Baby laundry: how to remove onesies, bibs and dresses
How can I remove stains from baby clothes? This is one of the most frequently asked questions from mothers dealing with the baby’s laundry. Here are some useful tips.
If you’re wondering how such a small, so delicate, so tender, so fragile creature can get dirty and leave “his signature” everywhere, I don’t know. All I know is that it takes a lot of effort and we mothers just have to resign ourselves to seeing bibs, dresses and candid onesies stained daily (a solution could be to dress them in dark but it seems that it’s not fashionable yet 😀 ).
Unfortunately for us, baby linen is also rather delicate to wash. For this reason, when there are milk, baby food or pee and poop stains, we need to be even more careful than we already need to be for the newborn’s laundry.
Baby laundry: tips for removing stains
To remove stains from onesies, bibs, diapers successfully, there are essentially two things to do: know what to do and know what to use.
What to do when there is a stain
Regardless of the type of stain on your child’s clothes, the things to do are:
- act now!
The longer the stain is left on the baby’s head, the more difficult it will be to remove. - remove most of the dirt (food, fruit, poop, vomit) without spreading the stain, perhaps by scraping with something stiff (a spoon, a spatula, a blade)
- do not rub because this will make the dirt penetrate even more into the fabric.
- treat the stain, i.e. use a stain remover on top of the dirt and leave it to act for a few minutes. Natural anti-stain products can be used (Marseille soap is the most suitable and effective one) or products for the hygiene of laundry as long as they are specific for children’s clothes.
- rinse and soak in water and mild detergent for the necessary time. In this phase, if the fabrics are resistant (such as bibs and towels) they can also be immersed in very hot water and rubbed vigorously. If, on the other hand, delicate items such as bodysuits and rompers are stained, the water must be lukewarm and it must be rubbed delicately so as not to damage the fibres.
- Normally hand wash or machine wash with a mild baby detergent.
What to use to remove stains from baby’s laundry
After having understood the steps to take in the face of stains on baby’s laundry, let’s see what to use stain by stain, considering however that the result obviously depends on the variables of the case: type of fabric, size of the stain, how much time has passed before treating it .
Remove milk stains
Stains from both maternal and artificial milk are perhaps the most difficult to remove because they slowly set on the fibers of the fabrics. For this reason, not only are they not seen well from the beginning (and therefore often not treated in time) but they are able to resurface even after a wash.
There are many ways to get rid of milk stains. For example:
- soak the garment in warm water with a little borax powder
- treat with delicate bleach (the oxygen one and not the chlorine one, please!)
- pre-treat the stain with dish detergent by rubbing the affected part and then proceed with the usual washing
- remove the stain by applying a “mud” made of bicarbonate and sparkling water over the stain
Each attempt is alternative to the other but the fact remains that, if the stain does not go away, you cannot try all the solutions. If the milk stains are dry, before treating the stain, it is advisable to scratch it with a brush.
Remove fruit stains
One of the first foods that the newborn tastes is fruit. Whether it’s grated, blended, homogenized, fruit causes annoying stains. To remove them try:
- scrape with a butter knife
- run the stain under cold running water scrubbing the fabric
- soak the clothes in warm water and baby detergent for about 30 minutes.
- if necessary, add half a cup of baking soda
- or a little lemon juice with a little salt and rub on the stained spot.
- then wash the baby’s stained clothes according to the instructions with a mild baby laundry detergent.
Remove baby food and food stains
When the children have gotten to eating baby food and solid foods, the stains will be the most varied. To remove them, you can resort to natural methods or safely use stain removers and detergents that are on the market which, I remind you, should not be demonized. On sale there are many excellent products created specifically to be strong with spots but delicate for children’s skin. Just find the one that inspires us the most confidence.
In any case, to eliminate food stains, proceed as above and help yourself by treating with:
- dish soap
- oxygen bleach
- Marseille soap
- mixture of water and baking soda
Remove pee stains
Since pee is a liquid material composed mostly of water, removing urine stains is not that difficult. If the pee stain is fresh , dab the garment immediately to remove excess pee and prevent the stain from spreading, rinse in cold water and then wash as usual.
If, on the other hand, the stain is old and the garment is already yellowed, pre-treating becomes essential. This can be done with a mild bleach or with a solution of 12vol hydrogen peroxide and vinegar in equal parts. This way it whitens and disinfects at the same time. Then wash according to the garment’s instructions.
Remove poo and vomit stains
Clean residues and poop stains with a blunt knife and pass under cold water not directly on the stain but on the back.
Then pre-treat the stain with a good children’s stain remover or a natural one (Marseille soap for example). Leave to rest on the garment for five minutes before throwing it in the washing machine and possibly scrub the fibers with a soft bristle brush. Check the stain after washing it. If it doesn’t look like it’s gone completely, don’t put it in the dryer (which can fix the stain even more) but immerse the garment again in water and mild bleach for at least 30 minutes to remove any traces, then wash in water at hotter than the garment can handle.
In any case if the stains persist, repeat the process. Once the stains have been removed, dry the baby’s clothes as usual.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.