Helpful Tips Cleaning/Preparing

All-Purpose Stain Remover

Combine 1/2 Cup clorox color safe bleach crystals and 1/2 Cup Cascade Dishwashing Crystals and dissolve in hot water. Soak your items in the "potion" overnight, then rinse well and wash as normal. If you see spots after washing & before drying, repeat the process. (NEVER dry a stain, you'll "bake it in!")

Armpit Stains

Mix equal parts lemon juice & water. Apply to stain and put in the sun for a little "solar-bleaching"

Baby Poo

The consensus of most mamas: WASH IT IMMEDIATELY!
My favorite tip: Get the er, solids off first and then use hydrogen peroxide on the stain. Soak for a bit, then place in the sun for some eco-friendly / natural bleaching!

Grass Stains

Rub white vinegar and baking soda in the stain, let sit for several hours. Rinse. Repeat if necessary. Then launder as usual.

GUM

Rub the gum with a piece of ice (or throw it in the freezer), then use a knife to scrape it off.

Melted Crayon or Candle Wax

Cover the area with several layers of paper towels and iron over it to transfer the wax from the garmet (or carpet) to the towels. Repeat with fresh towels until all of the wax has been "lifted."

Shoe Brightener/Whitener

With a little whitening toothpaste and a nylon scrubbing pad, you can take "grubby" shoes from dingy to white!

Yellow Stains (Arm pit, old spit-up)

Try using the Miracle Cleaner (1 part Dawn Dish Detergent and 2 parts hydrogen peroxide). For stubborn stains, add a little baking soda and some scrubbing action. Sit overnight, rinse. Launder as usual

Strollers

• Pressure Wash: For jogging strollers or other rugged types, you can actually get a good ol' scrubbing with a pressure washer on low.
• Machine Wash: Most strollers can be taken apart and the cloth items can be hand-washed (or machine washed if the instruction APPROVE). ALWAYS let the components DRY COMPLETELY before reassembling to avoid mold & mildew growth.
• To remove mildew: Apply straight vinegar with a spray bottle or by pouring it on the stroller. Let it soak, give it a little scrub with a brush, rinse and repeat as needed.

Rust Stains from Clothing

• Natural Method: Squeeze or pour lemon juice onto the stain and then sprinkle salt. Allow the salt and juice to react with the stain for 24 hours. You may need to refresh with lemon juice to keep the stain damp. After 24 hours, blot (but do not rub) the stain and then rinse with cool water. Repeat as necessary.
• You can also find commercial "Rust Removers" at your local hardware store.

Little Tikes, Cozy Coupes, 2 Steps (Outdoor Plastic Toys)

• To protect: Lather up your outdoor toys with baby oil... it's like Little Tikes sunscreen
• To clean: Magic eraser is the PERFECT cleaner for outdoor play equipment.

Nail Polish on Fabric

1. Take the nail "polished" garment and place it face down over several layers of paper towel. Then, blot with acetone to transfer the stain from the garment to the paper towels. (NOTE: Never use acetone on fabrics with acetate and use caution with wool, silk and rayon)
2. Rinse with cold water and repeat until the stain is gone.
3. Then apply a laundry pre-treater and launder as usual.

Ink Stains

• Option 1: Place the garment on a paper towel and pour rubbing alcohol over the strain to "transfer" it to the paper towel.
• Option 2: Spray with aerosal hairspray and then rinse with water.

Crayon on Toys, Walls or other hard surfaces

The most common tricks for removing crayons:

• Mr. Clean Magic Erasers
• WD-40
• White (actually white, not whitening) toothpaste

Have a tip you want to share?!?!  Post a comment below!!