A Parent's Guide to Spot and Stain Removal

As children explore they tend to get dirty and there is no telling what a child will decide to get into. This helpful guide will make some of those more stubborn stains a little less sturbborn and a little more gone.

Blood Spots: Rinse in cool water, if spot still remains, douse fabrics that can be bleached with hydrogen peroxideor use diluted ammonia on all fabrics.

Perspiration Stains: Rub stained areas with white vinegar before laundering.

Fruit and Vegetable Stains: Stretch fabric tight and pour hot or boiling water slowly over the stain so the water runs through the fabric.

Grass Stains: Apply rubbing alcohol liberally to stained areas before laundering.

Grease or Oil Marks: Gently run in talcum powder, cornmeal or cornstarch. Let set, then brush or sponge powder away or use commercial products and launder as directed.

Vegetable Oil: Rub a liquid dish soap on the spot, let set for at least 15 mintues then launder as usual.

Gum: In hair, work in a vegetable oil based cream until gum is loosened. On fabric, run area with ice until gum hardens and most of it can be removed with the edge of a dull butter or table knife. Then place waxed paper over excess gum and iron lighlty over paper.

Mustard Stains: Soak stained area with diluted ammonia before laundering.

Urine: Dampen area with equal parts of white vinegar and water, then blot dry.

Make-up or Rust Stains: Rub with lemon juice and salt, then rinse thoroughly with water. Do not use chlorine bleach.

Soft Drink Spills: Liberally apply club soda to staim, then sponge up with an absorbent cloth. On smooth surfaces, wipe clean with a paste made of baking soda and water, or salt and white vinegar.

Mildew: Scrub walls and floors with a brush dipped in Borax powder and water. Dust mildewed books or papers with talcum powder, cornmeal or cornstarch, let set for 2 days then brush the powder off. For fabric use diluted bleach.

Stickers: Remove stickers from clothing before washing. To remove stickers from smooth items, saturate the area with vegetable or baby oil before removing.

Carpet Stains: Liberally apply club soda and blot dry with an abosrbent cloth. Remove stains as quickly as possible to prevent setting.

Dirty Vinyl: Sponge down with equal parts of rubbing alcohol and water, or use commercial products designed to clean vinyl.

Stuffed Animals: Gently run in talcum powder, cornmeal or cornstarch, let set for a few hours then brush the powder away.

Wax in Carpet: Place a brown paper bag over the wax and iron over the paper.

Formula Stains: If a baby drinks formula and they spit up or spill on thier clothes often the stain is not visible until its gone through the wash. The hard water reacts with the iron in the formula and makes rust-colored stains. Before laundering soak all of a baby's clothes in Borax that has been dissolved in water.

Other tips:

Make sure to empty all pockets of clothing before washing.

Make sure there are no foreign objects in the dryer. A misplaced crayon or lipstick will make for a lot of laundry stains.

Keep all cleaning chemicals and other chemicals in locked cabinets and out of a child's reach.

Follow all instructions on clothing care lables and stain-removing product labels.

Have patience; it takes a little extra time and effort to remove some stains.