Sorry for keeping you in suspense but as you can imagine, we've been doing a lot of running to the washroom and it's been tough getting anything significant done. The kitchen was in the third ring of chaos until Derek was able to go to Grandma's for a couple nights. We thought that would happen sooner but then realized that Grandma needed training in how to maintain the training, so we used her day off to come over to our place and observe how it works. Consistency is important with training!
In the meantime, I thought I'd share some tips on how we're tackling baby stinky cloths and toilet-training toddler laundry. Infant poop just ends up every where and stains almost anything it seems. Kristen spit up a lot so I was cleaning milk vomit from her and my clothes. Derek's recent learning is creating lots of stinky clothes but the reusable absorbency sheets we got shouldn't use fabric softener (which generally reduces absorbency of any material). Aaaand he sometimes doesn't get the poopy in the potty, which makes me wish for Kristen's infant poops! =S Those are my issues; these are my solutions!
1. Buncha Farmer's stain remover. After an initial rinse-off of the poop/milk, rub the stick over the affected area until foam builds up. Rinse out the remover. Repeat until the stain is not very noticeable (I usually only have to do this 2x in total). Rub and foam one more time as a leave-in for the actual wash.
2. Baking Soda. I soak smelly baby cloths in the sink with a liberal dusting of baking soda and enough cold water for me to swish the cloths around in. I use baking soda in the "bleach" compartment of every wash cycle EXCEPT when I'm using vinegar for items that don't recommend fabric softener. Let's not explode the budget-unfriendly washer!
3. Vinegar rinse* before washing for anything particularly smelly.
How about you? What tricks do you have for removing stains and smells? What have you "lived with" because you couldn't find a workable solution?
*I've read recently that vinegar may harm the plastic tubing and such in a washer. I don't have any definitive info, just someone posting on a forum thread what their service person told them. Vinegar compounds differ from bleach and it's that composition which is incompatible with the plastic. Others, of course, have been using vinegar rinses in their washers for years and haven't noticed any issues. Just thought I'd note this so you'd be aware of the health of your washer!
