Spit Happens

Some of you may or may not know, but I'm having a litter. Actually, just one kid, a little boy...however, my ass looks like its having twins. So between making jewelry, daily life, and running after a 5 year old boy, I'm now preparing for this little one. This weekend my husband pulled out the newborn clothes that my kiddo wore. I know I washed everything before I put them away. However:

Spit up stains, galore! Ugh! Those unsightly yellow splotches! How was I ever going to get them out?

I did a bit of googling and then went on Facebook and asked my friends, "Has anyone ever had experience with this? What did you do?". They didn't fail me. From Oxiclean recommendations, using a toothbrush, dish washing liquid, heavy duty clothing spray, sunshine...I had a plethora of advice. So here is what I did:

1) Filled up a bucket of water with about a 1/2 cup of Oxiclean and then dumped the soiled clothing in. I let it soak for about 24 hours. 2) After inspecting the clothing, many pieces looked great, but there were several that needed additional work. 3) I used a toothbrush with some dish washing liquid. One friend warned me bleaching may occur and to be careful. So I was. 4) I rinsed the clothing out and sprayed on some Baby OxiClean which is formulated to work on the heavy proteins in spit up. I let it sit and then, 5) washed the clothing with an extra rinse cycle. I didn't add any soap since I thought there was probably enough detergent in the Baby Oxiclean. After this wash I inspected again, most of the clothing was great and they got to be dried. The items with stains, but fading stains, were put outside in the sunshine for a few hours. 6) I brought them in last night and there were faints stains showing on only three pieces. 7) Toothbrush, Baby Oxiclean, rinsed in the washer again, and then sunshine today.

The result? Perfect. You couldn't tell that there were some massive stains on the clothing at all. It took some time and elbow grease, but I managed to salvage all of the newborn clothing. One piece in particular that I loved the most, that was the most soiled, was a white onesie from Gymboree with little airplanes embroidered on it. It looks fabulous.

A word of advice...if anyone has Hanna Andersson clothing don't spray OxiClean directly onto the soiled spot. It eats away at the fibers. I learned this the hard way with a pair of pants. Their website actually states this, but I read it a bit too late.