How to get baby food stains out of clothes

Last modified on Thursday 31 March 2022

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From purees to finger foods, baby weaning is messy business. And for some reason no matter what your baby eats, you’re ALWAYS left with orange stains on their clothes. Ugh. Which raises the question asked by parents everywhere: how do you remove baby food stains?

Luckily there are ways to shift even the most stubborn of stains (yep, even the dreaded tomato sauce).

We’ve rounded up five fail-safe cleaning tips, all tried-and-tested by our Netmums community, to make washing baby clothes a total breeze.

1. Rinse first

Staying clean at mealtimes is a skill your little one hasn’t mastered yet. But even if they’ve tipped their pasta or puree all over themselves, it doesn’t mean their outfit is ruined.

The first step to remove food stains from baby clothes is to rinse off the mess as soon as you can with cold water. (There’s no need to interrupt your baby’s meal though, afterwards is just fine.)

Leave the clothes to soak in water for an hour before popping in the washing machine.

Our Netmums say:

‘Put a small amount of washing up liquid on stain, rub in gently and leave for at least half an hour. Rinse this out, again in cold water, and put more washing up liquid on, then put in the washing machine and wash as normal.’

'I have a bucket in my utility room for soaking and pop the items straight in there once stained.'

2. Use detergent before washing

Beetroot, blueberries … some foods really like to leave their mark. If you’ve got a particularly stubborn stain, try rubbing on some Fairy Non Bio liquid before you pop in the washing machine.

For gentle cleaning power that tackles even stubborn stains, add a Fairy Non Bio POD to your washing machine drum before loading clothes on top. The multi-compartment Pods contain just the right amount of detergent to leave clothes clean, meaning you can say goodbye to those baby food stains!

Our Netmums say:

‘With all my children's clothes I used Fairy washing liquid … rub a small amount on the stain leave for a few mins then wash as normal, then dry in full sun and bingo, it's gone.’

'Wet the stained part of the clothes with cold water, squirt Fairy on, rub in lightly (no need to scrub it in, give it a 10 second rub with fingertips), and pop in washer with normal washing stuff.'

3. Pick the right detergent for washing baby clothes

Wondering which is the best detergent and softener for washing your baby's clothes? Non bio detergents are generally kinder on skin, making them ideal for babygrows, bibs and baby bedding.

Fairy's Sensitive Skin Dream Team of Fairy Non Bio PODS® and Fairy Fabric Softener are your perfect laundry companion. Suitable for even newborn clothes, they give clothes a gentle wash while Fairy Fabric Softener leaves everything huggably soft. And that's exactly what you need after another teatime of baby-led weaning!

For added peace of mind, Fairy’s Non Bio range has been voted the number one laundry brand for sensitive skin* .

Our Netmums say:

‘I use Fairy Non Bio Powder . His clothes come out lovely and soft without me having to use conditioner and it always removes stains no matter what colour food he throws around!!!’

'We have used Fairy Non Bio Pods for a long time. Ever since being pregnant with my son – all of his baby items were washed using Fairy Pods. We still use them! They offer hygienic deep clean and all of the play and food messy stains that Bubba creates come out just after one wash.'

*Online panel of 3,433 women among which Fairy Non Bio detergent was voted most often as the #1 detergent and fabric softener for sensitive skin.

4. Use the right cycle on your washing machine

When you’ve got lots of washing to do, a quick cycle is ideal. But sometimes you need a longer wash to remove stubborn baby food stains.

Check the programmes on your washing machine to find a baby spin cycle or similar. It doesn’t necessarily need to be at high temperatures – Fairy Non Bio works at 30 degrees.

Our Netmums say:

‘Usually I just use the quick wash programme on my machine and do an extra spin and rinse cycle if necessary. I wash at 30 or 40 degrees and find the quick cycle gets rid of most toddler stains. However, the baby cycle IMO is better in getting food stains out of sleepsuits, PJs, cloth nappies and bibs/ muslin squares – especially 'orange' baby food stains.’

'I wash at 30 all the time, the exception being nappies which I wash at 60.'

5. Hang clothes in the sunshine

Hands up who loves a free parenting hack that is guaranteed to work? That’s all of us then. This one is recommended by our Netmums community and cleaning guru Mrs Hinch meaning it's a good'un ...

The top tip is to use sunshine to remove food stains from baby clothes. Easy. Wash the clothes as normal then hang in direct sunshine and voila, your whites will be bright with no hint of orange in sight.

Our Netmums say:

‘I find sunlight always removes food stains,  and the sun is actually shining today!!!!!  You have to peg them out with the sun shining directly on where the stain is.’

'I second sunlight! Its because the UV light changes the pigments in the natural food colourings (apparently, lol). When someone first told me to try it I thought they were winding me up, but it really does work. I put all of DD's bibs on the window sill in the sun and by end of day the stains have usually faded!'

Looking for more top laundry tips? Check out our articles below, or swap tips with other parents in our forum:

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