How to get baby poop out of clothes

Last modified on Thursday 31 March 2022

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Louisa Sherlock

Associate Editor

Dealing with the messy aftermath of (yet another!) nappy explosion is probably not your favourite part of being a parent. Especially when your baby’s poop leaves stubborn yellow stains on their brand new outfit. Gah.

But before you chuck their dirty clothes away, STOP!

We’ve got some genius hacks for getting baby poop out of clothes while leaving them soft against your little one's delicate skin. Meaning no matter how much poop you’re faced with (seriously, HOW do babies produce so much?!), their clothes can be washed and good as new in no time.

Here are seven top tips to get baby poop out of clothing, along with the stain-removing laundry hacks our Netmums parents swear by.

1. Act fast

The sooner you wash your baby’s poop-covered clothes, the better chance you have of leaving them stain-free.

Carefully take off your baby’s dirty clothes, making sure not to get any poop near their face. Here’s a clever hack for removing even the messiest of babygrows down your baby’s body rather than over their head.

2. Clean off as much poop as you can

The next step to getting baby poop out of clothes is scraping off as much of the mess as you can. Either flush the poop down the toilet or rinse it away under cold running water in the sink.

(To make sure no germs or nasties hang around, be sure to clean your sink with disinfectant afterwards.)

3. Pre-treat the stain

How to get poop stains out of baby clothes is a very popular topic in our Netmums forum. And lots of parents suggest treating the stained area first.

When it comes to the best stain remover for baby clothes, you don’t need a separate product. Instead, gently rub in your normal laundry detergent (we love Fairy Non Bio Washing Liquid , especially as the whole Fairy Non Bio range has been voted the number one laundry brand for sensitive skin!*) and leave for a few minutes before washing as normal.

4. Choose the right baby laundry detergent

You want to remove the poop completely, but you don’t want to leave your baby’s clothes scratchy or uncomfortable to wear. That’s why it’s so important to pick a baby detergent that will not only remove stains but will also leave clothes soft and comfy.

And you don’t need biological products for stubborn stains. Fairy Non Bio Sensitive Skin Dream – Fairy Non Bio PODS® and Fairy Fabric Softener – will shift poop stains with no drama.

The Pods have clever multi-compartments containing gentle ingredients and mild perfume. This gives clothes a gentle but effective clean. Simply pop one in your washing machine drum before loading the clothes on top.

5. Don’t forget fabric softener

You'll want to keep your baby’s clothes super soft ... including after a poonami! So be sure to add a slosh of Fairy Fabric Softener for huggable softness.

Always read the clothes’ care labels first though. Some items are treated with flame-resistant chemicals and fabric conditioner can make this less effective.

6. Wash at a higher temperature

Whilst Fairy cleans brilliantly in a cold wash, for any outfits that have baby poop on them, the NHS recommends washing the clothes at 60 degrees. You should also wash reusable nappies at this higher temperature too.

This means sorting out any clothes that have been in contact with baby poop and washing separately.

7. Dry in sunlight

The final step in removing baby poop stains from clothes is leaving everything to dry in the sunlight. Our Netmums community agrees this is a brilliant laundry hack. The sun basically bleaches out any yellow stains meaning zero effort from you for maximum results.

That's the kind of hack we like!

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

How to get baby poop out of clothes: our Netmums community share their tips

‘I rinse it ASAP, put wash gel on and rub then soak the item with fairy stain remover on for an hour or so, then wash.’

‘I use reusable nappies and if there is poo on them I rinse that off and give them a good scrub under the tap and then put them in with the normal wash and use non biological powder.’

‘Wash straight away with warm water and rub Fairy liquid on the stains and put in washing machine. This happened to me the other day. My daughter has a brand new outfit on and it was everywhere but I did this and no stains at all now.’

‘As a general rule, anything with poo or vom goes in a separate (hotter) wash.’

‘Sunlight = stain free baby grows. I used the last few days of lovely weather to hang out some very badly stained white babygrows and ta da! They are good as new.’

‘For washing powder I use Fairy PODS and Fairy Softener. I use a 60 degree wash and I usually choose a cycle that's about an hour and a half long. My machine has an anti-stain cycle that's 3 hours long and if I really think it's a bad one I use that!’

‘Washing up liquid! I swear by it for all kinds of stains. Tip some onto the stained area and rub it in. Leave to soak in for 10 minutes then put in the wash as normal. Don't rinse the washing up liquid off first, just bung it straight into the machine. Works wonders on all sorts - poo stains, sun cream, chocolate, tomato sauce, kids paint…’.

‘I scrub them with Fairy washing up liquid, rinse and then wash as normal... works a treat!’

‘I wash them immediately, no rinsing or anything, just put them straight in the machine! There’s usually a basket of washing to be done in this house anyway 😂 works every time!’

‘Try putting some soap powder/gel directly onto the stain and rub it in, add the normal amount to your wash as well, and do a hot wash.’

Looking for more laundry tips and tricks? Check out these stories, below, or share your advice in our Netmums Forum.