As I mentioned in a previous post, I make my own stain removal liquid using peroxide, baking soda, and liquid dish soap. This started because I was at wit's end trying to figure out how to get yellow stains out of the armpits of someone's white t-shirts. My usual methods, including bleach, weren't working. This might sound silly, but letting him leave the house in those shirts made me feel like I was advertising my laundry failure.
I'm sure there are things I could buy in the laundry isle at the grocery store that would solve this problem, but I'll do almost anything to avoid adding more bottles of mystery liquid to my grocery list or cabinets. If I can use things I already have for new purposes, I call it a win.
I came across a recipe specifically intended to help get armpit stains out. It suggested peroxide and liquid dish soap. Ideally, I would make my own liquid dish soap, that way I could know exactly what's in this stuff. I'm not that self-sufficient yet. I do have a recipe for dish soap, I just haven't convinced myself to try it yet. You don't have to make your own, either. Dawn works. The off-brand stuff I buy works just as well.
Anyway, I also added baking soda to create a thicker, more abrasive solution. I can't tell you exactly how much. I didn't measure.
What You Need:
Mix Ingredients: The first time I did this, I made only a small amount and planned to use all of it on one load of discolored t-shirts. I wasn't sure if it would maintain potency for a whole week or more. It does. I now make it by the jar. I reuse glass Alfredo sauce jars, specifically. I have a lot of jars in my pantry, and I need to use them for something.
Apply To Stains: Start with a dry t-shirt. It's okay if you've washed and dried it since it got the stains. Believe me, I washed and dried the offending t-shirts at least half a dozen times with increasing levels of belligerence before I finally found this recipe. Thoroughly saturate the problem areas with the solution. I used a clean toothbrush (that I don't use for brushing teeth) to agitate it and make sure the stain remover made it all the way through the fabric.
Let Stand: I applied the stain remover in the morning, when I started my first load of laundry, then let it sit until I was ready to run the last load. That translates to at least a few hours, but doesn't seem as long because the rest of the white load is also waiting to be washed that whole time so it's not really an inconvenience. Because I'm maybe a little obsessive or easily bored, I stopped by to scrub them a bit more every now and then. I don't think that's necessary. I just really hate pit stains.
Wash: Wash as you normally would. This stuff works on more than just yellowed pits on white t-shirts. You can use it on colors, too. I don't know how he gets pit stains in olive green shirts... but this stuff gets those out as well as the taco/spaghetti/hot wing sauce he inevitably gets on his light-colored shirts. And when one of the kids woke up with a nose bleed, it got that out of her polka dot sheets (it just took a little more time and effort).
I'm sure there are things I could buy in the laundry isle at the grocery store that would solve this problem, but I'll do almost anything to avoid adding more bottles of mystery liquid to my grocery list or cabinets. If I can use things I already have for new purposes, I call it a win.
I came across a recipe specifically intended to help get armpit stains out. It suggested peroxide and liquid dish soap. Ideally, I would make my own liquid dish soap, that way I could know exactly what's in this stuff. I'm not that self-sufficient yet. I do have a recipe for dish soap, I just haven't convinced myself to try it yet. You don't have to make your own, either. Dawn works. The off-brand stuff I buy works just as well.
Anyway, I also added baking soda to create a thicker, more abrasive solution. I can't tell you exactly how much. I didn't measure.
What You Need:
- one part liquid dish soap
- two parts peroxide
- some baking soda
Mix Ingredients: The first time I did this, I made only a small amount and planned to use all of it on one load of discolored t-shirts. I wasn't sure if it would maintain potency for a whole week or more. It does. I now make it by the jar. I reuse glass Alfredo sauce jars, specifically. I have a lot of jars in my pantry, and I need to use them for something.
Apply To Stains: Start with a dry t-shirt. It's okay if you've washed and dried it since it got the stains. Believe me, I washed and dried the offending t-shirts at least half a dozen times with increasing levels of belligerence before I finally found this recipe. Thoroughly saturate the problem areas with the solution. I used a clean toothbrush (that I don't use for brushing teeth) to agitate it and make sure the stain remover made it all the way through the fabric.
Let Stand: I applied the stain remover in the morning, when I started my first load of laundry, then let it sit until I was ready to run the last load. That translates to at least a few hours, but doesn't seem as long because the rest of the white load is also waiting to be washed that whole time so it's not really an inconvenience. Because I'm maybe a little obsessive or easily bored, I stopped by to scrub them a bit more every now and then. I don't think that's necessary. I just really hate pit stains.
Wash: Wash as you normally would. This stuff works on more than just yellowed pits on white t-shirts. You can use it on colors, too. I don't know how he gets pit stains in olive green shirts... but this stuff gets those out as well as the taco/spaghetti/hot wing sauce he inevitably gets on his light-colored shirts. And when one of the kids woke up with a nose bleed, it got that out of her polka dot sheets (it just took a little more time and effort).
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