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How do you get stains out of heirloom baby clothes. The stains are probably spit up and formula stains.?

My baby is due in June and last night I began going through my 13 year olds' baby clothes that were spotless when I put them away 13 years ago. Unfortunately, they are now full of stains that appear to be spitup and old formula stains. I need to get these stains out and the dry cleaners will cost a fortune. I have like 20 dresses. Any ideas?

Public Comments

1. They have those 'Dryel' "at home dry-cleaners" for sale in grocery stores etc. Those may work. You may also want to use a detergent that's safe on colours but has bleach in it and just let the clothes soak in it for a while before you hand wash them.
2. I know this method is used for Antique Tablecloths and napkins....it is a process.....Fill a large tub with warm water and set it in the sunshine....next you will need about 3-4 Fresh Lemons.....and you need to juice them add that to the water.....next you will soak the clothes in this for a couple of hours up to 24 hours....This isn't supposed to harm the fabric or discolor the fabrics. Check the clothes after a couple hours and see if the stains are gone....then wring them out rinse well and wash in the washer.....then dry as you normally would.... Should solve the problem. Below is a couple searches....some say don't do the lemon soak....some say use and enzyme type of cleaner like Biz....some say to use a Bissel Carpet Cleaner...let it dry and vacuum...so many ways to do one thing....
3. Denture cleaner works great for this sort of thing. In a dishpan, with warm to hot water (depending on the fabric) put 3-4 tablets of denture cleaner, let soak for about an hour, then wash and dry normally. You want to get the effervesent type of tablet. Good luck with the new baby!
4. My mom got them out just using Tide with bleach. (The formula not Tide and your own bleach) I liked Biz. I don't think anything on the market worked better than Biz just follow the directions.
5. I used Oxy-clean ( for laundry ) on my grandmothers 100 year old dress. I let it soak over night and them hand washed it . I couldn't wring the material because it was fragile. This might work on the dresses. Martha Stewart gave the hint out when doing old linen and table clothes.
6. I just used dishwashing detergent as an extended pre-soak.