Tuesday, March 27, 2012

House Tips Series - Stains

I'm sure that all of you moms must feel like laundry is never-ending and trying to get rid of stains is a constant challenge.  I know that in our house, even without kiddos, it feels like I'm always struggling with stains, usually food or blood.  Yeah, I'm kind of clumsy in the kitchen.

I have two tips today that will make this stain business so much easier.  The first is the spray that I use.  It couldn't be easier:

** 1 part Dawn dish detergent and 2 parts hydrogen peroxide **

The peroxide is the same stuff that you can get at the dollar store, pharmacy, or grocery store. I haven't tried it with another brand, but I am pretty sure it has to be Dawn.


Just mix in a spray bottle and then leave the top off overnight so that the Dawn can settle down.  If you don't, it might foam out of the top and make a mess.  I don't seem to have that problem if I let it settle.

Here is a before shot of my kitchen cloth with (I'm embarrassed to say) stains that have been sitting there for days.  One is spaghetti sauce and the other is chicken soup broth.



I sprayed the stains, left it overnight, and then laundered as usual.  Ta da! I couldn't even figure out which side had the stain so I took pictures of all of them, lol.



For greasy stains I make one adjustment.  I spray the stain and then cover the sprayed area with baby powder (quite a bit).  You could probably use cornstarch as well, but I haven't tried that out.  Just leave it overnight and then launder as usual.  Occasionally I will have to do this process twice for really greasy stuff, but usually once through does the trick.

If a stain isn't too bad, I have been known to spray right before putting the soiled clothing in the way so don't be afraid to use it that way also.  What is your hardest stain to get out?

13 comments:

Stephanie said...

Wow!! I've been finding recipes like this on Pinterest that I keep saying I have to try but wasn't sure if the people were really telling the truth about their magic...but seeing your pictures I am a believer! :-) My little man can create some horrible stains. I am headed to the store today to buy the dish soap and then will pray for a miracle to fix his clothes!! :-) Thanks for the encouragement!!

Pam @Threading My Way said...

I'm hopeless at removing stains from clothing. I don't like bleaches and chemicals, so this definitely sounds worth a try. Thanks for sharing, Terry.

Rustown Mom said...

I have a bad habit of not wearing my apron while I cook, then noticing after I pull something out the dryer that I should have pre-treated. I just let some liquid Tide sit there on the stain and run it again with the next laundry load. But really...if I were smart...I'd wear the apron!

Adrianne Surian said...

I'm loving this series, Terry! All of the kitchen stuff gets pretty stained - towels, potholders, etc. And I don't know how much it matters if you have kids, I think my husband's laundry is the dirtiest, LOL!

Unknown said...

I am trying to hurry and use up the stain spray I have now so I can give this a try. It looks awesome!! We have stains all the time and I am terrible at remembering to pre-treat them. I have a question. Have you ever used any other soap than Dawn? Does it just need to be dish soap? Thanks for the great tip!

Mindy said...

This is a stain filled house if there ever was one. I'm all over trying this - spot cleaners are SO expensive and I can go through an entire friggin' bottle washing all the kids clothes. It's ridiculous!

Shutterbug said...

Such an easy effective cleaner! But I wonder if I would have to use specifically the "Dawn" brand of dish soap?

Macey said...

Yeah, do you have to use Dawn? Or can you use the off brand? Grease is the WORST.

Little City Farm said...

I just added a line up top to mention that I believe you have to use Dawn dish detergent for this stain remover to be most effective. There is something magical about Dawn that makes it so much more effective. I think that's why they use it for the oil spill birds. Anyway, if someone tries it with another brand of dish soap and it works, please do let us all know.

Rosemary@villabarnes said...

Great tip, Terry. It's simple too. I love simple.

Unknown said...

Does this work on carpet stains?

Little City Farm said...

Sorry George, I haven't tried it on carpet stains. Typically I just use vinegar and water for those (with limited success admittedly).

Unknown said...

This stuff is magical. Great for pet stain
Cleaning the cat box. Believe me . I swear by this stuff. I sprayed a cat pee stain. And when I went to shampoo the spot, I couldn't find it. Awesome.

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