REALLY dirty clothes----I need your best laundry hints

[Ottakee]

I have an LG front loader set with many settings but I still need laundry help.

As per my previous post on dressing kids for dirt/farm life, I have girls that get VERY VERY dirty and seem to stain up just about everything.

What is the best laundry soap, pre-wash, soaking solution, etc. for stains? We have very dirty sand here along with dirt/manure from the barn, mess from the chickens, etc. to deal with. They love to add water to the entire mess frequently as well.

They do have barn/outside clothes but I hate that those are so stained up after one wearing. Then they will also sneak out in their "good" clothes and get those dirty as well.

So, what are your best laundry hints?

[Kristine out of lurking]

I've never used it for regular laundry, but for things that don't come out otherwise: melted crayon dye, black grease, etc.

I run the washer on the hottest temp, add Cascade dishwasher soap and let it agitate to dissolve. I add **color safe** bleach and then the clothes and let them soak. It's never ruined anything, but it's saved a LOT of stuff. (Regular bleach would probably cause some horrible chemical reaction and blow up or something awful!)

[3lilreds in NC]

Oxyclean is miraculous. The hotter the water, the better, but if you read the directions and pre-soak, it's incredible what you can get out. Even up north with my parents' funky water, Oxiclean got pretty much everything out.

[Hikin' Mama]

I have an old laundry soap bucket that I fill with hot water, a little laundry soap, and some laundry booster (I use something Arm and Hammer). I spray the stains with Spray and Wash and let them sit a couple minutes. Then I soak the clothing in the bucket for maybe 24 hours before I wash it.

This usually works best if you get the stains the same day they happen.

Good luck!

[Ottakee]

Thanks. I might have to get a bucket/tub for soaking things as you can't really soak things in a front loader.

Any other hints before I go shopping for laundry stuff?

[ChrisN in NY]

Thanks. I might have to get a bucket/tub for soaking things as you can't really soak things in a front loader.

Any other hints before I go shopping for laundry stuff?


I have "kind of" soaked things in my front loader.

My kids show dairy cows and have to wear "whites" (jeans & shirt) for the shows. Those clothes get so dirty, cows being what they are....

I washed them normally, but stains on the jeans were still pretty bad and the shirts looked more gray than white.

So I put a scoopful of Oxiclean in the detergent dispenser and set the machine to wash "whites". After 10 minutes I stopped the machine, then started it back up an hour or so later.

The clothes looked marvelous! Nice, clean, and white!

I've done this one other time, and left the clothes to sit in the machine overnight. They came out just a nice when I finished the load the next morning.

HTH!

[melissel]

I've never used it for regular laundry, but for things that don't come out otherwise: melted crayon dye, black grease, etc.

I run the washer on the hottest temp, add Cascade dishwasher soap and let it agitate to dissolve. I add **color safe** bleach and then the clothes and let them soak. It's never ruined anything, but it's saved a LOT of stuff. (Regular bleach would probably cause some horrible chemical reaction and blow up or something awful!)

Hey, did you see that in the Tightwad Gazette or come up with it on your own? It's a lot like her stain removal treatment!

I've been using this formula for years:

1 cup of powdered Cascade dishwasher detergent (regular kind, I use 1.5 cups)
1 cup of Clorox 2 color-safe liquid bleach (regular kind, I use 1.5 cups)
5 gallons of the hottest water you can manage (I know someone who actually adds boiling water as part of this)

Mix well in a bucket and add your clothes. Soak for at least 24 hours (I usually leave it for longer, but most of the stains I'm aiming for are out within the 24 hours). It's also important to use the brand-name items. Off brands do not work nearly as well (I tried).

In my experience, doing this in a bucket produces better results, because the water stays hot longer. When I tried doing this in my washer (the bucket was in use as a diaper pail :lol:), the heat was lost much more quickly. I also only do a full load at a time, because smaller loads also lose their heat quickly, and the stains don't come as well.

Typically, the color-safe bleach protects the colors, but I have had some very PINK pink items bleed out onto the other clothes, and I had a problem with a black item I put in that bled out color horribly and grayed out all the rest of the items. Other than that, I generally don't have a problem mixing colored and white items.

For me, this treatment hasn't worked on coffee or rust stains, and unfortunately, it's hit or miss on mud/dirt stains--but I tend to forget to pretreat, so our items often sit for awhile before I get to them. It's great for food stains, blood, baby stains, and lots more. This stain treatment has even gotten out baby stains on 10-year-old clothes my aunt sent me, and is great for brightening up towels, sheets, etc.

HTH! I'm actually mixing up a batch later today--I'm down to one unstained T-shirt :glare:

[melissel]

I have "kind of" soaked things in my front loader.

My kids show dairy cows and have to wear "whites" (jeans & shirt) for the shows. Those clothes get so dirty, cows being what they are....

I washed them normally, but stains on the jeans were still pretty bad and the shirts looked more gray than white.

So I put a scoopful of Oxiclean in the detergent dispenser and set the machine to wash "whites". After 10 minutes I stopped the machine, then started it back up an hour or so later.

The clothes looked marvelous! Nice, clean, and white!

I've done this one other time, and left the clothes to sit in the machine overnight. They came out just a nice when I finished the load the next morning.

HTH!

I've soaked with Oxiclean and it's great for whites, but faded my colors noticeably. I use it for my everyday wash though, because we use natural detergents with no optical brighteners etc. Love that stuff.

[kalanamak]

and some laundry booster (I use something Arm and Hammer).

Where do you get this...it is the natron I'm looking for making mummies. No one has it locally anymore.

[Kristine out of lurking]

Hey, did you see that in the Tightwad Gazette or come up with it on your own? It's a lot like her stain removal treatment!


No, lol, but that's funny! I know she's been around for awhile, but I've been doing this since at least 1991...which makes me think maybe I should try something new!

This is not helpful to the OP, but I've lately been keeping watered down Dawn dish soap in my laundry room, using it instead of Spray'n'Wash. I love Dawn!

[Dana in OR]

I have an LG front loader set with many settings but I still need laundry help.

As per my previous post on dressing kids for dirt/farm life, I have girls that get VERY VERY dirty and seem to stain up just about everything.

What is the best laundry soap, pre-wash, soaking solution, etc. for stains? We have very dirty sand here along with dirt/manure from the barn, mess from the chickens, etc. to deal with. They love to add water to the entire mess frequently as well.

They do have barn/outside clothes but I hate that those are so stained up after one wearing. Then they will also sneak out in their "good" clothes and get those dirty as well.

So, what are your best laundry hints?

I recently dealt with red wine spills on my oatmeal colored sofa slipcover -- I thought all was lost so I went ahead and tried this remedy. I mixed a half/half mixture of hydrogen peroxide and dawn dish soap. Apply to stain and then soak in water with a few oz of this added. I used our utility sink. Then, wash as usual.

I use Tide, fabric softener, and clorox bleach (only if white whites) in my front loader.

Well, the red wine stains came out - completely. So, I am extrapolating but I think this method would work on other stains.

At any rate, it's worth a try because the clothes are almost a lost cause, eh?
(We're country people too... dirt, dirt, and more dirt....)

~Dana