A guide for parents
How to get stains out of baby clothes
There are two sorts of baby stain and they need opposite things. Three rules that beat anything you can buy, and the three that are never coming back.
What's in here
- The two sorts of baby stain, and what each one needs
- Every common baby stain, and how to shift it
- What to do in the first minute
- How to get out old, dried-in stains
- Oxygen bleach, since nobody ever explains it
- How to stop the stains happening
- Three stains you will not save
- Why getting a stain out is worth ten minutes
Here's the thing I wish someone had told me before I ruined about six sleepsuits: baby stains come in two sorts, and they need completely opposite things.
There's the milk, sick and nappy sort. All the stuff that comes out of them. These are protein stains, and hot water is the worst thing you can do to them.
And there's the food sort. Carrot, sweet potato, berries, all the orange and purple. These are pigment stains, which is just a fancy way of saying they're colour, and they need something completely different.
Once you can tell which you've got, you know what to do. No special sprays, no scrubbing at midnight, no crying over a ruined babygro.
The two sorts of baby stain, and what each one needs
The milk and nappy sort want cold water
Milk, formula, sick, nappy leaks, blood. Every instinct says blast it with the hottest tap you've got, and every instinct is wrong! These are protein, and heat actually cooks the protein into the fabric, same as an egg going solid in a pan. Cold water pushes it back out instead.
Rinse from the back of the fabric so it goes out the way it came in, then wash cool.
The food sort wants daylight
Carrot, sweet potato, berries, beetroot, tomato. Nothing to cook in here, it's just colour sitting in the fabric, and a normal wash rarely shifts the last of it.
What does is UV. Wash it, then lay it out damp in the daylight and let the sun break the colour apart.
And one rule for both
Nothing goes in the tumble dryer while you can still see a mark. The heat sets it permanently and that's the end of that sleepsuit.
If it comes out of the wash with a shadow on it, wash it again or hang it out. Anything but the dryer.
Those three will save you more clothes than a whole cupboard of sprays, and they cost nothing.
More on the daylight one, because it's my favourite
I did not believe this until I tried it. Stained white vest on the line, came back a few hours later, and it had just gone. Free!
Direct sun is quickest but a grey afternoon does it too, because it's the UV doing the work rather than the warmth. No garden? A sunny windowsill still works.
It works on protein stains too, by the way, for the yellow shadow that's left after washing. Nobody tells you this one and it's the one that gets back the thing you'd already given up on.
Every common baby stain, and how to shift it
| Stain | What to do |
|---|---|
| Milk, formula, sick | Cold rinse from the back. Cool wash. Out in the daylight. |
| Nappy leaks | Scrape off what you can, cold rinse, normal wash. Sun sorts the yellow. |
| Weaning food | Cold rinse, rub in washing-up liquid, leave half an hour, rinse, wash. |
| Berries, beetroot, tomato | Cold rinse straight away. Lemon juice on the mark, then out in the light. |
| Grease | Bury it in bicarb or cornflour, 15 minutes, brush off, wash. |
| Blood | Cold only, always. Hot sets it on the spot. |
| No idea what that even is | Cold soak, washing-up liquid, wash, daylight. Covers most mysteries. |
What to do in the first minute
Get the solid bits off first, back of a knife or a spoon. And don't rub it, however much your hands want to. Rubbing just works it deeper in.
Rinse it from the back. Hold it wrong side up under the cold tap so the water pushes the stain back out the way it came, rather than dragging it all the way through.
Haven't got time right now? Bowl of cold water, in it goes, deal with it tomorrow. Buys you a whole day and saves you twice the work.
How to get out old, dried-in stains
Do not write these off! Most of them come back, they just need a bit longer.
Soak in cold water for a few hours, or overnight if you can, then start again as though it had just happened. Washing-up liquid rubbed in, half an hour, rinse, wash.
Still there? Oxygen bleach next, then out in the daylight. Between the two of them you'll get most things.
Oxygen bleach, since nobody ever explains it
It sounds like something you'd need goggles and a plan for. It's the white powder in the stain remover tub.
Vanish Oxi Action, Napisan, or whatever the supermarket calls its own version. The stuff inside is sodium percarbonate, which is basically washing soda with oxygen bolted on.
Drop it in water and it lets the oxygen go, and that oxygen breaks apart whatever is making your stain a colour. You're not scrubbing the mark out at all. You're taking it to bits until there's nothing left to look at.
And here's the bit that matters: it's not the same as bleach. Chlorine takes the colour out of everything it touches, your sleepsuit right along with the stain, and leaves a residue you'd rather wasn't sitting against your baby. This one goes for the stain and leaves the fabric alone. Fine on colours, and it breaks down into soda, water and oxygen.
How you actually use it: a scoop in a sink of warm water, stir till it dissolves, garment in for an hour. Overnight if it's really had it. Then wash as normal.
Two little things. It wants warm water to get going, so this is the one time you ignore everything I said about cold. That's fine, because the stain's already set and you're taking it apart rather than trying to stop it sticking. And keep it off wool and silk, though I've yet to meet a woollen babygro.
Buy the cheap one
You can get plain sodium percarbonate in a big bag for a fraction of what the branded tubs cost, and it is the exact same stuff. Definitely worth it once weaning starts, because you will get through it.
How to stop the stains happening
Not nearly as satisfying as rescuing something. Saves loads more clothes though.
Muslin over your shoulder, every time. Catches what would otherwise go down the back of both of you.
Long-sleeved bibs the second weaning starts. The little ones catch what falls straight down. Nothing falls straight down! You want sleeves, and one of those pockets at the bottom to catch the rest.
Vest under the sleepsuit. The outer layer takes the hit and the vest usually comes out perfectly fine. That's half the reason they wear both.
And go up a nappy size at night. It's not that they don't fit, it's that they're full, and nappy leaks wreck more sleepsuits than everything else put together.
Three stains you will not save
Everything above works on nearly everything. These three are the exceptions, so don't waste a Sunday on them.
Old grease that's been through a hot wash. The heat got there first.
Anything you've ironed over. Sealed in, that one.
Sun cream on white. The bit that protects their skin reacts with the minerals in your water and goes bright orange. Genuinely one of the hardest. Not worth the afternoon.
When something genuinely is beyond saving, pop it in a textile recycling bank rather than the bin. Here are all the options for outgrown clothes. Charity shops can't sell a stained babygro, and it actually costs them money to get rid of it.
Why getting a stain out is worth ten minutes
Because a stain is the difference between something that goes on to another baby and something that goes in a bin bag.
Four in five children's clothes get replaced because they've been grown out of, not because they're worn out. So nearly everything that leaves your house has years left in it! The only ones that don't make it are the ones with a mark on, and that's not because they're finished, it's just that nobody wants to be handed them.
Which means that sleepsuit you save on a Tuesday night isn't only yours for another couple of months. It's the one that ends up on somebody else's baby after that. Ten minutes and a bowl of cold water, and it gets a whole second life.
I did not believe the sun thing for ages. Then I left a stained white vest on the line and came back to find it had just gone.
🌱 Which is exactly what we do with the rest of it
Swapaboo is a clothes swap. You take a photo of whatever they've grown out of, we check and value each piece, and that turns into credits you spend on the next size up from another family.
Everything gets checked before it goes on, and a mark is the main reason something gets graded down or turned away. Which is precisely why the ten minutes with a bowl of cold water is worth it. The clothes themselves cost nothing, and the only money that changes hands is the delivery or collection, from £1.99.
We're opening a few families at a time and it's invitation only just now.
Common questions
How do you get stains out of baby clothes?
Rinse in cold water from the back of the fabric as soon as you can, rub in a bit of washing-up liquid and leave it half an hour, then wash cool. If there is still a shadow, dry it out in the daylight, because UV bleaches organic stains out. Never use hot water on milk, formula or nappy stains, and never tumble dry a stain you can still see.
Does sunlight really get stains out of baby clothes?
Yes, and it is one of the most effective things you can do. Lay the garment out damp in daylight after washing and the UV bleaches out the yellow that is left, especially on white and pale fabrics. It works on an overcast day too, since it is the UV rather than the warmth doing the job, though direct sun is quicker.
Why can't you use hot water on baby stains?
Milk, formula, egg and poo are protein-based, and hot water cooks the protein into the fabric, which sets the stain. Cold water pushes it out instead. The same goes for the tumble dryer: the heat sets anything still showing, so wash it again or hang it out rather than drying it.
How do you get old dried-in stains out of baby clothes?
Soak in cold water for a few hours or overnight, then treat it as if it were fresh: washing-up liquid rubbed in, half an hour, rinse, wash. An oxygen bleach soak is the next thing to try, and daylight afterwards will fade most of what survives.
What is oxygen bleach?
It is the white powder sold as a stain remover rather than a bleach, such as Vanish Oxi Action or Napisan. The active ingredient is sodium percarbonate, which releases oxygen in water and breaks apart whatever is making the stain coloured. Unlike chlorine bleach it goes for the stain rather than the fabric, so it is safe on colours, and it breaks down into soda, water and oxygen.
Is oxygen bleach safe for baby clothes?
Yes, and it is the gentler option. It leaves no chlorine residue on fabric that sits against a baby's skin, and it does not strip the colour out of the garment. Dissolve a scoop in warm water, soak for an hour or overnight, then wash as normal. Avoid it on wool and silk.
Can stained baby clothes still be passed on?
A visible mark is the main reason something gets thrown away rather than passed on, which is why it is worth ten minutes. Most children's clothes are outgrown rather than worn out and have years of use left, so a stain removed is usually a garment that goes on to another child.