Laundry help - how to simplify, but still get stains out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Laundry that's stained gets tied in a knot before it goes in the hamper. When all the laundry gets sorted, the knotted stuff goes into a pile. Each week, I either do dark or light stained clothes (you do need to separate by color for this). Goes in a sink with the hottest possible tap water and a half a scoop of OxyClean powder. Let soak 4-10 hours (based on my own convenience/schedule). Then it goes right into the regular wash with regular detergent (we just use whatever is cheapest). This works on the vast majority of stuff. If it comes out stained after that, it goes in the garbage.

ONLY EXCEPTION: Blood. It's rare, but if you've got something stained with blood, it needs the same process but with COLD water (never use hot water with blood). So those get pulled out separately, but that's super rare - never happens to my husband, rarely to my kids (once ever? but none get their periods yet, they're still little) so it's usually my stuff from periods, even that is pretty rare, and honestly, I only bother if it's something I really like.

This is way too detailed for her au pair. She is trying to simplify her instructions. Everyone just use a shout stain stick on every stain before it goes in the laundry hamper. (I find the liquid stain spray can actually cause a stain on some fabrics if it's left too long.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do for wrecked underwear and poop stains?

Ugh! Do you have boys? Do I have this to look forward to? Does this get worse as they get older? But they can wash their own stuff by then, right? We are still in ES.

Just make sure they know how to wipe now while they are young and listen to you. My son rarely had skid marks past potty training age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop being ocd. Give the kids play clothes that can have stains. Teach your older kids to get out their own strains. Teach your younger kids to be neater.

:roll:

"Give them play clothes" but "teach them to be neater"

How about we let them be kids with the clothes they have but take care of them so clothes can be worn longer or passed on to other kids? There's nothing wrong with wanting to have stain-free clothes, which is both less wasteful and less costly in the long run. OP is working on "teaching older kids to get out their own stains," as referenced in the original post.

Simmer down, OP. You can give a kid 2-3 sets of play clothes, usually old clothes you’d probably give away, that you wear until they are so gross nobody would want them anyway. I’m sure Goodwill won’t miss a few used kids outfits. You simultaneously teach them to be neat in their regular clothes so you have less laundry. And your young kids can do that too, certainly you can teach them to use spray and wash or change clothes and put the dirty ones directly into the wash. That alone makes them more cognizant of the fact that they might get dirty and thus be more careful in their clothes.

[Anonymous]

Buy a bulk pack of oxy stain stick things. When something is stained, take it off and stain treat immediately, throw it in the washer. The longer it sits with it the better, so it's okay if laundry doesn't get washed for a couple days (admittedly, while I separate little kid clothes from adults to try to save them from shrinking in the dryer, I will wash anything together and do not separate for colors....most of our clothes are not white/light anyway come to think of it). I then use arm and hammer pods with oxy clean in it for adults, and still use dreft for baby stuff. The only thing that oxy stick has not worked on completely is yellow curry (though it will fade it greatly).

And make them eat topless, if this is a food problem and you're preparing something really messy and stain-y like spaghetti and tomato sauce, for example (or yellow curry!!)