had gone - ultraviolet light ??

I always find vanish inwash tablets take out grass stains. You just add them to the drawer in the washing machine.

A tip for getting felt tip pen stains out of clothes is to boil up some milk in a pan, turn off the heat, then add the affected area of the garment and leave for about an hour in the pan.Then wash as normal in the machine. I dont know the chemistry of it all but it does work.
I use a vanish stick and Bold tablets (green ones smell lovely). Old habits die hard.

My dh is cricketer and swears by biotex - easily put in machine

Haven't tried it so cant tell you, but maybe worth a shot?

Grass stains will usually come out of your clothes if you pre-treat with vinegar before machine washing.