Remove stains from school white polo shirts?

Alias_Omega

We have no idea what the kids have put into them, looks to be paint/maybe ink.

We've tried many boil washes, soaking in bleach, vanish. The stains just fade..

Anything else we can try before we bin them and purchase new ones?

Counting_Pennies_2

Have you tried Napisan?

Find it in the baby aisles in supermarkets.

I soak my things over night, then where there is a stain I just work my fingernails around the mark and it comes off.

hth

meritaten

either Biotex or Napisan. if you have some 'stardrops' then you could try working some into the stains and washing again on hot wash. rather than bin them why not let them wear the shirts on 'art' days? that way it wont matter if they get a bit more stained.

j.e.j.

If it's something like permanent ink you will have a job shifting it from a white garment:( I'd try putting some neat bleach onto a cotton bud, dab it onto a small area of the stain and see if it lightens it at all.

sweetme

Soaking in milk can remove permanent marker pen as can hairspray.

Nicki

By the time you have boiled them, you have usually set the stain, so I suspect these ones are irretrievable. Neat washing up liquid is usually good on paint stains when you get the new ones, and hairspray on ink, or even vodka if you can spare it! Best to treat them before they go into the machine though and then wash them on a moderate wash, then you have the chance to have another go at the stain if it isn't all out.

Some stains are unshiftable however, which is where very cheap supermarket school polos come into their own

swampduck

If it's biro ink - then spray with hairspray and blot with a tissue - keep doing this until mark is gone then wash as usual!

Swampy

j.e.j.

sorry forgot to ask, what are the shirts made of, would it be cotton?

Alias_Omega

Your all probably right, we've boiled them, and boiled them again. They sat in the sink for a few hours with some bleach this morning, and still it refuses to come out.

Was thinking its easier to tie-dye them into something else, but worst case its £10 for 3x New Polo shirts.

**Patty**

For the future:

If it's paint.......24 hour soak in cold water will remove most colours (except green for some reason)

White board marker(black).....give up now before you waste a ton of electric & buy some new ones:D

building_with_lego

You could just get the children to keep their jumpers on...:p

I don't worry tooooo much about stains on school clothes or work clothes- IMO they're there to save the home clothes from getting wrecked. I do find that one of the jumpers or cardies stays smarter- that one comes out on photos day!

How old are the children? I have an 8yo who's much cleaner now than she was in Y1 for example, and a 5yo who slops milk down himself even before he gets to school, then falls over in mud before going in :mad::rotfl: I figure that if he has a gravy stain on his shirt, the excuse that "he's a five- year- old boy" pretty much covers it. He may or may not grow out of his filthy habits!!