I never cared about stain removal until what my husband and I call the Season of White Baseball Pants.
At first, I was going to be the mom who didn’t care if the pants weren’t perfectly clean. After all – they’re just going to get dirty again, probably before they ever even walk on the field. I would sit at the games and listen to moms talk about a laundry bar soap, bleach, Shout, Dawn detergent, boric acid, etc.
None of these products were on my laundry shelf, so I would soak the pants for a few hours, wash them with my regular eco-friendly detergent and hang to dry. They didn’t look great, but they weren’t that bad either.
As the season went on, the stains from grass and dirt (and black bean burritos) was more than even I could take. I knew I wasn’t going to go the chemical route, and all the “natural” options I’d tried had failed to even fade the grass stain. I looked online again and read about a mom who took her daughter’s softball pants to the car wash after every game.
“Aha! We have a pressure washer,” I recalled. My husband got it out after dinner and we laid the baseball pants on the driveway to see if it could make a dent in four weeks of stains. Well, it did! Other than some wear and tear on the knees, the pants looked almost brand new.
I texted our neighbor, “Stop scrubbing and come outside,” and we all stood around making comments you only hear on an infomercial. For the rest of the summer, you’d often find a gathering around our driveway, chatting over the hum of the pressure washer as we took turns tackling a line of pants. To ease my green guilt, I decided it was better to use a little extra water than for five moms on our street to be using toxic chemicals, soaking, scrubbing, and adding extra cycles to their washers.
Fast forward to this year. For the regular season, both of our boys’ teams had gray pants. But white has made its debut this week for all-stars.
We moved and most of our belongings are in storage… including the pressure washer. The first stains — I mean game — happened last night. After another internet search, I found something that sounded promising. I added an extra ingredient, since I’ve had luck with lemon essential oil on grout stains.
DIY Super Stain Remover Recipe
- 1 part Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap
- 2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide
- 1-2 drops Citrus Fresh or Lemon Essential Oil
- Mix together and spray or pour directly on stain
Note: Test a small area before applying to entire garment, upholstery, etc.
I sprayed this on, let it sit for about a minute, then gently rubbed the fabric together. The dirt stains disappeared almost immediately. The grass stains took maybe 5 minutes of soaking / gently scrubbing the fabric against itself.
I plan to test it out on other stains, so we’ll be sure to update this post with before and after photos and tips!
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