How to make your own laundry stain fighter, inexpensively and easily.
I will be showing my age with this one. I’m not sure how I feel about that at the moment. But sometimes you have to just roll with things, right.
So this is a trick I picked up about, oh, 20 years ago, or more. I’ve been doing this since my kids were little. And my kids are 20 and 26 so there you go. I’m old. It’s out there.
Most of you likely know this little trick. However when discussing it with a friend, who had no idea you could do this, it occurred to me some people may not know.
So I’m here to show you how to do this but first I should probably explain what it is right. That would be monumentally helpful.
This is a super cheap, and ridiculously easy little project that will make stain fighting a breeze in your household. You essentially make your own little scrubber, and I kid you not, this works like a dream.
Let’s face it kids come home with all kinds of stains. Paint or dirt from school, grass stains from soccer, candy stains from spending too much time with their candy loving mother. My bad, I like candy floss, and brightly coloured ice cream. My secret is out now.
I would try using sprays but nothing would work that great for tough stains. You know, the ones your kids don’t always tell you about right away. So my sister taught me how to make my own little scrub that works like a charm.
All you need is a bar of soap (Leave the dye for your hair, girls, not your soap. You want scent free, dye free soap for this one), and netted onion bag. Doesn’t necessarily have to be an onion bag but just for a frame of reference it gives you an idea of what I mean. You can use any netted bag. Onions, shallots, oranges, any of those will work. You can be fancy and use ribbon or some other snazzy tie but it’s not a deal breaker if you just tie the end in a loop knot. Personal choice.
So basically you just slip the soap in the netted bag, tie it off, then keep it in your laundry room near a place to use elbow grease when necessary. I leave mine in a little glass jar on top of my washing machine.
So how does it work? Well not to get all “science-y” on you but the netting works like a shower pouf. You know we all love our shower poufs. Why? Because those suckers suds up like no ones business. The same principle applies here. You run the soap under water, rub it on your clothes to remove the stain and bammo, stains be gone. See it’s science. I have no idea how it works but then I failed science in high school so that’s all I got.
Now be sure to only use fragrance free, scent free, dye free soaps. Don’t be ridiculous and try to fight stains with a purple bar of soap, people. Use your noggin. I like ivory soap, it’s simple, semi-cheap and no weird colours added to it. So I feel safe using it. Always test a new bar on some fabric to be sure it will not ruin your clothes. I’ve used ivory soap most often, and I used to occasionally use body shop soaps without colour. I’ve even used gardening soap since it has grit to it. Rocky Mountain Soap Company makes an amazing gardeners soap you can use for this project or for other things, like, you know, washing your hands. I think it’s only available in summer though. My son brought me a ton of their products home when he visited recently. I heart him. And not just because of soap.
Okay so make this today, try it out, let me know how it works. Or maybe I should clarify and say the 5 of you in the world who do not know this trick can make this and let me know how it works. I have a feeling lots of folks know how to do this. So this may be a non-essential post. Unless you’re one of those 5 peeps. Then its super essential.
Now here’s a quick how to:
1. Gather what you need: 1 bar soap, 1 net, 1 ribbon.
2. Place the soap into the open netting.
3. Push the soap to the bottom of the netting.
4. Spin and tie off excess or cut off excess.
5. Grab ribbon.
6. Cut a small piece of ribbon.
7. Tie off the end of the netting with ribbon.
You are now good to go. Get in there and suds up those stains!
Hope you enjoyed this little how to. Honestly I’ve been doing this for over 20 years and it works better than any stain remover I’ve ever used. If you have a really stubborn stain toss a little bit of oxy crystals in with it and the stain will completely vanish. It helps to add more water as you go so do this near a sink. Seems obvious but you never know. Maybe you failed science too. It happens. More than you realize.
So now that I’ve shown you the easiest trick I know, and shown my age, I think it’s time for some chocolate. At least I know if I drop some on my shirt I’m covered.
Linda KENNEDY says
I have never heard this before but I’m sure going to try this. Save a little money and it’s got to be better for the environment. Thanks so much for the tip
Janet Fazio says
Ok – kids aren’t the only ones who forget about stains. I’ve been known to do that myself. This looks like a less expensive alternative to stain sticks. I’m going to give it a try.
Kandis Milonoff says
My Mom (and I) have always used Fels Naptha bar soap for many stains, but I never thought to use the onion bag scrubber! Brilliant! By the way, the Fels Naptha is really great for the ground-in dirt and grass stains on the knees of kids’ pants! Also great for garden hands!(It can be found in many grocery stores, near the other bar soaps. It- comes by the single bar, and it’s an odd size-long and narrow.
Kim says
Thanks so much for that. I love finding ways to make cleaning easier. I can’t wait to try Fels Naptha. I can’t believe I’ve never tried it before. I’m so out of the loop.
Sueann says
I am also one of those 5 Lol…..Thanks for sharing!
Kim says
Ha, I love it Sueann. Happy to help. Makes me wonder what else I know that I should be sharing. Hope you get a chance to try this out. Thanks for commenting.
Tammy Northrup says
I am one of the five who didn’t know too! Let’s see if my math is correct that makes three of us. Where are the other two? 🙂 Seriously, thanks for sharing.
Kim says
Ha, I am so happy to hear this wasn’t common knowledge otherwise this would have been a seriously redundant post. Thrilled to share this with everyone. I’ve used this trick for so long, and it really works. Hope you love it. I swear netting is the coolest thing ever. You should see what I do with tulle at Christmas time.
EA says
I had no idea! This is genius! Thank you for posting!
Kim says
Thanks so much. I may remind my kids you mentioned the word genius next time they think I’m wrong. Ha! Thanks for commenting and the compliment. Happy Weekend. xx
jess says
Guess im person #3 lol i have to try this my kids come home with stains from school almost every day.
Kim says
Yeah, and lol! I am so happy to hear people are digging this trick. I was so nervous to post it. I thought everyone would already know. Hope it works for you. xx
Kimberlee says
What a great idea – I am going to try this. I guess you could also use some nylon net that you buy at the fabric store but using those vegetable bags seems like a great recycling idea, too.
Kim says
Exactly. I keep one of these in my laundry room and when I remember I keep an extra stashed in the upstairs bathroom since that’s where our hamper is. Works really well for when I’m rushing home from the barn. I swear horse slobber is harder to get out than the kids’ stains. Ha.
Holly K says
I’m one of those 5 people too! I always use those sprays or Tide Pens…
Kim says
The tide pens are awesome in a pinch. I find the sprays don’t work very well. I just tried one of those gel sticks and it was horrible. Did not take the stains out. I was really disappointed. They charge so much money for those darn things. I don’t mind Shout in a pinch. It seems to be one that works semi okay.
Lynn says
I must also be one of the five and I had 7 kids and the youngest just turned 21
and never heard of this! Wish I had known this back when we had a well with hard water and red clay dirt! So glad you shared this. Thanks.
Kim says
Hey Lynn., You are amazing, 7 kids is awesome, my bestie has 6 and I get tired just watching her. I only have 2 and I wear myself out. Ha. So happy I could help. I’m with you too, my kids are older and I wish blogs had been around when my hooligans were young. So many useful tips and tricks on the web. It’s awesome. Happy weekend. xx
Annamaria @ Bakewell Junction says
Kim,
I didn’t know about this tip. Thanks so much for such a simple fix.
Annamaria
Kim says
Hey Annamaria. I am so happy I could help. It’s funny how the simple ones are the most popular. I just figured most people knew, but then I didn’t till my sister showed me how to do it. So there you go. Hope you enjoy your weekend. xx
Charlie says
Hi Kim!
Hope you are well.
I always use Sunlight soap, works like a dream.
Kim says
Hi Charlie. I’m doing great. How are you? Hope life is going great.
I need to try Sunlight. I use their laundry soap but never tried their bar soap.
Charlie says
Kim:
Doing good! Thanks for asking.
I’ve always turned to the “old fashioned” ways and remedy’s. They always work and are a lot more inexpensive than the newer ways.
Judy Slusser says
Fels Naptha would be the perfect soap to use with the netting; this soap has been around forever and is great to remove stains!
Kim says
Thanks for the tip. I’m going to order some and see how it goes. I love to try new products.
Vicki Travis says
Sunlight Bar Soap is excellent for this (I don’t know if it is available in the US, it is here in Canada). Then you don’t have to look for unscented/no colour soap. It lasts for ever.
Kim Beaulieu says
I’m in Canada. I’ll have to check for that one. I’ve always used Ivory but I love the Sunlight laundry soap so I’d likely feel the same about their bar soap. Good tip. Thanks for that.
Assunção Baptista says
I must be one of those five people who did not know this trick, so thanks for sharing! 🙂
Kim Beaulieu says
Ha, nice to meet you. I know I was so stunned when my sister showed this to me eons ago. It’s such a cool little trick. I’ve been doing it for over 20 years, I just leave a bar down by machine and my sink is right there. I works like a charm. And not even kidding, if you ever get weird stains it works like a charm. My son used to get nosebleeds and this would take out blood, which is not easy to do. My daughter was notorious for grass stains. Hope it works for you. Just be careful to test the soap on some unimportant fabric he first time. I love plain old ivory soap, it’s never caused any discolouration. Thanks for taking the time to comment. xx
Assunção Baptista says
I tried it and managed to get a stain of red wine, already dry, from a red t-shirt of my husband, without affecting the color! 😀