The easiest way to remove old stains from baby clothing! Treat several items at once, even set in stains! Works for blowouts, spit-up stains, and yellow stains in baby clothing (from breast milk and formula stains) that have been in storage.
You might also like my easy laundry hack for kids or my wall of Ikea built-ins for storage!
Have you ever pulled out a box of stored infant clothes only to notice that they are STAINED? They were clean when you packed them away, but now they have yellow spots all over them. Well, those yellow spots are enzymes from spit-up and diaper blowouts. Bleach can help if the items are white, but what about colored outfits?
I have the solution and have used this trick for years and years. Passed down from my sister's mother-in-law, this method for removing baby stains from laundry WORKS and is a tried and true method.
Why This Method Works
- Can be used on colored clothing. Bleach might work well for whites, but this method works for colored clothing and white clothing.
- Works for yellow spots and stains. The yellow spots that linger in baby clothes are unique to baby stains. Oftentimes, baby clothes are clean when boxed and put into storage. The yellow stains show up later and are a not-so-fun surprise when you open the box years later. This method will get those stains out, when nothing else will.
- Works for set in stains. Formula stains, spit-up stains, blowout stains, this will get all of those out. When your baby has a blowout, you aren't always able to rinse the item of clothing right away, especially if it happens in the car or on a trip! No worries, that cute little outfit can be saved.
- No need to wash right away. If you don't want to treat items one at a time, you can give them a quick rinse, then set them to the side and wait until you have a few items with baby stains to treat together.
What Other People Are Saying
Okay honestly I was skeptical, but this worked PERFECTLY on year old formula, milk and blowout stains!!! I was worried about the little graphics melting or distorting but they are fine! THANK YOU for sharing this, I am now on a mission to obliterate all the stains from all of my little’s outgrown (and current 😅) clothes! 😂---Stephanie
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!---Kim
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.---Wendy
Tips and Tricks
- Use boiling water. This literally goes against everything I was told about removing stains, but trust me, with this method, it works. 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 with the enzymes in the spit up for those yellow stains (protein stains) that appear in baby clothing after sitting in storage.
- Repeat the process, if necessary. I've never had to do this, but if the formula or spit-up stain doesn't come out the first time around, you can simply repeat the steps and wash again.
- Treat light-colored clothing separately from dark-colored clothing to avoid color bleeding. As always, sort your clothing by whites and colors. This is a basic step for doing laundry, but some might be tempted to skip it and treat all stained clothing together.
- Pour Oxi Clean slowly into the water to avoid foaming over. Don't ask me how I know.
Treating Yellow Stains In Baby Clothes
We've all seen them. These stains can show up AFTER you wash the clothing, oftentimes they are the ones you see if you pull clothing out of the closet months or years later.
I call these types of stains ‘baby stains’ because they are different than food or permanent marker type stains. Formula stains, breastmilk stains; they are caused by protein enzymes. Simply treating them with a spray-on stain remover is not going to work. You’re going to need an enzyme cleaner like OxiClean and a few additional steps.
Treating Baby Blowout Stains In Baby Clothes
Not only does this method treat old baby stains, but it can treat new stains too. My most recent experience was last night while I was at a meeting. 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.
Ingredients and Supplies
- Oxiclean: Nothing fancy, just the original powdered formula.
- Stock pot: You'll need a large stock pot, even to wash one item. The Oxiclean will react with the water and foam up, so a big pot works great for containing the foam.
- Boiling water: Yep, boiling water! Trust the process.
How to Remove Old Stains From Baby Clothing
Step 1: Fill a large stock pot halfway with water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
Step 2: SLOWLY pour ½ of a large scoop or 2 small scoops of Oxi Clean into the water (Scoop sizes vary, but about ¼ c. works great). The water will foam up, which is why it is important to only fill the pot halfway and to turn the heat off the burner.
Step 3: Add stained clothing. Stir to make sure everything is soaked. Let soak for 10-15 minutes.
Step 4: Dump the entire pot (excess water and all) into the washing machine. Run a normal cycle in the washing machine with a bit of laundry detergent. Place in the dryer and dry as usual.
Note
I've tried skipping this method and rinsing the fabrics with a variety of pretreatments like Spray and Wash, but I still sometimes end up with light yellow staining. So don't waste your money on pretreatments. Just start a pile of rinsed and stained baby clothing and treat them all at the same time.
Stained Baby Clothing FAQs
Yellow spots from formula or breastmilk spit-up stains can form on baby clothing over time. The protein enzymes from the milk stay in the clothing. Fresh spots may appear to have been removed from the clothing item during the wash, but over time they can reappear and show up as yellow spots. This is why you sometimes open a box of older baby clothes and find yellow spots on them that weren't there before.
For this method, no. If you have access to water, rinse the item, then set it aside until you are able to soak the item in boiling water and Oxiclean. If you don't have access to water, simply put the soiled item in a bag and wait until you get home to give it a quick rinse. You can wait until you have a few items to treat if you'd like. This will save you money on Oxiclean.
For this method, yes. The OxiClean and boiling water work together to lift the protein enzymes out of the clothing. This won't happen if you soak in cold water. The item of baby clothing is already stained; you have nothing to lose if it doesn't, so go ahead and try it!
More Homemaking Hacks To Try
TRIED THIS METHOD AND LOVED IT? 💛 Please leave a STAR rating and COMMENT below! Post it to Facebook or Pinterest to easily share with friends!
How To Remove Old Stains From Baby Clothes
Equipment
- large pot
Materials
- 2 scoops Oxiclean (about ¼ cup---scoop sizes vary)
- water
Instructions
- Fill a large stock pot halfway with water and bring to a boil. REMOVE FROM HEAT.
- SLOWLY pour ½ of a large scoop or 2 small scoops of Oxi Clean into the water (Scoop sizes vary, but about ¼ c. works great).
- Add stained clothing. Stir to make sure everything is soaked. Let soak for 10-15 minutes.
- Dump the entire pot (excess water and all) into the washing machine. Run a normal cycle in the washing machine with a bit of laundry detergent. Place in the dryer and dry as usual.
Kim Couch says
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!
Brandy says
Oh, I’m so glad!!
Eliza says
Would this get old baby food stains out?
Brandy says
It might. I’ve only it used it for bodily stains (spit up, diaper leaks etc.)
Alana says
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!
Jennifer says
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!
Brandy says
Glad it worked—-for almost everything!!
Wendy Costante says
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.
Brandy says
Oh, I’m so glad to hear this!
Emma says
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.
Brandy says
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.
Ellen Blaisdell says
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
Brandy says
Hi Ellen! Everything I’ve washed was onesies and basic baby clothes. Nothing of heirloom quality. I’m sorry I’m not more helpful!
Ellen Blaisdell says
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!
Brandy says
Awesome!! And thank you for coming back and updating us. This will help anyone else wondering about those types of items too!
Grace says
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!
Brandy says
I’m so glad!! I hate throwing out clothes so I’m so glad it worked for you too!
DJ says
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.
Brandy says
Hi! I've only ever used the powdered Oxiclean so I'm not sure if it would make a difference or not.
Katie Ryan says
Hi! Any idea how many newborn items can be put in the pot at the same time?
Brandy says
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.
Brooke says
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!
Brandy says
1/4 c. Total. Hope your results are as good as ours were! 🙂
Kim says
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.
Brandy says
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. 🙁
Jessica Henn says
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?
Brandy says
Hi Jessica! Most of what I washed were onesies (solid colors). I would imagine it would be ok, but haven't tested it.
Doris Risley says
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.
Brandy says
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.
Steph says
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.