Help with Getting Spit up Stains Out of Clothes That Have Been Stored!

Updated on January 10, 2009
J.K. asks from Grapevine, TX
28 answers

I know that I have read on here how to do this, but I cannot find it and now I am in need of this info! My daughter had severe reflux and spit up constantly. She constantly wore a bib, but some spit up got on her clothes. When I got her old clothes down from the attic the clothes have yellow stains all around the collars. I used spray and wash but that didn't help at all. I think I read something about oxy-clean, but I can't remember what! Thanks!

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K.G.

answers from Dallas on

The only thing that took out most of the stains in my grandson clothes that were stored was soaking in powdered Biz-some of the real stubborn stains need to be soaked for over 3 days but his brother wore nice clean clothes. Do not dry until stains are out.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.B.

answers from Dallas on

I have challenged the worst of stains & won. The answer is Biz. But sometimes you must be patient. If a stains doesn't come out in the wash, don't put in the dryer. Here's what I do.
I use a plastic tub a little bigger than a shoe box and put about 1/2 inch of water in it. Then lay the item with the stain up and srinkle Biz on it. You want the biz to get wet but not to float off the stain. What you are doing is making a paste to sit on that stain for a few days without drying up. This has worked for me for many years & I can count on one hand the stains that I couldn't get out. You can also let the Biz sit for one day & scrub the stain but I found that sometimes this messes up the fabric & it's easier to just let it sit a fews days or even a week. I have even on occasion had to do it twice and washing in between.
Best of luck to you.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.D.

answers from Dallas on

When my kids were babies I always used Greased Lightening when they had spit up stains, and it worked magic even if the stains were set in. Alls I did was spray the clothes rub it in and wash them. I hope that helps :)

Kristi

1 mom found this helpful

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L.S.

answers from Dallas on

I had a few things that helped me.
Made a paste out of Oxyclean powder and water, put it on stains, left until dry, then washed.
Zout gel (not spray) on spot, agitate with fingernail and let sit, then wash.
Wash first in Tide with bleach (and put a little of the tide on the stain too), then wash with baby detergent after stains are out - I know, a lot of washing, but it beats buying new clothes. :)
Some of the stains just would not come out no matter what I did - good luck.
HTH
L.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.H.

answers from Dallas on

I have found that Oxy Spray works wonders! Spray and let sit for a few hours. Also add the dry oxy powder to the wash.

1 mom found this helpful
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G.C.

answers from Dallas on

I think I used Dreft powder.

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A.C.

answers from Dallas on

When I have a stubborn stain, I don't put the item in the dryer until I have gone through my entire "arsenal" of products.

Stains have different bases, so the cleaner has to be one that takes care of that base. (I don't know if I'm wording this the right way). For an oil-based stain, you need to use a degreaser, for a protein-based stain, you use ... you get the idea.

Anyway, my arsenal includes Hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol(!), Z-Out, Oxyclean (love this one!), bleach, Shout, Degreaser, Shaving Cream (!), and maybe some other stuff...

I keep trying different things until the stain comes out. I once got a terribly stubborn stain out by soaking the item in Oxyclean for two days. I have had some mishaps, where the treatment area lightened up more than the original product - so sad, but the item was already compromised!

This question (stained baby clothing from long term storage) was asked before and there were several people that recommended soaking for several days in Oxyclean. I tried that and that's how I got the stain mentioned above out.

Good luck!

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E.C.

answers from Dallas on

BIZ worked for my babies clothes. Soak in sink or bucket of BIZ and water overnight. Also, caked on BIZ on stains - make a litte plaster type think to put on top of stain. All of my stains came out using this method.

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K.M.

answers from Dallas on

I was able to get yellow "appeared while stored in the attic" stains out by soaking them in oxyclean powder dissolved in water. I'd use hot water if the clothes are all light colored. If you have a bunch, I'd skip using a bucket and just put them in your washer. When it starts to agitate, just stop the timer and let them soak for a day or so. I'd use 3-4 scoops of oxyclean instead of one. If you have outfits with snaps, I wouldn't soak more than a day or 1/2 day. It has ruined some of those for me by making the fabric come apart at the snap. Also, if you have stains that you know are greasy, I think Shout advanced gel is the best thing since sliced bread! Those dark stains that show up on navy or black after they come out of the dryer? The shout advanced gel in the small blue bottle works great! Good luck!

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P.B.

answers from Dallas on

I soak mine with oxy-clean and hot water for a few hours. Some times a little rubbing is needed. Then I throw them in the wash.

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M.M.

answers from Dallas on

OXY-CLEAN !!!!!!!! Hands down.

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N.S.

answers from Dallas on

oxyclean is all you need. no explanation necessary, and directions are on the container. you can buy it at target.

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S.R.

answers from Dallas on

soak them in oxy-clean! sometimes overnight for really bad stains. also, spray some spot shot (the carpet cleaner) on them before you soak. my uncle sent me huge boxes of beautiful clothes (from his 2 year old daughter) when i was pregnant with my baby girl. several of them were really stained, and had been stored for 2 years. my mom got ALL of the stains out and the clothes looked like new! oxy-clean is our life-saver! my daughter's clothes all stay un-stained this way.

good luck!
S.

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S.W.

answers from Dallas on

Hi J. K.

A lady at my daughter's day-care suggested oxy clean to me and it works like a charm. Just fill the bathroom sink up with warm water, put one full scoop of oxy-clean in the sink and let the clothes soak until the stain comes out.

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M.A.

answers from Dallas on

OXY-CLEAN ALL THE WAY!!! You just scoop it out and put it in water and soak it overnight. You might have to do it a couple of times. My mother in law had my husband's Christening gown and she's a smoker so it was WAY YELLOW. I soaked it in Oxy a couple of times overnight and it was PRISTINE WHITE!!! Oxy even gets blood stains out and formula stains.

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A.M.

answers from Dallas on

One word- Oxyclean. The directions are on the container. good luck and congrats on the new little one on the way!

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M.W.

answers from Dallas on

Oxy-Clean should help. It comes in a powder as well as a spray. I would wet the garment and apply the powder to the area. Hope it helps.

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A.K.

answers from Dallas on

My friend used Simple Green and it worked on about 75% of the outfits. This was after trying oxyclean and Biz and neither one worked. I think she just sprayed directly on the formula stains, then washed in the machine.

A.
www.greenbabydiaperservice.com

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G.S.

answers from Dallas on

I had the same situation a few months ago when I had our 3rd daughter. The close had been in the attic for 4 years & many of them were yellow. I put them in a solution in the washer overnight of Shaklee laundry concentrate & the nature bright which is both non-toxic & they came out beautiful! I was so excited! If you need more information on how to get it, let me know.

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J.B.

answers from Dallas on

Try a mixture of equal parts water and amonia, with 1-2 tablespoons on vinegar (I put this in a large plastic spray bottle and use probably 4-5 oz. of water and 4-5 oz. amonia). It works well on lots of stains. Also, if the stain doesn't come out right away, I lay it in the sun to dry (instead of dryer) and that tends to help the stain fade. Sometimes I have to repeat the process.
Good luck!

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B.H.

answers from Dallas on

My son had severe reflux as well when he was little.I sprayed his clothes heavily with 409 cleaner before washing them.It almost always worked for me.Hope this helps !

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J.P.

answers from Dallas on

I use the spot removal product from Melaluca and it works great!

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A.D.

answers from Dallas on

Oxyclean for at least 24 hours and then make sure you rinse for several cycles as it can be very irritating to newborn skin. (There is baby Oxyclean but I don't know how well it works). Also I love Method Baby - it got everything out, it has gotten very expensive compared to when I used it a couple years ago but might be worth it to remove stubborn stains. And on lighter colored clothing if the Oxyclean doesn't work try just leaving them in the sun for the day.

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K.J.

answers from Dallas on

Let the clothes soak ALL day or night in the washer with 3-4 cap fills of clorox 2. I have to do this every week with my 4 year old clothes, u can just imagine what kids at that age get on their clothes. I have tried oxyclean but have never had any luck with the stuff. I have also used just straight hydrogen peroxcide and have had luck with that too, u poor this straight on the stain. Peroxcide is an ingrediant in oxyclean but oxyclean has got other chemicals in it and I found that the bottle of peroxcide worked better. U may not be able to get the stains out since they have already set on...I hope u have success and if u do get the stains out PLEASE let me know how u did it. Good luck.

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T.B.

answers from Dallas on

I have used ERA in the past, but I know the water here is different. I dipped my finger in ERA and the smeared in on the stain. I then put the rest of the detergent in the load and soaked overnight. I have also used OXY Clean. I put enough water to barely cover the clothes in the washer with a full cup of OXY Clean and my regular detergent. I soaked overnight then filled the washer to X-Large load and washed as normal. I usually wash an second time to make sure the soaps are totally out of the material. I've used both of these methods over the years and it was like a miracle. Have recycled boys and girls cloths through 10 kids. Good luck!

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L.L.

answers from Dallas on

I got a bunch of clothes that were given to me that had the same problem. I was able to get most of the stains out using a combination of things. Clorox Oxi-Magic - it works really well! I can only find it at Wal-Mart though. I would put it on and let it sit for a couple of hours and then wash the clothes in "regular detergent" which seems to get more stains out than the "baby detergents" do. If that didn't work, I would use Clorox color safe bleach, and let that sit for a couple of hours (but don't let it dry on the clothes and be careful using it around metal snaps and zippers) and then wash in the "regular detergent". I would re-wash the clothes in the "baby detergent" to get all of the harsher detergent out. I also didn't put anyting in the dryer until the stain was out to keep from setting it in further. Hope that helps you out :)

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S.J.

answers from Dallas on

Oxi-clean is the only thing I would use. And I agree with the other, let it soak a really long time. I had the same issue with my daughter's clothes after 5 years in storage when I got them down from the attic for my new baby. I was crushed when I saw all the yellow stains but oxiclean got them all out. I think I only had to throw away one outfit, and that's out of 6 to 9 months worth of clothes. It's a process for sure, but you'll be happy that you took the time to do it. I know I was. Good luck!

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T.M.

answers from Dallas on

I posted with the same request months ago and found the oxy-clean worked. A few items I soaked for a long time with a high concentrate, but all the stains came out. I used the powder form. Good Luck and Congrats!

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