Faux Oxi-Clean

I love Pintrest. Love, love Pintrest. I think I may need to join a self-help group....I wonder if there are pins on that? Hmmm.

I found this pin about homemade Oxi-Clean. You need just 3 simple ingredients that everyone has in their house; 1/2 cup peroxide, 1/2 cup washing soda (I used baking soda), and hot water.

My children are messy. They are messy eaters, drinkers, players, and as of this week - super messy in the potty area :/ Isabella feels she must stand up every time she eats. (She started this when she started walking, super annoying...believe me) So, not only is the food on her shirt it's all the way down her and all over the place! Needless, to say we have lots and lots of clothing that has what I thought to be permanent stains. However, I have found the holy grail of all spot-taker-outers!

The first time I tried this I had 3 shirts in one bowl and used the recommended amount filled up the bowl just past the clothing with hot water and let it soak for a couple of hours. Now - this brightened the shirts so much, I was amazed. {Thanks to this little experiment of mine, I now realize we have all be wearing dingy ass shirts for the past 6 years! Yes...my mommy did my laundry up until 6 years ago...I know spoiled.ass.brat! } However, the original stains were only lightened. Not gone.

Now, let me explain about these stains. Most of them are chocolate milk stains that have been washed and dried into the clothing for months and worn only in the house.

I being a dumbass  didn't take any pictures of my first attempt. I just chalked it up to an experiment gone wrong. The next day, I questioned...Maybe I had too many shirts in there? Did I put too much water in?  Not enough? I decided to try this out again. Using the recommended dose of 1/2 cup; 1/2 cup; to just covering the clothing with hot water. I placed one shirt in the bowl, swished it around, and left it for 24 hours. The next morning I threw it in the washer and dryer. It came out PERFECT! I was so excited, because it is one of my favorite shirts that was bought especially for Isabella. {Being a little sister, you get the crap and not so crap hand-me-downs. She doesn't give two shits, but I try to buy her some new stuff of her own.} You can see the results here.

My offenders....

Nice stain on that shirt kid. Put that tongue back in that mouth missy!

Don't let that innocent face fool you, she is the biggest return offender EVER!! That sleeper is disgustingly stained!

I decided to do a 'test kitchen' and let you guys know that this stuff really does work!
Here are the shirts before the faux Oxi-Clean:

This is an undershirt that has had this stain on it for seriously, over a year!

This stain is courteous Isabella Elizabeth...I put it downstairs to be pre-treated and forgot about it for over a month...nice going chump!

These stains aren't horrible, we started using it as an undershirt when wearing sweaters and such. You can see the 2 stains one right on the crease in the middle of the shirt, and one a little higher.

Can you say ring around the collar? I HATE white collars! Notice the nice big stain between the purple and yellow dot! This shirt hasn't been worn in over a year....long time for that stain to stick around!

Just a couple of stains on this one. Above the 'R' and below the 'N'.

Since I was doing so many shirts. I double up the recipe and did 1 cup of each peroxide and baking soda. I threw it in a bucket, placed the shirts in, added hot water to just cover the shirts, and swished. 

I left them in bucket for 24 hours, threw them in the washer and dryer this morning and here are the results:

The stains are still there...hmmm 

Ready to wear captain! YES!! (*Note- the mark under that yellow dot is another yellow dot on the back of the shirt)

Stains all gone! YES!!

It lightened up, but not completely gone :/

Some of it gone, but not all of it!

Now, a couple of things could have been my downfall with this 'test kitchen'. 

1. I didn't use enough ingredients.

2. I used too much water.

3. Doing all these shirts at one time is bad. 

4. I should have used washing soda as the recipe called for.

5. Who the hell knows. 

All I DO know is that it worked perfect on 3 shirts thus far and 3 shirts it sucked on. I didn't really have much hope for the last 2 white shirts because they have been stained for so long and washed over and over...I am going to try it again. I am going to put them in by themselves and see if that makes a difference. 

Side note #4 - did you know how good baking soda smells? Of course, I have never sniffed it (or any other powder for that matter) but that stuff smells so clean and nice!! :)