Working on a farm or in a garden is hard and dirty work. Needless to say I have lots of sweaty, smelly and stained laundry come wash day. I used to buy stain removers and such but have found a laundry stain remover that I pretty well use exclusively now.
This is the tail of one of O Wise One's T shirts. He tends to use the tail to wipe his face when he gets hot and sweaty instead of carrying a handkerchief. Between his dirty hands and what he wipes on his shirts they are really challenging to keep clean and spot free. Probably one of my biggest challenges.
The first thing I do is lather them up with some of my homemade soap.
Then I have an old plastic mayonnaise jar that I use to mix up my homemade spot remover. I take just a tablespoon from the silverware drawer and add about 3 heaping tablespoons of baking soda to the bottom of the jar. Then on top of that I add a good 2 teaspoons of dish washing liquid. In this case just some regular Dawn. If you don't want to use Dawn Dr. Bonner's works too.
Then I add about half that quart mayo jar, or about 2 cups of hydrogen peroxide. I take the spoon and stir real good to melt the baking soda and mix everything good.
Then I take those wet dirty t shirts and pour the peroxide and baking soda mix on the stained area. It will foam.
Then I take a small brush and work my stain remover in good. DO NOT RINSE.
Then I place the stained items in a plastic dishpan and set them aside to soak for atleast a couple hours. Sometimes I do this the night before I am going to do laundry and just let then sit overnight. Any remaining stain remover I just pour over the top of the items. This can not be mixed up and left to sit for any length of time of it loses it's foamy properties. So only mix up what you need for a single use.
Now wash as usual. As you can see above it works great for me. Occasionally I will have to treat one a second time but not very often.
This is one of my favorite do it yourself recipes..quick, inexpensive and effective. Made with ingredients easily locally available.
How do you get out those tough spots?
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Wow, do you know if it will get out grass stains also?
ReplyDeleteCQ,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your natural spot remover. When using this on colored clothing, does it cause the color to fade where you worked the spots out?
Not that I have noticed. The picture above does look faded but not the actual garment
DeleteI have found baking soda to be such a help in stain removal as well. I use it with my homemade laundry soap. Honeyman gets his shirts like your DH does :O).
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna try this! Thanks CQ!
ReplyDeleteFlippin' fantastic. I have all the ingredients plus the dirty laundry.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I usually don't get the stains out.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any of your home made soap, ;o) ; but I often add baking soda to my wash just as a given.
I will try to remember to save an extra jar to make this stain remover with. I did bookmark it!
Thank you, CQ! :o)
I use equal parts blue Dawn and ammonia. I keep it in a squeeze bottle by the hamper so things can be pretreated. For really nasty stains I retreat at washing time. The only thing I have had this fail on is blood. For that, I use peroxide.
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ReplyDeleteA household recipe we use is Daily Shower Spray - after each shower, just spray it on the walls, tub, shower glass or curtain, and leave it... it keeps any soap scum and dirt from building up. Using this, I only have to actually scrub the shower once in a very long while.
ReplyDeleteMix 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide, 1 tsp liquid dish soap, 1/2 cup isopropyl alcohol (99%), 1 tbsp dishwasher rinse aid, and 3 cups of water. If you wish, you can also add a couple of drops of essential oil to make your bathroom smell lovely. The dishwasher rinse aid acts as a surfactant that makes everything slide down the drain, and the other ingredients go to work on anything stuck on. Keep a squirt bottle in the shower and use it each time before you climb out. Works like a charm!