My baby started eating food and his clothes have some food stains, how do I remove them?

Baby food stains really benefit from pre-treating, but first be sure to scrape away excess stain (think pureed vegetable globs like sweet potatoes), and then rinse the stain with a little cool water. Be careful not to rub the stain further into the fabric. I am sure you have both white and colored items to clean, so here are some good techniques for both:

If the item is white:

• Rub stain gently with Clorox^® Bleach Pen^® Gel immediately before laundering.


• Wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach.

If the item is colored (or made from a fiber on the do not bleach list):

• Apply Clorox2^® Stain Fighter & Color Booster directly to the stain, and rub in.


• Wait 3-5 minutes, but don’t let it dry on the fabric.

Wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and Clorox2^®.

After washing, air dry the items and check for success. This is a general technique that I always advise. Stubborn stains that are partially removed can often be treated again, and you increase your chance of eventual success if you don’t heat-set any residual stain in a hot dryer.

I put straight Clorox^® Regular-Bleach on white jeans and now I have a yellow stain.  How do I remove the bleach stain?

No matter what you are using bleach for, it should always be diluted and never used directly on a surface or fabric. Unfortunately you have first-hand experience with why we never recommend treating fabric with undiluted bleach. I wish I had better news, but instead of the yellow being a “stain” that can be removed, it is a permanent shift in the color of the white fabric (sort of the reverse of when undiluted bleach leaves a light spot on a colored item) and cannot be reversed.

Next time, be sure to wash the fabric in your washer with detergent and 3/4 cup bleach. You can also try soaking in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach added to 1 gallon cool water for up to 5 minutes, then rinse the slacks thoroughly. Air dry and check for success

On Monday, I gave some tips on how to store your summer apparel to ensure they are ready to wear next Memorial Day. Today, I wanted to provide some extra tips on how to best whiten a pair of white pants or denim. After three months of use, this popular style may have started to look a bit less crisp than at the start of summer. With some quick care tips, you can change this so they are ready for next year!

First, one final wash before storage is always a good idea—be sure to pretreat any stains before washing so you don’t have surprises next spring! Start by checking the label to see if an item includes any spandex. 100% cotton items and polyester-cotton blends can be pretreated with Clorox^® Bleach Pen Gel—rub a little of the gel into the stain with the soft scrubber tip and then wash the item immediately in hot water using detergent and ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach. For white cotton and polyester-cotton blend items that also include spandex, you can pretreat stains with Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster:  apply a little directly to the stain and rub in. Wait 5-10 minutes (set a timer—never leave full strength Clorox2^® on fabric for longer than the recommended time, and never let it dry out on fabric!) and then wash in hot water using detergent and additional Clorox2^®. Air dry any items that had stains that you pretreated. Now you are ready to pack them away!

With summer coming to a close, not only is it time to put away your summer whites, it’s also back to school season! During the next few weeks, we will feature some tips on how to best prepare for the end of summer and some of those pesky back-to-school stains. If you have any school stains you would like to see covered, be sure to leave a comment or submit the stain in the “Ask Dr. Laundry” box.

To start, I wanted to feature some tips on the best ways to store summer apparel to ensure items are fresh and ready-to-wear for the next spring/summer season!

• Be sure items are thoroughly dry when you pack them away. This is critical because any moisture trapped in clothing can allow mildew to develop during storage. Be diligent and check parts of garments that take longer to dry, like the inside hood of a sweatshirt.


• Ideally, hang items for storage in garment bags. This will protect them from collecting dust, and limit wrinkles.


• If you will be using storage bins, choose containers with tight fitting lids to keep dust out. Pack items loosely to reduce the need to steam away wrinkles next summer.


• Generally, cotton and linen fabrics (as well as silk and synthetics) are naturally resistant to moths.  You can still add a few cedar drawer liners to your garment bag or storage bin to add a nice scent to your stored clothes.

What do you do before putting away your summer clothes?

How do you remove baby food stains from baby clothes?

Baby food stains really benefit from pre-treating, but first be sure to scrape away excess stain (think pureed vegetable globs like sweet potatoes), and then rinse the stain with a little cool water. Be careful not to rub the stain further into the fabric. I am sure you have both white and colored items to clean, so here are some good techniques for both:

If the item is white:

• Rub stain gently with Clorox^® Bleach Pen^® Gel immediately before laundering.


• Wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach.

If the item is colored (or made from a fiber on the do not bleach list):

• Apply Clorox2^® directly to the stain, and rub in.


• Wait 3-5 minutes, but don’t let it dry on the fabric.


• Wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and Clorox2^®.

After washing, air dry the items and check for success.  This is a general technique that I always advise. Stubborn stains that are partially removed can often be treated again, and you increase your chance of eventual success if you don’t heat-set any residual stain in a hot dryer.

What is the best way to remove stains from a colored football jersey?

It is almost football season and this is a very common problem thanks to two-a-days and preseason games! Treatment really depends on the fiber composition. Dyed cottons are much more prone to bleeding/dye transfer and should always be washed separately according to the garment’s care label (usually in cool water). This makes it much more difficult to get really clean, however. So, scanning items for stains/spots and pretreating before washing is a must for any colored item. For colored synthetics (polyester/nylon), you usually have more flexibility as the dyes are more "permanent" and can take more aggressive treatment and washing. Use the warmest wash recommended on the care label (the hotter the water the better the cleaning/stain removal), the recommended amount of detergent and consider adding the appropriate bleach. A lot of these items can be bleached. To find out which items can safely be bleached, I recommend consumers do the quick Bleachability Test (2 tsp Clorox^® Regular-Bleach in 1/4 cup water; apply a drop on a hidden colored area like inside seam, hemline or cuff; wait 1 minute and then blot with towel). No color change means it is safe to use bleach on the item. Any color change could also show you the amount of change in color that likely will occur if you proceed with the liquid bleach usage. If you can't bleach the items, wash in the hottest water recommended on the care labels using detergent and an oxygen bleach like our Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster, or even a short 1/2 hour presoak in the oxygen bleach before the wash. Check for success before drying. It might require multiple treatments to get the desired result.

How can I remove a sunscreen stain from red and navy cotton t-shirts that remained after washing?

During summer, this is a very common stain! I suspect the oily part of the sunblock formula is what remains on your shirts, and you should be able to get this out as long as the shirts have been kept out of the dryer. Try applying a little liquid dishwashing detergent directly to the stains, and gently rub it in. Wait 5 – 10 minutes (but don’t let it dry on the fabric!) and then wash the shirts in hot water and a good detergent. Air dry the shirts and check for success—this is important to not heat-set stubborn oily stains that would come out all the way with an additional treatment. Also, air drying will help preserve the color of your dark t-shirts.

What is the best way to remove spaghetti sauce splatter from a natural, white cotton knit shirt?

Spaghetti sauce recipes can vary, but usually the stain is a combination of both oil and tomato solids. If you treat the oily part first, your chances of success go way up. Start by applying a little liquid laundry detergent or liquid dishwashing detergent directly to the stain. Gently rub it in and wait 5 minutes – this helps solubilize the oil. Rinse the treated area, and then pre-treat any stain remaining a second time to get rid of the colored part of the stain. How you do this depends on the color and fiber content of the item you are washing.

For items that are white (and don’t contain any wool, silk, spandex, mohair, or leather), apply a little Clorox^® Bleach Pen Gel directly to the stain. Wash immediately in the warmest water recommended on the garment care label with detergent + ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach. Air dry the item to check for success – you want to avoid heat setting the stain in a hot dryer. Repeat the above steps if you don’t quite get all the stain out.

For items that are colored (or have fibers that shouldn’t be bleached, per above), apply a little liquid Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster directly to the stain.  Rub in and wait 3-5 minutes, but don’t let it dry on the fabric, then proceed to wash in the warmest water recommended on the garment care label with detergent + more Clorox2^®. Air dry and check for success – retreat if any stain remains.

What is the best way to remove yellow printer ink from blue jeans?

Ink is an extremely difficult stain to remove given how concentrated printer ink is--but it's still worth giving a little hand sanitizer a try to break up the stain so it will be easier to get it out. Also, a lot of denim can be safely laundered with Clorox^® Regular-Bleach and not lose much color. If the jeans are no longer wearable anyways, it cannot hurt to try! Here's how to proceed:

1. Apply alcohol-based hand sanitizer to the stain and let it soak in for a few minutes.

2. Wash in the hottest water allowed (check the care label) with detergent and ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach.

3. Allow the shirt to air dry and check for success.

The biggest problem with a stain like this is that the ink is super concentrated and may require multiple treatments to get the stain out. Therefore, it’s really important to air dry the blue jeans following any repeated washing until the stain is gone. Also, you will know pretty quickly if the hand sanitizer is effective on printer ink, and if not, maybe you have a new pair of pants for painting and yard work.

How can you remove a red Popsicle stain out of a swimsuit?

With sweltering heat all over the country right now, it is hard to resist a popsicle! Red stains can be particularly difficult to remove, but I would try the following:

1. Apply liquid Clorox2^® Stain Fighter and Color Booster directly to the stain, and rub it in.


2. Wait 3 - 5 minutes -- don't let it dry on the fabric!


3. Wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent + more Clorox2^®.

You could also try a Clorox2^® pre-soak (if there are two pieces soak them together) using a capful of Clorox2^® added to 2 gallons of warm water. Allow the item to soak for 30 minutes, then wash as directed above.