Oil is to water as chocolate milk is to ________

Monday, January 26


Blog meet bain of my existence.

Bain of my existence meet blog.

You've probably already been introduced.

I know, because I can't be the only one who struggles with this on a daily basis? A nearly brand new off white adorable blouse, ruined by a malfunctioning sippy cup. My kids practically live off chocolate milk. I swear, they'd inject it in their veins if they knew how. So I'm always coming across a favorite pajama or shirt that has one of these and they are virtually indestructable!

Soo, does anyone out there have some sort of secret weapon against these nemeses of cute clothes? I've used bleach on the white stuff which works pretty well but it's the colored clothes that test my sanity. Please won't someone help?!

23 comments:

aaaaaa said...

http://www.mrscleannw.com/tips/milk-stains.html

The Girl in the Cafe said...

poor you....I am so not domestic but that blue oxy spray has saved my messy life...you name it...any organic foody stain -- coffee, avocado, blueberry even! - comes out after an overnight spray and then throw in wash. Sometimes I have to wash it again.

:)

best,
ella

Anonymous said...

I use the Clorox 2 bleach for colors. I'll pour a bit on the fabric and let it sit for an hour or overnight and then wash it. I can't think of a time that hasn't worked. Like Ella Kelly said, sometimes it takes a second soaking.

Anonymous said...
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Lucy said...

I swear by Oxy Clean Baby. When my daughter gets a bad stain on her clothes (which is every day), I soak the outfit in as hot of water as the outfit permits... the hotter the better. Rub some Oxy Clean Baby on it and let it sit. If it is a really bad stain, I rub shout gel on it first and then do the oxy clean... and if it is a stain that has been there for a while, I do the shout gel, then oxy clean and then pour a little detergent on top (typically dreft). I swear. I have gotten the worst of the worst out. My daughter's favorite foods are avocado, spaghetti and meat sauce and rasberries... pretty messy stuff but you would never know it from looking at her closet.

You can get the oxy clean baby, Shout Gel, and dreft at Target!! Totally worth it! Hope this helps.

Cheilita said...

i use shout

Laura said...

Hydrogen peroxide. Just pour it full-strength through the fabric & let it sit for a few minutes, maybe scrub at it a bit. My mom always did this for any "protein" stain (i.e., blood, milk) and it works like a charm.

Leah said...

Ditto on the peroxide comment. I mix it 1:1 with laundry detergent, rub it into the stain and it never fails!

jennie said...

So borrowing these ideas. I am living the same "stained" existence with 3 toddlers. And when I do try some stain remover, usually it lightens the color of the fabric beofore actually removing the spot! Ugghh.

Artfulife said...

I should buy stock in spray-n-wash. As soon as I take off their clothes at bath time I take them right to the washing machine where I spray them and then, since I end up doing laundry almost daily, they are ready to go for the next load of wash. This has saved many a shirt.

Artfulife said...

P.S. There is also a carpet stain remover (commercial) that can remove even old set in stains in clothes, table clothes all sorts of items. I forget the name, but I will find out for you and pass it along. My friend swears by it.

sarasophia said...

I could FedEx you my grandmother.

Seriously, she is the only one who can remove chocolate milk/contents of wicked witch cauldrons/evil leaky sippycups stains.


I have tried all else and failed.

Kellie H said...

M30 from Dollar General is the bomb...my friends turned me on to it. It works wonders on stained clothing! It is so cheap too!

Stacey said...

Spray and wash the stain, then a scoop full of oxy-clean works everytime! I am interested in the carpet cleaner that works on set-in stains that Artful Life posted, now that would be fantastic!
Thank you for a most wonderful blog, I just stumbled across it tonite in blogland!-stace

Mathgeek said...

Shout Advanced Gel (in blue trigger bottle) has saved this Mama many a tear from being shed! My loving husband, who so wonderfully helps at bathtime, often forgets to check the clothes for stains and then at the end of the week when I do wash- tada! But never fear, since discovering Shout gel stuff even the set in stains have come out. Once I had to let it sit a week, washed it (but didn't dry it) retreated and let sit another week and it was good as new- seriously(took two weeks, but it DID work).
The key is to check it after washing before drying, because once a stain is dried in the drier it's set and I think it becomes the new fingerpainting outfit (at least at our house). Good luck!

http://www.shoutitout.com/clean-stains-home.aspx?box=1&tab=adgel

Tamara said...

Oxy Clean (and you can even order baby oxy clean on line) has saved my bacon tooooo many times to count! Even been through the dryer stains come out. LOVE IT! BTY, when are you announcing the winner of the lunch date blouse?

onawa said...

I'm not kidding when i say it's this easy. CLEAR DISHSOAP!!! No joke! I use it on everything, from oil stains to blood to grass... whatever... I have luck almost every time! Put clear dishsoap on stain and let it soak for a day or so... then throw it in the regular laundry and boom, stain is usually always gone!!! It's amazing! I use dove or ivory. Good luck!

vmsb said...

Hi- wow am I glad to see that you have at least one of the same mom battles that I do. Not that I am glad to see stains on M or L's clothing, just that after reading all of your fabulous posts I was surprised to see this. I'm also surprised to find myself thinking that I may be able to offer a bit of help to *you*. I hate stains, but I feel deeply satisfied when I get them out! Happy laundering : )

Oxy clean, Clorox color safe bleach, shout or spray and wash and dish soap are my laundry tools. I soak in the Oxyclean after applying clorox, shout/SW or dish soap directly to the stain.

My mom taught me that dish soap is the best for any greasy, grimy, oily surface or oil-based stain (milk fats, butter, olive-oil containing...) BTW, it's also great on ring around the tub.

About an year ago a Big and Tall coworker of mine commented that he too relies on regular dish soap (he said his clothes are really expensive because he rarely can buy off the rack and certainly can't find his size on the sale rack so he takes care of his clothing). He told me this as he nodded with approval as I stood by the water cooler pouring green Palmolive on the pasta sauce splatters across my favorite turquoise cardi.

If you buy the travel sized dish soap bottle it can sort of be used like a tide pen, but it will be obvious that you preteated - i.e. it's not discrete like the tide pen so not as useful if the girls are still wearing the stained item. Of course I just didn't care that there was a green spot of soap on my cardi - I had orangish spots all over it - and I really wanted to be sure I saved my cardi - which I (the Palmolive) did!

Anyway, I try to treat the spots as soon as possible, but often I just can't so I treat, soak, wash and sometimes do a second wash.

I also don't put most things in the dryer (even Baby's stuff) and tend to think that the dryer heat will set the stain.

If I need to rewash I retreat right away, sometimes adding a bit of Oxy powder direct to the wet garment and gently rubbing.

I also soak directly in my washer - much to my hubby's dismay. I just put in a small amount of water and an excess of Oxy.

My last resort (when possible) is to alter the clothing to cover the stain - I'm sure you could do some amazing stuff here!

I hope this helps -I hope you post an update on the stain situation. I'd love to know if there is a better way.

THANKS!! take care, vb

The Santiago Four said...

I use Zout in the red bottle. That is amazing!

vmsb said...

So, any luck? I wanted to check back and see. Maybe you'll post on Grosgrain about how you covered the spot with some amazing bow or ribbon or ... I hope to hear if you found a good solution.

Good luck! Take care,

vmsb said...
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Anonymous said...

a product called Zout. (yes thats how it is spelled). Best stain remover EVER. I'm trying to go more chemical free, but for serious stains, I still turn to my first darling, zout. brilliant stuff. gets everything out. *reminds self to zout that stain on her skirt that didn't come out with mere washing*

and check clothes coming out of the laundry machine for stains, before putting them in the dryer, if there were stains going in. the dryer sets them.

Unknown said...

I had the same problem with removing chocolate and wine stains on our carpet last week. I used detergent and vinegar to remove those stains. Wine stain was removed, but the chocolate wasn't. I don't know what to do in removing chocolate stain. So I hired cleaners for carpet cleaning. Los Angeles, our present hometown has a lot of carpet cleaning services. Thankfully, our carpet was cleaned before my mom arrived.