Babies are really cute when they eat, but also very messy while doing it. As their coordination is not so great at the beginning, food stains are easy to appear. I have thrown out quite a few garments because they are ruined by stains.
Over the last year, I have become more effective in fighting with smudges and stains. Here are some guidelines I have been using to save my daughter’s clothes from their way to the trash.
Prevent!
The best way to deal with stains is prevention. Try to make everything to avert those stubborn food stains.
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Use bibs/coveralls bibs – it helps you to avoid getting stains in the first place.
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Remove your baby’s clothing before eating – this way you don’t have to worry about your kids ruining their clothes. Let them play with food, discover new textures and tastes without being worried about their wardrobe.
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Use old clothes – if you don’t want to let your kids eat without clothing, use old or cheap apparel during the mealtime. I have saved some old stained bodies and use them when Sofia is eating. That way I don’t have to bother to get those stains out later.
Deal with it!
Prevention is important, but it is not always possible to keep kids completely stain free. When treating stained clothes, select carefully the products you use. Baby skin is very sensitive and not all cleaners may be suitable for babies. Removing baby food stains from clothing is not difficult if dealt with right away.
Here are some tips that have helped me to fight with those dreaded baby food stains:
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Soak – rinse the stained area in cold water as soon as possible and let it soak. Dried out stains are much harder to treat.
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Sunshine – it’s the cheapest and easiest way to get rid of almost any baby food stain. I wash stained clothes as usual and then hang them to dry in a sunny spot. Stains are gone in no time! The only bad thing is, that over the time the sun bleaches the colors. This works well for stained cloth diapers too.
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Washing up liquid – add some washing liquid to the stain, rub it in and let it soak for some time, then wash as usual. Helps to remove grease stains.
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Shaving cream – spray (don’t rub in) the shaving cream (foaming one) onto the stain and allow the cream to work about 30 – 60 minutes.
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Hydrogen peroxide – use 50% water and 50% hydrogen peroxide. Spray the mixture on the stain and let it stand for 30 minutes. Rinse the stain with a mixture of 50/50 water and vinegar. Then launder as normal.
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Before using a dryer, check if the stains are removed. Tumble dried stains become practically impossible to remove.
Sunshine?! I would have never thought that works but the before and after are incredible!
I never really worried about stuff like that. But this is pretty good advice for anyone looking for ideas and such. 🙂
Great tips! I always sun my cloth diapers but I didn’t think about clothing!
Great Tips!! Saving to share with new moms in the family and passing on to mu nieces.. Thanks so much! Love that you have a before and after picture
Great Tips. I always had such a hard time getting out all the stains
Nice Tips.. My husband lets our 1 year old explore food and I hate that she gets dirty he has to keep reminding me she is a baby.. I just hate to see her dirty and I hate that she ruins pefectly good clothes.. She has some old baby clothes that she can use when eating I will try that next time.. TY
The little baby is just too cute-I too follow this little trick. I learned after my first to be more careful.
OMG – those cheeks! Your daughter is precious!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE those cheeks, wish I could come and pinch her ; great tips, wish I had them when my kids were little.. I decided to deal with it back then 🙂
I fully support feeding topless babies 🙂 we’re cloth diapering and I’ve been hearing a lot about the sunlight stain remover. I’ll be saving your list for when the baby finally gets here!
I remember when my kids were young the battle I had with baby food stains – great tips!
Great tips! We usually went the “no clothes” route, but when inevitable stains did happen I was always a big fan of the sun! Sunning does wonders for cloth diapers!
Aaah, baby stains. My favorites are the ones that you don’t see until it is too late. You pull a shirt out of the dryer and see the faint outline of something you should’ve presoaked. These are great tips though!
I’m not opposed to the no clothing thing for eating, except if we’re out at a restaurant or something. I’ve never tried the sun thing, though I have heard of it before. We don’t have a yard though. :-/
I don’t have a baby, my daughter is almost 7 but she is disabled and I still have the duty of a lot of food stains on her clothing 🙁 This is great I will try some of them because I hate it when I buy her pretty shirts and they are ruined after just 1 time of wearing them!
oh thank you– I can see I’m going to have lots of fun with the mess–and stain thing –I guess– Bibs and old clothing will probably be the best for me when it comes the stains that will be happening in January–lol all the same thanks for the in sight and warning to my new future
Great tips. we always have lots of stains here.