last ditch effort at stain removal. Please help!

[CTyankee]

I pretreated the spots, which unfortunately I found after several months because it was an out of season sweater, and washed in cold water. I didn't have a soak period. Should I treat the spots again with both spot cleaner and detergent and let it sit for awhile before putting it in the washing machine? Will dry cleaning help?

It is a cotton sweater and was expensive (for me) and the color would fade if I bleached it. I really don't know what the spots are from but I suspect something that happened during cooking.

[digonswine]

1. If it can take it-

just rub the shit out of it for ages with a gently soap until the spots are gone(enough). For some things, this is all that seems to work for me.

[CTyankee]

2. Soap or laundry detergent (I use hypoallergenic)?

[digonswine]

3. I want to say laundry detergent-

it seems to be more easily washed away--think about it--it needs to be--

I can't say if the cotton can take it or not---I have had good experiences with Dawn and others. I really mean it, though-over and over and over again. If there is an easy way out-I do not know it.

PLUS--if it works-you enjoy it more! Like darning socks.

[CTyankee]

4. I do have DAwn but it s a dish detergent. However, that may be what it takes!

This is a midweight cotton fabric, kind of a weave actually. It is a nice spring or fall sweater. It is versatile and good looking. I just love it. I will do what I have to in order to save it. I will try again...

[ejpoeta]

7. from what I have read, dawn isn't just for dishes anymore.

great for grease stains. Can't hurt can it? There was one I found that uses hydrogen peroxide and dawn. couple tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide mixed with dawn. throw in a little baking soda. scrub it on the stains and let it sit for overnight or as i did a couple hours. it worked on about half the stuff I tried it on. Might work on yours. when I mixed it up I put it in a spray bottle 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide to 1/4 c dawn and like a tablespoon of baking soda. shook it up in the bottle and sprayed it on. gets bubbly. then scrub it. let it sit. i tried it on stuff that was ruined anyway if it didn't work and had no adverse reactions on the clothes. but it didn't work on every stain.

[kas125]

5. When my kids were little, I always used liquid dishwasher detergent

when there were food stains on their clothes. Not the kind for washing dishes in the sink, but the liquid stuff that goes in dishwashers. It worked on absolutely everything!

[CTyankee]

6. I'll do it! Thanks. I'll let you know what happens.

[ejpoeta]

8. really??? i will have to try that!!

[CTyankee]

11. I'm afraid I had unfortunate results with the dishwasher detergent.

It caused major white spots where I "pre-treated." Like a bleach stain.

I had to throw the sweater away...

[kas125]

13. Oh, no!! I'm SO sorry.

That never happened to the baby clothes. I feel horrible now...

[CTyankee]

14. Oh, don't feel bad! Stuff happens. I just didn't realize that the sweater was not color safe,

I guess. I'm over it, really. I just wanted to warn folks that this can happen, probably because dishwasher detergent is really strong stuff. However, even with that strength the spots themselves are still there and visible even in the white areas that the detergent caused.

I don't know what those original stains were from. I tried Oxy stuff, which sometimes works on some things. Maybe the stains were just too old (since I had put the sweater in the closet for the winter and forgot about them (I don't recall seeing them in the first place, tho).

Since the original stains were too visible for me to be able to wear it in public and impossible to remove with standard stain removers, the sweater was probably doomed long before your advice.

So don't feel bad, please!

[Phentex]

9. I have had good luck with oily stains using Ultra Tide...

mostly cooking stains or salad dressing, etc. I have used UT on old stains and had very good luck.

[yardwork]

10. If the detergent doesn't work, try using natural soap.

I use natural soap (made with lye and vegetable oil) for my skin and discovered that it gets blood out of clothes incredibly well. Just rub the bar right on the stain and rinse with cold water.

[badhair77]

12. I'm sorry you had to throw out your sweater.

Whenever I have food stains, like salad dressing, I use Dawn. It's a great grease cutter. I try to treat it right away but it's worked in a 1-2 week period also. I line dry the item so the stain isn't set by heat just in case it doesn't work first try. I keep a bottle in my laundry room and use it often. Things kind of settle in my chest area if you know what I mean. Oh to be flat-chested. Seems like the cleavage catches everything.