I mentioned in the spring after posting about my homemade laundry detergent recipe that I was on the hunt for a homemade laundry stain remover as well. Summer got away from me and I just didn’t get around to it. The stains certainly continued, but I kept using my normal Shout Advanced Spray with sometimes mediocre results.
For some odd reason, last week I got really motivated to give some recipes a try. As any good woman does, I checked Pinterest first. After all, there’s no sense in re-inventing the wheel, right?
I kept stumbling upon two different recipes, so I figured I’d start with those and experiment to see which one I liked best. Today’s post is the first recipe.
Ingredients:
baking soda
Instructions:
1. Squirt Dawn dishwashing liquid on the stained area.
2. Sprinkle baking soda on top of the Dawn.
3. Pour some hydrogen peroxide on top of the stain and scrub {using a scrub brush} into a paste.
4. Let this set for about an hour and then launder as normal. Set longer if possible.
* * * * * *
THE VERDICT:
I was really impressed with this laundry stain remover! While it is not as easy as the squirt of a bottle and requires more steps and scrubbing, I found it to be very effective. I tested this stain remover out on old, set in stains and they were no longer visible {or hardly in a couple of cases} after treatment. Here are some examples so you can see for yourselves.
This is one of Savannah’s shirts from this summer. I have treated this shirt every time it was washed and this stain remover finally got the stains out!
Since this does require more effort on the front-end, I found it helpful to put the badly stained items aside and then work on them all at once when I had a little more time. Even still, since there are only 3 ingredients involved, it’s not like it is a huge ordeal to simply treat one item at a time as needed.
Happy Laundering!
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Hi Sarah – I just wanted to comment and let you know that I have been reading your blog almost from the start and I really love all the new posts – the ones on budgeting and the fashion Fridays are especially entertaining to me and have given me a lot of inspiration – I not only reorganized my closet and started adding accessories to my daily outfits (which my co-workers have noticed and commented on!), but I am also working on trying out some of your budgeting ideas. I hope you keep it up!
Thanks so much for your sweet comment, Laura! I am so glad that you've enjoyed those posts because I've enjoyed doing them. The fashion ones allow me to explore my "girly" side and the money-related posts give me an outlet for my "nerdy" side- ha! I'm so glad your co-workers have noticed your accessories – compliments are so nice, aren't they? And let me know how the budgeting goes. I hope you can find a method that works for you! 🙂
I read this works on armpit stains as well??? I have an old white sweater that is still in excellent condition other than the arm pits and missing buttons that I wanted to update and "make new" again. Have you tried it there? I was curious to see a "real life" example! May have to try it! Thanks for posting!
I have read that as well, AH but I haven't had a chance to try it yet. If I have a chance to try that out this weekend, then I'll let you know how it works. But, I was so impressed by how it worked on really set in stains that I can't imagine it wouldn't at least make them look better {if not totally remove them}.
AH, I just tried this on some armpit stains and it worked pretty well. It definitely looked better and had I let it sit overnight}, I'm pretty sure they would have been even better after laundering! I think it's worth a try. 🙂
OMGOODNESS!!!! I stumbled across this pin on Pinterest and liked it. I had a specific item of clothing in mind JUST to try – my son's gray hoodie. He is 10 and the front of it looked as if he went sledding on a dirt hill with NO SLED. It isn't even that old of a hoodie, but I told him he could no longer where it because he looked as if he was living on the street.
Ok, so I tried it. I scrubbed it and left it until I could throw it in the laundry the next day when I got home from work. Let me just say – IT LOOKS BRAND NEW and I am NOT even kidding. This is INCREDIBLE and was soooooo easy! THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!! Now, I can't WAIT to get that $20 a year laundry soap started. I am going THIS WEEKEND and buying a 5 gallon bucket. YES, I am SHOUTING. I am so stinkin excited. This was really fun to see unfold. Thanks SO SO MUCH!!!!
I'm so glad to hear that, Kerry! You sound like I was when I first tried this recipe. I was pulling any and every stained article of clothing to try and was so pleased! I was seriously giddy – it's the little things in life, right? But, when it's a stain you've been working on forever, it's monumental!! 🙂 I hope you will like the detergent recipe as well. We've been pleased but it might not have the same WOW factor as the stain remover! 🙂
Where is the orange onezie "after" photo?
I must not have taken an after photo of that particular item – sorry! It was so long ago that I've put those items away since my son outgrew it!
Hi Sarah, I came across this same recipe too and will be trying it out today as I've run out of Shout and my Costco isn't carrying it anymore so I haven't had time to go find the best deal for it. I don't have Dawn (never cared for the scent) so I will be trying it with Palmolive but I do have Dawn on my shopping list for the next batch. The recipe that I came across actually called for all three ingredients to be mixed together. I've done that in the Palmolive bottle. Do you still apply each ingredient separately? Have you ever washed anything without letting it sit for an hour? Just curious to know your results.
Shelley, I have not been successful with combining all 3 ingredients into a single solution – I saw a recipe for it but it kept getting clogged in the bottle. I have started using a "miracle solution" to save some steps. It's basically just a solution of Dawn and peroxide that I squirt on the stain and then I can use baking soda if I think the stain needs it. Here's a link to my post where I share the recipe I'm using for that.
http://www.theteacherswife.com/2014/09/homemade-miracle-cleaner.html
I try to let the items sit for as long as possible, but I do sometimes wash the items without letting them sit for an hour. My success with that really just depends on how bad or set-in the stain is. A fresh stain that I treat right away is usually okay with just letting it sit for 15-30 mins, but I find that set-in stains require more time for it to be the most effective. I hope that helps!! I'd love to know how the Palmolive works since I haven't tried using that brand yet. 🙂
Would this work on carpet stains ?
I've actually never tried this on carpet, so I'm really not sure. I'm sorry that I can't help more. I'd certainly spot check before trying it on a large area.