Getting White Pants Clean

Now I know this is Ladies only, but my wife won't let me order white for this very reason, she has yet to be able to get them clean so I am very interested in the replies to tis thread.

Sorry to enter the ladies board, but the topic caught my eye. I do clean the white pants in the house and I use greased lightening. Spray it on then hang on fence or place on something hard then spray with garden hose. Then go about your regular wash. If this don't work try Iron Out. Soak pants in bucket with I/O and then wash.

My wife soaks them in a mixture of water and ammonia. It works great, our son always has the dirtiest uniform at the end of the game and the cleanest uniform at the start of the next game.

I was getting ready to recommend Iron Out. I see Just Hit It beat me to it. I have used this for years. I add it to the load and let it soak overnight.

You do have to be careful with colors. I have used it on a couple of colors with success, but washed a gold Henley one year, of my sons and a teammate, and they had to wear canary yellow shirts the rest of the summer!

I use laundry detergent, Cascade, and Oxy Clean, let them soak overnight, then finish cycle first thing in the morning, then hang dry in the car during the school day.

Fortunately Varsity has two pairs of pants, so I have a couple of days to do this a second time if necessary.

The key is getting them in there as soon as they walk in the door!

Never put them in the dryer or anything left will set for good.

Carol

A pre-soak and scrub with Murphy's Oil Soap and then regular wash has almost always worked for us.

Best thing I have used is my mother's old standby, Fels-Naptha soap. Just get the pants really wet, then rub the soap over the stain and scrub. The best solution, of course, is to talk the coach into gray pants.

oxyclean and shout and of course Tide! Can't believe the number of us guys attracted by this thread!

If your field uses Georgia clay, the orange comes from the iron in the soil --- hence the success of Iron Out. If the stains aren't that orange-y, I vote Fels Naptha and/or Oxyclean.

If all that fails, send them to college -- the team handles the laundry.

I vote yes for Fels Naptha!

I'm going to admit (with some shame) that over the years, I used just a bit of Clorox in the wash with those white uni pants. About half the amount that I would normally use, and I never had a problem. Of course we didn't have as much problems with clay dirt out here as those of you from my home state of Virginia might have.... wish I had heard about Fels Naptha before now.

(Of course, anyone sporting an Anteater avatar HAS no shame, so please take that into consideration before going the bleach route).

We have red clay and last year one of the moms told us her secret. She pressure washes the pants before washing.

Ladies,

What, if anything gets out ink?

Always get to a stain as soon as possible. If it's been in the dryer....you may be stuck with the stain.

Aerosol hairspray breaks up ballpoint ink very well.

I can't think of the name of the product line, but it's in the laundry aisle (oddly enough) and comes in tubes about 3" high. They're specifically formulated stain removal products, and I've found the ink ones to be very effective. If nobody else can supply the name, I'll check when I get home from work for you.

Since none of our stores carry fels, we found White Dial bar soap to do the job!

Fels Naptha, by Dial

..about $40 at Academy.

Or,if it's late, let dad wash, em and blame him.

Then go to Academy with $40 bucks.

"iff they could only sseee mne now.......

I always wanted to be bigger.

And just as this posted reality set in.

Return of word of the week.

Intransendkinkydvestite.

1. One is stubbornly opposed to being opposed to the opposite of what it should have not been.

2. One who post anudouslmy in the ladies lounge.

3. His biggieness has a link to a photograph of an example.

And for a few of us.

BASEBALL IS ALIVE!

I have had the most luck with Cascade and hot water. I usually try to get to them as soon as we get home from a tournament, but once the pants were in the hamper for several days before I remembered. I sprayed with Shout, let them sit, then washed with Cascade and regular detergent in hot water and they were good as new. There have been times when they were so bad I thought that the dirt would never come out and the Cascade gets it out everytime.

What I have come to realize from all the years of washing dirty, rotten catchers pants is that it really depends on the type of water where you live that will determine what works best... here in MA I have very hard water so I use piping hot water, cascade and bleach....works like a charm...but when we traveled I couldn't seem to get his pants as clean as I could at home...also another factor....once those pants hit the drier it sets the stains...so best to line dry in the sun...I also have a good solution on how to dry pants ASAP when you need them real quick....drive down the highway with them blownin' in the wind....works like a charm

..the pants my friend have been blown in the wind............

Thanks Orlando for the ink tip.

The BEST part about college baseball is that you do not have to worry about teh wash.
I pity the guys at Clemson who have that job, white pants all teh time, I should ask what their secret is!

quote:

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My best success with getting just about anything off white pants has been using a spray on product called "Red Clay remover" it's made by "Krud Kutter" and is sold at Home Depot or Lowe's. Whatever you use, you need to attack it right away rather than waiting a day.

As a catcher's mom I have found the most important thing to do is scotchguard the pants before they hit the field....after that greased lightening works best on Florida clay

Fels-Naptha - A parent gave a bar to each parent on the team a few years back. We did the same thing on the next years team and kept the tradition going. Good stuff and cheap. Krogers has it for around a dollar.

"What'd ya want me to do...DIVE???" Corbin Bersen - Major League

Oh am I glad to hear this. My son a few years back was 15 years old and made a AAA legion team. The coach purchased Powers pants which says no bleach and my son, bless his heart spilled orange gatorade on them the first game. I think I washed them a miniumum of six times in one day, hung them on a basketball hoop in the drive way to try and let the sun bleach them when I finally gave way to bleach. Did'nt look bad until they played under the lights and his uniform was a light brown compared to everyone elses bright white. Any tips other than bleach I appreciate.

Ladies,

White Pants solution: Right out of our High School baseball handbook. Recommended by our coaches and works awesome!!

- Pants to be cleaned after each use.
- Removing stains: "hand-scrub" the soiled areas with "hand soap" E.G., Ivory Snow, Dove etc.. Once the soiled areas are sufficently latered, grab the surrounding fabric and vigorously scrub the effected area until the stain is removed. Then without rinsign, put the pants(uniform) in the washing machine of COLD water using common fabric stain removers "as the only detergent". E.G. shout, etc. 1 oz. to 1 gal of water. After the rinse cycle is complete, simply hang the garments on a hangar to "air" dry.

Standard detergents with warm or hot water will not do adequate job. Further, if standard soap dtergent is still present after machine washing, and if dryer is used, any stains may be permanently set!

Mom's it hard keeping those white pants clean. I make him take them off right after the game and while the stains are fresh I use this process above. We use a bar of ivory soap a week but IT WORKS! Lay it on a surface and rub that bar right on the stains! The pants come up white. Sometimes if the stains are bad, I soak it in a tub of cold water with the soap on the stains and rub them out and re-apply as I let it soak and before it goes in the wash.

Hopes this helps! IT WORKS!! Just patience and care of those pants are needed..

Soaking an area with a combination of Greased Lightening AND Chlorox II works wonders. My son was a catcher last summer and I was able to keep his white pants white.
(yes, ladies, I am in charge of baseball laundry in the JT household)

As the season begins for many of us, wash the uni before playing in warm water and white vinegar. Then add the vinegar (about 1/2 cup) with your cascade during each wash. The cascade can also be applied and brushed in on heavy stains. Carpet cleaning companies use it to take stains out of your carpets.

The best way I've found for those set in stains that won't wash out of game pants is to lay them in the sun for a couple of days. This will brighten most but don't try colors because it will fade them too.

I have tried almost everything and the best that I have found is something called "Yellow Out". Just google Yellow out and it will come up. In MD the only place I have found it is in Acme food stores, but you can order it right online. It has made old white pants with stains set in look like new. They come out bright white as if you have bleached them!

OK, Just got the team uniform pants. I don't know how many years they've been in use, but they're not looking good. Instead of a crisp white with black stripe down the side, they are a very pale brown with streaks of red clay, and green grass stains on knees, and behind. They are quite stiff, and have obviously been in this condition for months! So, I just got back from the market with Fels-Naptha, Clorox II, and Cascade{I hope those little tablets are ok!}I'll let you all know how it goes!

Coachric ...

quote:

wash the uni before playing in warm water and white vinegar.

I am soooo confused. Do I wash the pants before I play in the warm water and white vinegar (oooooo, that sounds stinky) or do I wash the pants in warm water and vinegar before I start playing?

Just needed to tease you 'cause I am sure some fellow who has never had to do his own laundry might be confused, depending on where the emphasis is placed in the statement, and try playing in warm water and vinegar to see if he can prohibit stains from occurring.

Sorry to invade the ladies only forum but I could not resist this topic. When the white pants come home [always with a black or colored stripe so bleach is always scarry] I soak them in a strong Oxyclean or like solution [off brand] in hot water. I soak them for at least three hours or sometimes all night. I rinse them out with cold water before machine washing. If you just have dirt, for the machine wash I suggest Tide with bleach alternative [color safe] and a product called "Dissolve" which I have found in laundry mats and is used by the oilfield workers here in West Virginia. If there are grass stains, I use Shout in the tube and rub it in on both sides of the stain [inside and out] and let it set for at least 20 minutes before placing it in the machine washer. A particularly stubborn dirt stain that survives the Oxyclean bath and rinse will get Tide with bleach alternative poured on the stain directly on both sides and rubbed in with a battery operated small swirling brush [available as a combined product at most grocery stores].

I do all the washing in our house so my wife loves me very much.

TW ...

Do you do windows?

FutureBack.Mom

Ouside, water hose. Inside Windex.

TW,
Wow, infielddad cries and you do laundry! Impressive.

I am so happy I do not have to wash those Clemson white pants!

Fels Naptha hands down!

The stains I'd help my boyfriend get out of his pants weren't very severe - nothing that couldn't be fixed with oxyclean.

In Texas we have a mixture of everything on the fields. I just spray Tilex on the pants, throw them in the wash with oxy xlean and turn on the hot water. Learned this Tilex trick when my husband played softball and then carried it over to my sons white pants. If you are a catchers mom or dad you learn just how quickly they can get dirty.

I have been coaching a long time and I have tried every combo. possible. The best/easiest thing I have found is....soak them in 'Lever Pro' overnight and send them through the wash as normal. Will get an occasional spot that has to have a little stain remover and sent back through the wash.

For me, it seems that if I get them in the wash as soon as he gets home, they come clean. I always use oxyclean in the wash and felsnaphta (?spelling) on the really dirty areas, blood, before I throw them in.

hsbsblfan ...

quote:

on the really dirty areas, blood,

Glad my son never competed against your son ...

quote:

Originally posted by FutureBack.Mom:
hsbsblfan ...

quote:

on the really dirty areas, blood,

Glad my son never competed against your son ...

Hahahahahaha. I needed that laugh, thanks.

Hahahaha! Thanks, made my day too. I can assure you that it was his own blood, not someone elses.

Yahoo, I finally found Fels Nathpa. I was looking in with the laundry detergent and it was with the bar soap. I am always excited to find something new to clean baseball uniforms with. Now if my sewing skills were better to mend the holes in the pants. I will work on it along with my cooking skills sometime soon. (Baseball season, lots of pizza).

Well, thanks ladies (and a few brave gentlemen)! I have tried the Fels Naptha and am pleasantly surprised. I also use Shout and Tide and wash them in HOT water. My son also gets really dirty (and bloody too sometimes!) and this combo works great on our Mid Missouri dirt.

I just scrub really hard.

THANKS ladies!!!!

My son had a tourney this past weekend and one of the fields had wet red clay. Since my son is not a "passive" player, the previously white uni came home a nice shade of reddish orange. We're not talking about a spot or two either.....ALL down both legs; front, back, seat, sides. We're talking RED / ORANGE. Some on the jersey but not so bad.

So my wife is stressing out on how to get these things somewhat clean again. Here's basically what happened:

1) We get home from the tourney around 11:30 pm or so and I start SCRUBBING them with a brush to get the loose stuff off. This took a good hour or so.

2) Per her instructions, I soak overnight in OxyClean.

3) She sees that did little then takes over and proceeds to rinse then soak in Clorox.

4) Seeing it hardly dented the "stain", she rinses and soaks them again.

5) Still not working she asks another team mom for advice and then adds Lestoil.

6) Still not budging she combines Lestoil AND Clorox...and gags on the fumes enveloping our house.

7) STILL no luck, I remember this weird named soap. So when she calls proclaiming she's about to blow a gasket I say "See if you can find a soap called Fels Naptha". She does and when I get home I open the bar, rub it on the "spot" let it set for the prescribed minute then threw them in the washer for another cycle.

She came running upstairs..."YOU'RE NOT going to believe this but....."

TADA!!! They were sparkling white as if we'd just bought them.

So thanks so much for the help!

And I said I couldn't find Fels Naptha here in town, low and behold I was in the Mast General Store, and there it was!!

So anyone from the Asheville NC area that is still reading and/or looking, there you go!

I haven't had to wash uniforms in awhile, and having pitchers, it really wasn't that bad, but SON will have some summer pants to deal with!

Can you soak pants that are white with blue piping down the sides and around the belt tunnels? Or does it run if you soak it? What about tops, can you soak those as well? Just trying to have a plan of attack when the spring gets here so I can best get my teams laundry done and not stay at school until midnight every game night.

My sons summer league pants had blue piping and I soaked them without a problem. I agree that the Fels Naptha stuff works the best

Brian, I never had any problem soaking pants with a stripe down the side or pin striped pants. I did once soak a travel ball jersey in "iron out" which I had washed in that before. However, soaking the shirt turned it from a gold to a canary yellow which didn't make him very happy!! What was really bad was that he had a teammate staying with us that weekend, so there were two yellow "birdies" on the field! Ooops!!

For some reason, whatever they are made of, the pants always hold up better than the shirts. And I agree that the rubbing with the Fells naptha does a good job.

= Advertising deleted =

Gw, from all your ol' logging days - I am sure Fels Naptha was your best friend, am I right?

And BTW, his shirt clearly states his name is PHIL, I am not sure what PHIL was up to, but he sure looks happy about it.

Went All Natural, eh? How did that work out for ya?
Bet your tighty-whiteys were not all that white...Herbs?? How did they taste would be the more appropriate query?

ESPRO SPORTS CLEANER is the best thing I have ever found to get out grass, red clay, mud, blood, field paint, you name it. Smells great and is environmentally friendly too. Very reasonably priced - sold at Hibbett Sports, Academy Sports and other sporting goods stores.

I'm tremendously embarrassed to be here, but couldn't resist the topic. As a divorced dad, it's on me to get the pants clean, and I've been so successful many moms ask me how I do it. It may be dirt specific, as was previously suggested, but this has worked well for us. Alabama red clay stains, Shout-out or other stain spray, wait the suggested 15-20 minutes, then soaking for two days in the summer sun in a bucket of Iron Out. Finally, Oxyclean and laundry detergent in a mix strong enough that you have to run them through the cycle twice to get the suds out. The Iron Out really is they key, and it smells so bad it can make you nauseous, but it works.
That'll do it!
I'm leaving the forum now!

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"I'm leaving the forum now!"

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Will try the fels naptha-what memories that suggestion brought back. I just lost my mom Mar 18 and she used to swear by fels naptha. I had forgotten about it. It will bring me comfort to try and get those white pants clean with mom's old stand by

My son is a catcher whose white pants had never been white after opening day. That is until I read suggestions on HSBBW to use Iron Out. I use hot water with Iron Out and soak for at least 30 minutes. Then I add OxyClean and Gain detergent. I've even tried it with set in stains and it works! No scrubbing either!

add Cascade dishwashing detergent (powder only) - works great!

.

And while you're at it...



...add these too!




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The only problem with iron out is that it may rust your snaps up a little. Of course, that's nothing a little steel-wool and a light coat of WD-40 wont take care of.

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I have to get some of that Iron Out©...my snaps haven't been rusted up in years...not even a little!



Would it help to break a raw egg into it? Free range, of course.

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Someone once told me about this product, Clayzout. It works wonderfully. All you do is mix some Clayzout with water, allow the uniform to soak, scrub any remaining stains with a plastic scouring pad, and launder as normal. I'm telling you it works unbelievably well. I would recommend it it anyone. Check it out at www.clayzout.com

I have a confession. My son does his own laundry. Haven't done his laundry since he was 12 or 13. I haven't even noticed how clean his pants are - maybe that means his pants are clean. But we don't have that real organge clay.

Ok, I feel better having admitted it.

I have tried everything...but just learned of Iron Out this summer. OMG it is fantastic and the ONLY thing I have found to get out the clay from our area. I prewash with detergent, uniform only, to get all the loose dirt out then use ~1/2 C IronOut to the low level water then soak the uniform overnight. (Keep the top of the washer down, it stinks). Then raise the water level to rinse and wash again with detergent (add a few more cloths at this piont if you want.) I typically do a weekend tournament's worth at one time to make it efficient. Wayne, I have more than one child and don't have the luxury to soak for days! Plus, this has convinced me to not get a front loader washing machine until the cleats are hung up!

I have found Fels also works best here in Texas, but if they play after it rains, and Diamond Dry was used to dry the field, its almost impossible to get the red clay out. That stuff dries it out and sets it in. A bleach pen is about the only thing you can use after washing a couple of times. I also agree with not drying.

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This guy doesn't need help getting his white pants clean...he needs help getting them on!




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If you can't find it locally, you can buy Fels-Naptha soap at: http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/

I LOVE Iron Out! If any of your boys went to WWBA in Georgia this summer and came back with ruined reddish-brown pants (mainly because they attempted laundering, unsuccessfully), TRY IT. I bought it as a final option before donating all of son's pants to my nephew's dog (he loves playing tug-of-war with baseball pants, apparently). They LOOK LIKE NEW, and I did nothing but soak them. Granted, I think I put in twice as much as directed on the bottle, but truly, it was amazing how good they look now!!

Sorry... saw this subject and thought I would share a tip given to me by a mom from my son's team.

Murphy's Wood Oil Soap!!! It works... wash once just to get the excess dirt of the pants. Take out and soak in the Murphy's for an hour or so and wash again. Stains are gone. We did this when we came back from the Dominican Republic... nasty infield dirt there. Works on pants that were stained and put in the dryer. You can spot treat also.

http://www.colgate.com/MurphyO...cts/original-formula

Hey ninthmanout,

I am an IronOut kinda gal, but did you dilute the Murphy's oil when you soaked the pants?

Yes, I used about a 1/2 cup per gallon, maybe a little more.
The mom that gave me the tip said she had tried everything on her sons pants and could not get the stains out, so her son was just using them for practice. She heard about Murphy's and tried it and the stains came out. The pants had been washed and dried many times and the stains still came out.
If the stains are really bad I spot treat.

Iron-Out...

The stuff works so great it's unbelievable! No scrubbing. Just soak in hot water!

Pour some in 5 gal bucket, add a little detergent to the mix, then add enough hot water to cover pants.

Add pants, pour a little more in and use a broom stick to move around.

After a while the stains just disappear! The stuff stinks like sulphur, so move it to the porch or garage ASAP!

After they soak for a few hours or so, just wash as normal. I couldn't find anywhere locally, so I just ordered it on amazon.

You will not believe it! Son's pants that's he's wore in over 100+ games keep looking brand new!

You will be shocked and happy!

bar of ivory soap' rub it in directly and soak in sink. works wonders and cheap

My wife tried every remedy suggested for getting stains out of white pants, and then some, but found this stuff to work the best:

 

http://www.clubhouseucs.com

 

It's called Slideout, it definitely isn't cheap, but it works 100% of the time.

Iron Out - let it soak for awhile in it, then wash in washing machine.

You might feel a little silly doing it, but nothing, I mean nothing, works as well as hanging the pants on a car wash mat holder and spraying them with high pressure soap and water. It takes me less than a minute to do and I never have to pre-treat, scrub or soak. I have people ask me all the time how I keep the white baseball pants clean. I was spending $20 a month in products before someone taught me this quick trick at a tournament. 

Before this thread even started, I went out and bought some Iron Out, was told it will take the yellow tint out off white pants. Going to give it a try.

I am amazed!!! I just used Whink's Rust & Iron Stain Remover (Ace Hardware) and my son's pants are white again.  I was afraid to use it because his pants have a red pinstripe but it didn't affect it at all.  His pants were at a point where we were just going to have to trash them since we couldn't get the stains out. Until now...  First I sprayed them with Oxy Clean and let them sit over night.  Then let them soak in Whink's for 3 hours and then I washed them through a normal wash cycle with detergent.  The pants look brand new again!!

I just picked up some Iron Out.  Gonna try it, then gonna spray on some Scoch-Gard Fabric.  Thanks.

my wife hand washes (presoak and hand scrub) my son's jersey's and pants/shorts for all of his sports - no machine wash and dry.  No stain problems, great colors, and no numbers wearing off.  Son is now learning how to do this.

Two words "Fels Naptha."

As stated previously, the car wash is the easiest and best!  Most pants are polyester so the dirt is just attached to the material, not actually staining it.  Of course, cotton pants would be different.  Happy cleaning to all.

Ok...Iron Out is NO JOKE!  I still have some stains from two weeks ago, but barely.  Anything new is GONE.  I'll scotch gard any new pants and use Iron Out for any new stains going forward.  Thanks.

I just throw them in the wash. From game one on . If it's stained it's stained . My silent protest against white pants. I refuse to spend extra time on them . Here's a question do you own a pair of white pants yourself? I didn't think so.

Good point.  I just think white uniforms look good, and look better when they are clean.  At least at the start of the game and season.  A little dirt means the kid is working...or just playing in the dirt.  We wear gray for our games, but my son has some white for practices.  No extra work really needed, just add the Iron Out to your wash.  It will do the rest.  It will get the rest of your whites nice and clean too.

I will second that....it's tough to find sometimes....so when you find it....buy 2 or 3 bars at a time.

My wife... and kids, for that matter... like to give me a hard time about my activity on this site. When they call me "Soylent Green" for being a few minutes late to the dinner table for instance, you know they're laying it on thick. I gently remind them that hey, "Soylent green is people"!

 

Anyway... I'm getting revenge this morning... Sending a link to this thread to my wife under the email heading "This made me think of you, love".

 

I may have more time to peruse the site starting tonight... from the couch ;-)

....and you think that's going to make her want you to spend more time here???? 

 

Me thinks you in big trouble.  

Ok.  Iron Out is THE TRUTH!  One more soak and wash and ALL stains are GONE.  If you aren't using this stuff, get some NOW.  I will now scotchgard fabric and add Iron Out to the wash.

I was trying to give my wife a hard time by sending her his thread on the snide, but as usual with such efforts it backfired on me. She enjoyed reading it and asked me to share the following, FWIW:

1. She recently ordered this product, but hasn't used it yet -http://m.clubhouseucs.com/#!Clubhouse%20Kit|page_1
2. She finds that she worries less about absolute whiteness with each passing season.

Try Spec-Tak from U.N.X. Incorporated.   You can purchase online at Victory Custom Athletics.  One to two ounces per load and they come out like new.