The easiest way to remove old stains from baby clothing! Treat several items at once, even set in stains! Works for blow outs and spit up stains. Also takes out the yellow spots in baby clothing (breast milk and formula stains) that have been in storage. This post contains affiliate links.
The yellow spots linger in the clothes and are unique to baby stains.
I call these types of stains ‘baby stains’ because they are different than food or permanent marker type stains. Simply treating them with a spray on stain remover is not going to work. You’re going to need an enzyme cleaner like OxiClean.
My little cutie is almost three months old now! In those three months, he has treated us to quite a few loads of laundry and baby stains! Mostly from spit up, but we’ve had a couple of impressive onesie blowouts as well. The most recent one was last night while I was at a meeting. He was sitting on my lap and I could totally feel it happening and there wasn’t a thing that I could do about it! It was all up his back and soaked through the brand-new outfit from Baby Gap.
Not only did his outfit take a hit, but also the blanket he was wrapped in, and the blanket that I laid him on while cleaning up the mess!
I wasn’t worried about baby stains at all. I simply wrapped it all up in a blanket and put it in the car and would eventually take care of it when I had time at home.
This is because my sister shared her method for how to remove old stains from baby clothing years ago when my other kids were babies, and it has been my go-to method ever since. It has saved many, many articles of clothing. Her mother-in-law shared the trick with her and now I’m sharing it with you. I don’t use cloth diapers, but I’d imagine this would be helpful for those as well.
I’ve tried skipping this method and rinsing the fabrics with a variety of pretreatments like Oxi Clean Spray and Wash, but I still sometimes end up with light yellow staining.
Baby Protein Stains From Breastmilk and Formula
The secret is Oxi Clean and BOILING water. Normally you would use cold water and avoid hot water when trying to remove a stain, but not for baby stains using this method. The Oxi Clean has a chemical reaction to the enzymes in the spit up for those yellow stains (protein stains) that appear in baby clothing after sitting in storage.
Treating Baby Blow Outs
It also reacts with diaper blow outs so that they wash right out. If you don’t want to treat items one at a time you can give them a quick rinse then set to the side and wait until you have a few items with baby stains to treat together.
My husband said I should have taken a “before” photo. I just couldn’t bring myself to do that. It was nasty, and I have a personal thing against posting poop stains on social media. I hope you’ll forgive me, but just know that there was a soft ball sized stain that leaked from the back to the front of this beautiful organic cotton one piece. But after treating it with Oxi Clean and boiling water it is perfectly clean!
How to Remove Old Stains From Baby Clothing
Step 2: SLOWLY pour two small scoops of Oxi Clean into the water (Scoop sizes vary, but about 1/4 c. works great).
Step 3: Add stained clothing. Stir to make sure everything is soaked.
Step 4: Let soak for 10-15 minutes.
Step 5: Dump the entire pot (excess water and all) into the washing machine.
Step 6: Run a normal cycle in the washing machine with a bit of laundry detergent. Place in the dryer and dry as usual.
Notes:
- Treat light-colored clothing separately from dark-colored clothing to avoid color bleeding.
- Pour Oxi Clean slowly into the water to avoid foaming over.
- May be repeated if the baby stains don’t come out all the way out of the garment the first time. I’ve never had to do this.
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Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!
Wonder if this would work on white baseball uniforms stained with dirt from baseball field!!! Surely can’t hurt?
It’s worth a shot!
Brandy,
I just had to send you a Thank You note! I’m preparing to surprise my son on his 50th birthday in another state next week. While there, we’re delivering my hope chest to my 47 YO daughter. In it were baby clothes from both of them. After trying your method of removing old stains, I’m nothing short of AMAZED!!! Both homecoming outfits are white again. His baptism “suit” is white again. Many, many other infant outfits, I thought were ruined, can now be passed along. Thank You so much for your wonderful advice!
Pamela, this made my day! I’m so glad your treasures were saved!
I love everyone’s comments if success…But do you know if this method will work using any of the oxyclean products ..or does it specify have to be the one from the link?
Hi Joanna! I’ve only ever used it with the original oxy-clean powder.
My son had a coach once that bought old baseball pants for his team, T-ball and used Lestoil on the stains and they looked brand new:)
Hi! Would this method work on a formal, non-cotton baptismal outfit? It isn’t labeled but I assume Satin or a polyester blend.
Hi Julia! I haven’t tried it on anything other than cotton, knit and denim. It worked for all of those so it might be worth a shot.
In high school our marching band had white uniform pants with a red stripe (probably the worst colors ever for sweaty teenagers) and the parents would wash the uniform pants with oxi clean to save money on dry cleaning and keep them white.
Do you add laundry detergent to the washing machine load? Or will the dissolved oxiclean be enough when you put it in the washing machine? Thanks!
Hi! I add laundry detergent and wash like normal! (with the oxiclean). Hope that helps!
Any idea if Biz powder detergent will work as well?
Hi Kristen, I havne’t tried that so I’m not sure!
Hi, can you tell me how do you do several garments at once? Thank you very much for your help.
Hi Sharon! You can soak several items at the same time. As many as will fit inside of your pot. For baby clothes it means several onesies and pajamas. For larger items, you may have to do it in bathes. Hope tha thelps! 🙂
BE CAREFUL!! My pot of hot water foamed over as I slowly added oxy clean. I would suggesting placing pot in the sink BEFORE adding oxy clean 😬😬😬
Great idea, it does bubble up quickly! I’ve done it dozens of times and have had it bubble over probably twice over the years, even when pouring slowly. And I use the same amount of water and oxy clean every time, so I’m not sure what makes the difference!
Works great! Thank you.. to avoid bubble over I place a wooden spoon across the top of pot.
Great tip!
I moved into a home with a front load washer and I hate it. So, when it came time to pre treat and wash baby clothes (prepping for #2), I knew I would need a better option. This worked miracles!! All of the breastmilk yellow storage stains are completely gone after one round!! Thank you for this tutorial!!
You’re welcome! It works for so many stains. I just did a pot full of clothes today!
Just a note, she isn’t kidding when she says separate darks and lights. I included a white shirt with a red graphic on it, and it completely ruined almost everything else in the pot. All of my oldest son’s cute newborn outfits are ruined with dye transfer 😪
Oh no! 🙁
I’m 73 and had 5 children also. I’ve seen so many baby clothes with those yellow stains and thought I’d tried everything to remove them to no avail. I now have 9 grandchildren and have finally removed the stains without fading or damaging the fabric. Your tip really works!!! Thank you so very much. Lori
Yay! I’m so glad! I remember my mom struggling with this too. Pulling out baby clothes that had been stored, only to have yellowing on them. I’m so glad my sister shared this tip with me!
I separated and this worked on 99% of the clothes that I had stored for 15 years!!! I that being said, while I separated, one of my most favorite outfits of my daughters (first 4th of July when she was 3 days old) was red white and blue. Because of this, the red stripes bled onto the white and is now pink. 🙁 I am trying to figure out how to fix that – any help you can offer would be super appreciated. Again, this worked on all the typical baby colors but NOT dark red or blues…. especially when combined with white fabric.
Oh no! So, I’ve seen something in the laundry section at Walmart called “color run remover”. Next to the Color Catcher sheets. It’s a couple of bucks and worth a shot!
Try Dawn dish soap, peroxide, baking soda in a 1:1:1 equal parts mix. Scrub it on the white areas with an old tooth brush, let sit a day. You can also put a large amount of the mix in a sink or bucket, add water and let it sit over night. Wash as usual. If it’s still pink after washing repeat the process. I once washed a red item with an entire load of organic baby whites! Filled the tub and let it soak. It took rinsing it all and repeating the next day. But they’re all white again.
You probably don’t have the clothes any more, but if this happens to anyone else, Rit Color Remover might be able to save the clothes.
I’ve never heard of that before. Great tip!
This works amazingly well!! Getting clothes ready for a consignment sale and it made them look like new!
That’s interesting because I used this method once a week with my newborns to get rid of diaper blow outs and spit up stains. Occasionally, I had to treat certain items twice. But it always cleaned the clothing in the end!
When running a normal cycle, did you use cold/cool water or warm/hot water?
Thanks!
I typically run normal cycles with cold water. Hope that helps!
This is amazing! I had 30 year old stains on a smocked dress. I had tried every remedy given to me to no avail. Oxiclean in boiling water removed every single stain!
Oh, I’m so glad to hear this!
Can i do several pots full and wait to wash them all together after an hour or 2 or do they need to be washed right away? I got a huge bunch of borrowed clothes back all covered in spitup stains 🙁 so hopeful I can revive them!
Hi Heidi! You can totally wait to wash them all at once. Hope they save your clothes!
I have a front loading washing machine. How can I make this work without having to go to the laundromat?
Thanks!
Hi Stacie! I have a front loader, too. I pour the pot of water and clothes into the washer. Just being careful not to splash. It works!
I know everyone is saying the colors bleed, I just soaked a pot full of onesies with spit up. Had white ones, dark green ones and a white one with blur trim. I through one the oxyclean white revive powder that comes in the all white container not the traditional blue container and the colors didn’t bleed. Maybe just a throught for everyone for it to be colorsafe.
Is it safe to put baby clothes in the Oxiclean boiling water?? I have a pink baby dress that has been stored for 25 years with unknown stain at top of dress. I am afraid boiling water would set the stain.
I use this for baby clothes. Works great and the boiling water doesn’t set the stains. That being said, the oldest outfits that I have washed were 10 years old. I haven’t used them for heirlooms or anything older.
How should I handle items that are both white and color? Like I have a color block navy and white dress? Should these go with the whites or colors?
Hi Jessica! Most of what I washed were onesies (solid colors). I would imagine it would be ok, but haven’t tested it.
I had a white blanket with fringe that only had one small stain on it. Booked with oxiclean and now the blanket has large yellow spots all over it. Any thoughts or suggestions. It said it could be machine washed.
That is really strange. I’ve never had oxyclean cause stains. It has only ever removed spit up and blow out stains that nothing else could get out. 🙁
On the scoop size, are you meaning to use a 1/4 cup size scoop and still use 2 scoops (1/2 total) or just use 1/4 cup total? Excited to try this! Thanks!
1/4 c. Total. Hope your results are as good as ours were! 🙂
Hi! Any idea how many newborn items can be put in the pot at the same time?
Hi Katie! You can put quite a few in. Just make sure you can still give them a stir with a wooden spoon. If they are packed too tight the water/oxyclean might not soak them completely.
Will the oxiclean liquid work or just the powder? I work with infants and as such my shirts do get spit up stains on them. Thank You for your time and consideration with this question.
Hi! I’ve only ever used the powdered Oxiclean so I’m not sure if it would make a difference or not.
I don’t usually reply to these but I have to on this one. I can not believe how well this works!! I received a ton of hand-me-down baby clothes and some of the cutest onesies were stained. Gave this a whirl not thinking it would work and I’m now obsessed. They all look brand new!
Today I thought I’d try it on some white pillow cases that turned yellow in storage. IT WORKED! So much better than bleach! Thanks a bunch for this!
I’m so glad!! I hate throwing out clothes so I’m so glad it worked for you too!
I have an antique family christening dress about 130 yr old, made by my great great grandmother and passed down through the generations. I took it from 12 years of storage for my first grandchild’s ceremony and it has the telltale yellow stain in the front. I washed in cold with Oxyclean yesterday, the stain has lightened but still there. I am sorely tempted to try the boiling water/Oxyclean method but fear it will damage the dress. Do you have experience using this method with old/antique/precious clothing?
EB
Hi Ellen! Everything I’ve washed was onesies and basic baby clothes. Nothing of heirloom quality. I’m sorry I’m not more helpful!
Success! I wanted to share my method, which is a variation on yours. The family heirloom christening dress had a large semicircle of yellow under the neck after a dozen years in storage. After several unsatisfactory attempts using cold water, I heated 1-3/4 gallons of water in a pot (max water amount pot could hold) to 130 degrees which is the typical hot wash temp, added and dissolved 1-3/4 scoops original Oxiclean (1 full scoop to level 4 on scoop, the second scoop to level 3), and put the christening dress in and soaked for 10 hours. Then I dumped water and dress into my top loader, added hot water to small wash level, added Tide free and gentle detergent, and hand-washed the dress in the top loader, rinsing several times. I rolled the dress in towels to remove most water, and laid flat to dry. I was afraid to use boiling water but the 130 degree did the trick. It came out beautifully, all stains gone. Thank you so much!
Awesome!! And thank you for coming back and updating us. This will help anyone else wondering about those types of items too!
Thank you for this! I’m wondering if this technique will work if you clean the garments and then put them back in storage for a few months. Does the stain reappear? I’m hoping to take care of laundering baby clothes before my third trimester.
Hi Emma! From my experience, once the stain is gone it’s stayed gone. I think you’d be find laundering the clothing ahead of time.
Used your method on baby clothes that I had stored for more than 27 years, and I’m now handing them on to my son and his wife for my first grandchild. It worked perfectly – thanks so much for the tip.
Oh, I’m so glad to hear this!
Thank you so much for this suggestion it word super well on baby clothes I had in storage for a little more than 3 years! I started by spraying dreft on the spit up stains, only to find the stains didn’t go anywhere. I contemplated tossing all of the stained outfits out, but I’m so glad I found your blog post! There was only one outfit that seemed to be negatively impacted, which was a burt’s bees sleeper that was light gray & white striped – some of the gray areas had small pinkish blotches afterward (almost like if I had spilled a little bleach on it, but I didn’t). All of the items I treated with the oxi-clean were in the same color sceme, so it wasn’t color bleed from something red. It was the only burt’s bees outfit I treated, & the only outfit impacted. It’s not the end of the world, but wanted to make anyone else aware. Ultimately I’m so glad for your tip though…everything else looks like new again! Thank you!
Glad it worked—-for almost everything!!
Definitely help but still have some yellowing just not as severe. Will try to repeat and hopefully they will be totally gone! Trying this on some stains on my 2 year olds clothes as well as they came out of the washer with bluish/gray spots, soaked twice with Borax and still present. Fingers crossed!
Would this get old baby food stains out?
It might. I’ve only it used it for bodily stains (spit up, diaper leaks etc.)
I am so glad I found this. I tried your method on baby clothes that had been stored in the attic for 25 years. It did an amazing job and now I can pass on some baby clothes to my daughter. Thank you for this wonderful method!
Oh, I’m so glad!!