Let me tell you, I have LOVED receiving all the hand me downs people have so graciously given us , for free. I didn't plan on putting baby clothes on my registry and with all the hand me downs and second hand items I've bought, I won't have to. So lets get into the Laundry Striping process. As I'm sure you know, laundry striping is when you soak clothes in a tub of very hot water with a mixture of cleaners, and let it sit for a few hours. This deep cleans/kills germs and gets those pesky smells out of used items (clothes, toys, covers ,etc.). So here's what I used and did.
Step 1. Filled my guest bathtub up with hot water, the hottest it would go. I filled it up about a little less than half way.
Step 2. I added in the mixture. The "recipe" I used was 1/4 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, 1/4 cup of Borax, and 1/2 cup of powder detergent (most people used powered tide but that is way too expensive for my liking so I got ROME brand powdered detergent.
Step 3. Mixed all of that in the water until it looks dissolved.
Step 4. Added in the clothes and covers
Step 5. Let sit for a little more than 2 hours. You can do longer or shorter would stir it and make sure everything was still submerged every 30 minutes.
Step 6. After the 2 hours (and being grossly shocked at the water color), I rung out the water from the clothes and covers and put them in my washing machine.
Step 7. I washed them on hot with Arm & Hamer clear and fragrance free baby laundry detergent. Once that was done I switched them to the dryer.
I was absolutely amazed and grossed out at the same time, seeing how dirty these items where even though I know they had been washed before. I do believe some of the dark aftermath water was due to colors of different things I added together, since the water was so hot. No I did not separate colors and nothing bled onto a lighter color item. You can do this with SO MANY THINGS: pack n play covers, strollers, carseats, literally so many baby items. Don't be afraid or feel weird about buying second hand or accepting hand me downs, it saves so much money. Just make sure you sanitize and clean appropriately so they can be fresh for your little baby to use.
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