How to Get Yellow Stains Out of Baby Clothes
This post may contain affiliate or sponsored links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Looking for a way to get yellow stains out of baby clothes after storage? I’ve stumbled on the PERFECT solution! Read on to learn how to save those baby clothes! (Tip- be sure to read the comments too! People have offered some great tips there as well.)
How to Get Yellow Stains Out of Baby Clothes!
A rumbling-tumbling-jumping belly, achy back, out of breath…all the time, decreased appetite, and hating 95% of my clothing can only mean one thing: the third trimester!
It’s game time baby.
The nursery is starting to take shape, I’ve got some fabulous freezer meals made, and I’m starting to knock off some to-do’s before baby #3 arrives. Since we aren’t finding out the gender of this one, one of my big tasks was to dig out infant clothes for both genders. I’ve stored and hauled around bins and bins of these pre-washed, organized baby clothes for years knowing that this day would come.
So, I’m sure you can imagine the shock and horror I experienced when I opened up the first container to find a mysterious yellow staining on almost all of my baby clothes! I washed these, I tell you! The yellow staining was particularly bad on the girl clothes that had been stored for 4 years now. The boy clothes did not escape the yellow-plague by any means either.
Since hormones and emotions are a bit heightened presently, I came close to calling it all a loss and throwing away all of the totally ruined-hopeless-grossly yellowed clothes. Drama.
Well, luckily I still had a tad bit of sanity left that evening and decided to do a little research on the issue.
Turns out, I’m not alone.
Why do baby clothes get yellow stains?
It’s quite common for stored baby clothes to go into storage clean and come out a few years later with discoloration–even if you’ve washed them well. The culprit: the protein from milk.
This can come from breastmilk or even spit-up. Even if they’ve been washed, the residue can remain and bond to the clothing. Over time it takes on a yellowish color.
How to get yellow stains out of baby clothes
After digging a bit more, I learned that many have had success in removing these stains using OxiClean. So, on my next store run, I snagged a tub of it and gave it a whirl.
You guys.
IT WORKED!
I feel like only fellow mothers can appreciate the triumph of the situation. (When I told my husband about it all he was happy but, I guarantee you, hasn’t given it a thought since.) It not only got stains OUT but I feel like it brightened up the clothes and made them look almost new.
Step-by-Step Guide
Here is exactly how I got those yucky yellow stained clothes looking good as new.
I set my washer on a medium-load, hot water soak cycle. I then put 6, yes 6 scoops of OxiClean. The directions said to put a scoop for every gallon of water and my best guess what that my load would be about 6 gallons. It seemed like an insane amount of detergent to put in a load but I was trusting the directions.
I let it soak about 10 hours (overnight) and then ran a wash cycle as normal.
The clothes came out STAIN FREE. Stain free, I tell you! Here are a few before and afters of some of the boys clothes:
It even worked just as well on the four year old stains on the girl clothes.
So mama friends, learn from this gal. Don’t be shocked when your precious, cleanly stored baby clothes come out with the yellow plague. While no vaccine may be available, rest assured that there is an easy cure!
Since you have a tub of Oxiclean on hand now, here are a few more ways you can use it in your home!
I was so excited when my husband and I took our daughters clothes out of storage. We are expecting our second girl early September! I loved going through the clothes (although only 2 years old) I had forgotten all the cute outfits we had received. I thought I had been such a great ‘mother’ by washing our first daughters clothes as she grew out of them and putting them in vacuum sealed bags in a rubbermaid bin. Thankfully out of the two bags we took out of storage, maybe only 15-20 pieces were stained. But I was sad. I threw everything in the wash to freshen them up and the yellow stains remained. I immediately sat down and googled what to do and your blog was the first link to come up.
I promptly ordered oxyclean from Amazon and it arrived 24 hours later. I had let the clothes soak in a pail with the oxyclean overnight. My washer will automatically drain if left untouched for more than 2 hours….
All but 3 pieces came out clean! I put them through a hot wash cycle with more oxyclean and threw most of the pieces into the dryer. The three that are still stained are out sunning and I can already see the leftover stains fading!
Thanks for the great suggestion/tutorial!
I got the stains somewhat out using Dreft stain spot treatment, but I found that leaving the clothes out in the sun has actually cleared the stains best!
Thank you so much for the tip! My sister has had clothes in her attic waiting for me to have a baby for YEARS and we finally pulled them down and almost all of them had these stains. I wanted to cry but probably not as much as she wanted to! I can’t wait to try this tonight 🙂
I tried tide bleach pen two stains came out but one did not what should I do
What was suggested in the blog! The soak in the oxyclean worked wonders!
Thanks so much for this information. My granddaughter is expecting boy #3 the first of July. Number one will be 8 in August, number two just turned 5 a week ago. These clothes have been stored for a long time. She was heartbroken when she got her newborn clothes out and they were all stained. I used the hottest water and the 6 cups of Oxi-Clean. After two hours when I checked them they looked like the stains were gone. I left them one more hour. Then I put them through three wash cycles to remove any Oxi residue. Then a final wash in Dreft and rinse in Downy. They are in the dryer now and it looks like they are stain free. I believe the colors are brighter also. To those who don’t want to do colors, Oxi-clean is not bleach, it’s completely safe for color fast clothing. Thanks for making Great-grams the hero one more time.
Pregnant with baby #2 and clothes have been stored for 5 1/2 years. I was DEVASTATED to see those dreaded yellow stains but elated to find this blog. Clothes are currently soaking and I’m impatiently awaiting the (hopefully good) results.
I’m glad you found us too! Fingers crossed that you get great results!!
Darn phone printed some sentences twice! I was wondering if the Oxi clean would be OK to use on dark clothes as well. It seems that the colors may become bleached out .
This is going to be a lifesaver for me! My daughter Found out that they were having another boy. We knew we had plenty of super cute clothes from my first grandson who is now 5 1/2. I know for a fact I would have never put those clothes away… Yet, we opened up th found out that they were having another boy. We knew we had plenty of super cute clothes from my first grandson who is now 5 1/2. I know for a fact I would have never put those clothes away… Yet, we opened up the containers of clothes and they all looked ruined! I am definitely trying this tonight! Is this only for the Onesies that are mostly white? Will it ruin the colored close? Say, dark blue?
It shouldn’t ruin any colors at all. Let us know how it works!
They also sell oxy for dark clothes! I’m going to try soaking them in oxy high def detergent over night since I have it on hand. If it doesn’t work I’ll definitely try the powder. A
Thank you so much! I will give it a try!
IT WORKS!!!! I have to thank you, so very much, for this amazing remedy!!!! I saved my children’s nicest baby clothes in vacuumed sealed space bags. Though they have been protected, all these years, from moisture, dirt, moths, or whatever else attic storage could cause, many items still yellowed. Just like the clothing in your photos. After a google search, I decided to try your remedy. I followed your instructions to the letter! I now have beautiful, 29 year old, baby clothes to pass on to my 1 month old granddaughter! I’M THRILLED!! Thanks so much!
great
Will oxi clean baby stain remover work too?? Or does only that oxi clean work?
Can you put that much oxiclean in a high efficiency washer?
Gosh, I don’t know!
Maybe do a little online research. I bet you can find some more info.
It was a little more work but I soaked mine in a wash tub then squeezed out as much as I could, put them in the He3 front loader, with a Little bit of soap, then a normal wash, then an Express Wash. I did the extra wash to be sure all the soap was out. Then dried as usual. They came out great. Before I saw this post I had run some white Onesies with just soap and bleach, they did Not do well.
I did use rubber gloves while working with the wet clothes. I recommend doing that also
You can soak in a big bowl or tub instead. The high efficiency washers don’t soak like the top loaders that fill up
Sounds wonderful, but it also looks like pictures have been lighted.
You are right! The wood tones are definitely different. I’ve done this before and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t…..
I tried this on my grandchild’s really nice stores baby clothes this weekend so we could use the clothes for her new baby sister. I soaked them in a bathroom sink which held about 2 gallons of water and put in 2.5 scoops of Oxyclean and dissolved it in the hot water before adding the clothes. They soaked for about 16 hours. They are perfect! No yellow stains at all and they look new!! It did dry my hands greatly. I rinsed my hands well after dissolving the powder but they are dried and chapped. I used a plastic spoon to keep the clothes submerged but stirred the solution with my hands trying to dissolve the powder.
Great news, Diana. We’re so glad this worked for you (sorry about your hands, though)!
Have to tell you this worked incredibly ????I soaked infant items from my two year old granddaughter as well as a sweater from my daughter ( which is 30+ years old and had several yellow stains) every item came out of the wash in pristine condition. Thanks a million ??????
Great news!!