How to Get Rid of Breast Milk Stains From Clothes
Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist, and New York Times bestselling author of My Boyfriend Is Boiling In My Purse … And Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha About . Her flagship column, Ask a Pure Man, debuted in 2011. Here at Offspring, we’ve launched a new iteration dedicated to parenting and all the mess it brings.
Breast milk can cause coloration, it’s true! While these are not the worst stains in the world (the honor goes to turmeric), dairy stains can be frustrating to remove if you don’t know these tricks that will make it easier to combat them. Or at least not a complete nightmare.
Wash it off
As with most stains, the longer breast milk stays on your clothes, the more difficult it will be to flush it out. If possible, rinse stained clothing with cool running water to prevent milk stains on items such as nursing bras and shirts.
The easiest way to do this is to simply pull on your clothes under the tap in the kitchen or bathroom, rinse them quickly, wring them out, and wash them whenever you can. If rinsing alone doesn’t work, apply a small amount of dish soap, which can help break down the proteins in the milk and remove stains.
The one thing to avoid , which is a common practice for regular bra care , but should not be applied to nursing bras that are soiled with milk, is to take your clothes with you to the shower to rinse them if you do not catch a cold. shower. The reason is that warm or hot water, in fact, converts proteins into breast milk, making them worse.
Try an enzyme stain remover
But suppose you cannot rinse milk-stained clothes with water as quickly as you would like. It happens! Especially when caring for a small child! Don’t worry, there are many good pre-treatment options out there that can help remove milk stains.
Since breast milk is a protein stain, an enzyme stain remover is a great choice here. You can try the likes of Zout , Biz, or Puracy Stain Remover . Apply the product to the stain, let it work for 10-15 minutes to absorb and break down the proteins, then wash the clothes as usual.
There are also enzyme-based laundry detergents such as Tide Original and Coldwater, Arm & Hammer plus OxiClean, and Persil Bio. If you find that breast milk stains are common, you can switch to one of these brands to reduce the time you spend treating these common stains.
A quick sidebar on enzymes: They’re not created equal! Some of them, like amylase enzymes, work better on starch, and protease enzymes are those that are needed for protein stains such as dairy products. When looking for a stain remover or detergent formula that will work on milk and other protein stains, check the ingredient list — if you see the word “protease” there, you’re done. (Tide Coldwater contains protease to save time searching!)
Soak it in oxygen bleach solution
Oxygen bleaches such as OxiClean or Clorox Oxi Magic are also great at removing milk stains, especially stubborn ones. For fresher stains, using oxygen bleach as a wash booster along with regular detergent can help remove stains, but when stains persist, you will want to soak the garment in the oxygen bleach solution for an hour or night before washing.
Oxygen bleach must be dissolved in hot water to activate it, but you do not need to soak things in hot water if the clothes tend to shrink, contain rubber that should not be exposed to hot water, or if the stain, like milk, does not react well to hot water. water. Instead, place a scoop of the powder in hot enough liquid to dissolve, and add it to most of the cool water to soak. A sink, tub, or dishwashing bucket can be used for soaking, which can take anywhere from an hour to overnight, depending on how badly the stains have eaten in. After soaking, gently wring out the garment and wash it as usual.
Do you have a favorite trick or remedy for breast milk stains on your clothes? Let us know in the comments!