Baby Clothes Out of Storage with Yellow Stains on Shirts

Updated on January 22, 2013
K.T. asks from Lewisville, TX
13 answers

I just took my daughter's baby clothes down from the attic, which were stored in bins. I took them out to wash them to pass along to my sister and many of the shirts have yellow stains on them! I know they were not like this when I put them away, so obvioously it has something to do with breast milk residue sitting over time. Anyone have a "rabbit out of the hat" trick to get the stains out? Thanks!

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So What Happened?

Thank you Mamas! I did use Oxiclean as pretreatment, let it sit awhile, then washed it on the sanitize setting. I checked everything before drying. I only lost about 3 pieces. :)

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P.G.

answers from Dallas on

Vinegar maybe? google to see what it says, but it's an amazing cleaner and I think it's pretty gentle on fabrics.

2 moms found this helpful

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M.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

I just bought a load of supposedly ruined baby clothes. It was a large storage bin of clothes a woman on CL was trying to just get rid of as play clothes. It was 60 something pieces with yellow staining pretty heavy on most of it. I bought it for 5 bucks and the tote. I pre treated everything with a spray on (Shout) then I dabbed some dawn liquid detergent on the spot. Then I added about a cup of all purpose vinegar in the hottest water I could get from the tap and soaked them all night long. In the morning I just threw the soppy mess in the washer on warm, added normal amount of soap and washed. Then I put them in the dryer on the LOWEST setting possible until dry. They all came perfectly clean and looked like new, and smelled pretty decent too. All except 5 of the outfits were saved. the 5 were just very light staining. I gave them all a pregnant momma in need. She said she couldn't see any stains on them even the 5 piece I could see them on. So I think it worked :)

3 moms found this helpful
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L.C.

answers from Dallas on

Hi K.!

When I went through this, my mom saved me! She got me Oxiclean in the powder form, and we filled up a large bucket with a scoop of Oxiclean and water. We let the clothes soak for 24 hours, and then ran them through the wash like normal. I checked each outfit before drying and only a couple pieces needed another round of soaking. All the other clothes were stain free! Eventually, we got all the spit up stains out of all the clothes. I hope this helps!

God's Grace to You,

Lisa :)

2 moms found this helpful
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A.C.

answers from Atlanta on

Shacklee will get breastmilk out of clothes, even if it is years old or has been dried on. I used the H2 and the brightening powder, rub it into the clothes, and let it sit for an hour or two. It works like a charm. The only thing is that, if you leave it on overnight or something, it will bleach the fabric.

2 moms found this helpful
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L.L.

answers from Topeka on

Spray with a laundry stain cleaner like Resolve let sit at least 20 min. wash in warm water use a tad bit more soap than normal after the wash becomes sudsy stop the washer let soak for a long while then resue washing.This takes out stains for me.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.H.

answers from Dallas on

My mom swears by Biz. Soak the items in Biz and scrub the Biz into the stains a little before soaking. Most of my items that came out I just threw away but some of the nicer things I did this and it worked.
And yes I think it's breast milk or spit up that didn't show until it sat for months and yellowed.

1 mom found this helpful
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P.K.

answers from New York on

Oxiclean. Spray it on, let it sit for a while and throw in washing machine. Love that stuff.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.R.

answers from Dallas on

Liquid oxyclean worked really well for us. A light spray of the stain remover version and then the wash add in.

1 mom found this helpful
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R.K.

answers from Appleton on

Try spraying with a pre-wash then soaking overnight in all fabric bleach. If that doesn't work try Fels Naptha. It's a bar of soap found in the laundry aisle. Old time remedy but really works.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.D.

answers from Dallas on

It is caused by a residue of sugar that caramelizes over time, probably from milk. Several soaks in Oxyclean/Biz will fix you up.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.K.

answers from Wausau on

That happens with stored baby clothes. Try Oxyclean and the hottest water setting.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Miami on

I had the same problem and most of mine washed clean without stain spotting/precleaning of any kind, just threw in the washer on a "heavily soiled" extra long run.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.L.

answers from Grand Junction on

It is definitely either formula or breast milk. Mine did the same thing even if it was 'clean' when you put away.

I found that many of them came clean by just soaking them in water first and then treat them with stain remover/ oxy clean. You probably just didn't treat it before because you couldn't see it so you should be good with something simple.

1 mom found this helpful
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