In a house full of children, a good stain remover is a necessity. One day while washing a load of my 4 year old’s stained up jeans–I ran out of my beloved commercial stain remover. I knew that detergent alone was just not going to be enough, so I turned to the next best thing, Borax. I whipped up a solution and poured into an empty spray bottle and prayed that it would do the trick.
To my delight, it was, and I’ve been using it ever since.
Stain Remover
4 Tbsp Borax
Hot Water
Spray Bottle
Dissolve Borax in hot water and pour into spray bottle. Spray on tough laundry stains. For some stain, you may need to let sit for a few hours before washing.
Considering a box of Borax is under $3.50–I would guess that a bottle of Homemade Stain Remover would cost pennies. Now that is my kind of Stain Remover!
This post is linked to Frugal Friday.
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s a great idea. I’m afraid to try it though. My mom made some homemade laundry soap for me. I used it for a few loads, including my daughter’s sheets and clothes. About 2 days later, she broke out in a terrible rash, head to toe. The dr. said it was an allergy. The only thing we’d changed was laundry soap, which was her first question. I’m not sure which part daughter was allergic to. The weird thing is she’s never been allergic to store bought detergent.
Maybe the small amount used for stains wouldn’t bother her though.
[Reply]
Will definitely be trying this soon. My 3-year old is a stain machine & store-bought stain removers get expensive in a hurry!! Thanks!
[Reply]
Sweet! I’ve got borax around already from my laundry soap – I’ll have to remember this for those pesky stains my daughter always manages to get on her clothes!
[Reply]
Great recipe! And definitely more frugal than my beloved OxiClean.
-Lauren
[Reply]
Great idea, do you think this would work on small carpet stains?
[Reply]
I was just looking at commercial stain removers today and I thought, “I’m sure I can find a recipe for a homemade stain remover!” So glad that I came across your recipe!
[Reply]
I found that for grass stains when my son was younger, white vinegar sprayed on straight and let sit for about an hour before washing worked fantastic. Plus it will get out blood stains, he has chronic bloody noses still and I was running out of unstained pillow cases for guest and decided to try the vinegar. Worked on even set in stains. I still use it for the baby’s stained up clothes and it rinses out plus helps soften the clothes if you toss a cup full into the washer.
[Reply]
GettingFreedom Reply:
March 30th, 2010 at 7:28 am
I will have to give that a try. My husband has chronic bloody noses, too–that would definitely be handy. Thanks, Shanna!
[Reply]
Holly Reply:
November 21st, 2011 at 11:55 am
@Shanna, my mom is a nurse and was often getting blood on her white scrub uniforms. She always used peroxide. It got it out right away!
[Reply]
hydrogen peroxide is REMARKABLE for getting out blood. continue to apply until the blood is gone. NEVER use hot water with blood.
[Reply]
i use cheap hair spray like aqua net to get black or4 blue ink out it may work with red ink just spay on and let soak for a while and meat tenderiser is good for blood sttains
[Reply]
Never wash blood in water hotter than normal body temperature (98.6) because you will set the stain. It’s a chemical thing
[Reply]