Have you ever opened a tub of baby clothes that were clean when you put them away and are now covered with yellow or light brown stains?  It’s so heart breaking, but don’t even think about throwing them away.  For $1, and 24 hours you can remove all those stains and make the clothes as good as new.  You’ll definitely want to do this even if you are getting rid of them, as they will bring more money at a yard sale or be more useful to the friend you are passing them to.

You are going to need:

1 large bucket (3-5 gallons)

hot tap water

Oxyclean (I use the $1 brand Awesome Oxygen from Dollar Tree or Family Dollar)

Normal clothes detergent (I don’t recommend soap based or homemade for this–I used powered Arm and Hammer brand detergent)

Put 1/3 cup each of oxyclean and detergent in the bottom of  your bucket.  Fill under running tap with the hottest water you can get.  When the bucket is half full, start filling it with the stained clothes.  I use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke the clothes down into the water.  Add enough water that all the clothes are covered and let sit for 8-24 hours.  (Overnight is pefect.)

Pour the entire bucket into your washing machine and wash on a normal cycle.

Remove the wet clothes to a laundry basket and hang outside on a clothesline that gets direct sun.  If you don’t have a clothesline, you can lay them gently on the grass.  (Don’t rub them around or let the kids or pets run on them.  Once they are dry all the stains should be gone.  This removes protein based stains such as food, stool, saliva, milk etc.  It does not work on mustard, grease, or ink.

If you would like to soften the clothes, throw them in the dryer with a dryer ball for 5 minutes. Voila!