How NOT to Get Out Stains & How TO Get Out Stains

Years ago, when my kids were young, I tried every conceivable method of removing stains that I could fathom. What usually worked for me was to take the item, place it in a sink with cold water, rub a bar of soap directly into the stain, and rub the soaped up item between my knuckles, repeating the process until the stain disappeared.

It didn't matter what type of bar soap I used; the method worked for almost every type of stain. Except one: baby formula. I breastfed my three youngest babies for the first eight months of their lives (doctor's orders and my desire – would have liked for it to have gone for a year, but that's another story), then fed them formula for the next four months.

Yes, my stain removal method worked for grass stains, for blood, for feces, and even for spaghetti sauce (sorry, didn't mean to put feces and spaghetti sauce in the same sentence – oops I did it twice). So when I discovered that baby formula didn't respond, I formulated another idea, which I KNEW would remove the stain – BLEACH!

I rubbed soap and bleach into the stain, washed it out and – nothing happened. I am not one to give up, though, and the baby formula stain was annoying me. It developed its own personality and taunted me relentlessly.

"I'LL SHOW YOU, YOU MISERABLE STAIN!" I shouted at it. "I'LL DROWN YOU IN BLEACH!"

And so I did. I once again rubbed soap into the stain, scrubbed so hard I thought my knuckles would grow another set of knuckles, and placed the offending stain into a bowl filled with bleach.

Do you know what happens to cotton fabric when it's been left in a bowl of bleach overnight? It disintegrates.

I WON! I got rid of the stain! Of course the tiny t-shirt was only strands of fabric, but I WON! I removed the stain FOREVER!

I could end this blog there, but how irresponsible of me would it be if I didn't direct you toward an article about how to actually remove stains? Please read Janet Hunt's, Laundry Stain Removal Tips by clicking the link. At the end of her article, Janet refers you to list of various types of stains and their removal process (it even includes treatment for baby formula).

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