Mama Gone Green is a blog dedicated to raising happy children and reducing our impact on the Earth. My name is Taryn and I am the mother of 2 young kids and an environmental studies instructor at a community college in Portland, Oregon. Please join me as I journey through life as a mama, teacher, knitter, photographer, gardener, and environmentalist!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Baby Poop Stains and How to Get Rid of 'Em

Anyone whose ever dealt with children in diapers knows what a blowout is, and most of you have probably said farewell to a cute onesie or pair of pants that had the dreaded yellow poop stain...
As an environmental advocate, I hate to see clothes get discarded because of stains, but those tell-tale poop stains are just, well, gross. I also refuse to launder my kiddos clothes with anything that could be toxic to them or to the environment. So, this time around, with Phoebe, I have been experimenting with different environmentally-friendly ways to get those poop stains out. I have found one method that has worked miracles, and I will share it with you now...
First thing is to get the stain wet (cold water please) as SOON AS POSSIBLE after the explosion happens. The longer it sits, the less chance there will be of getting it out. Now I do what I call my pre-treat. I use an old yogurt container and fill it with about 2 Tbl hydrogen peroxide and a scoop (1 Tbl) of laundry soap. I use laundry soap, and not detergent. Laundry soap is supposedly better at getting out protein (read: poop) stains. For my homemade laundry soap recipe click here. Then I place the stained garment in the yogurt container and fill with cold water making sure the garment is submerged. Then I let it sit until I do a load of laundry and dump the entire contents of the container into the machine. It has gotten the stains out every single time (so far)! If a blowout happens right before I am about to do a load of laundry, I just rinse the garment, pour hydrogen peroxide onto the stained area, and wash with laundry soap. Now for the proof.....
Before
After
P.S.- Phoebe is currently only enjoying breastmilk. I have no idea how this plan would work for formula fed babies or babies that eat solids. I guess I will find out in a few month when she starts eating solid foods!
How do you get out baby poop stains? I would love to hear other ideas, tips, or magical cures. Especially if anyone has a remedy for stains that have been dryer set.... I have quite a few old things of Finn's that I would love to make wearable again.. Pin It Now!

3 comments:

  1. Looks like it works great! With Sophie(my blowout babe, who had a few go to the back of her neck!) we just used powdered washing machine soap and it worked like a charm. But not earth friendly.

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  2. Thanks for this Taryn! I tried using Fels Naptha, which worked, but had the most intense chemical-y smell and I have no idea what its ingredients are. I'll be sure to give your pre-treat a try!

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  3. Hang them in the sun for a few days. I was really sceptical, but it totally works!

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