Washing Baby Accessories

Hello!

I made this pacifier-monster cloth for my grandson. Does anyone have any experience cleaning it?
We’re talking about baby food, staining juice, and other tough stains like that. Can you get them out?

Thanks so much!

Die Heakeloma :)

Hi Haekeloma,
welcome to our forum and site.
Here’s a link with tips on stain removal.
What kind of yarn did you use to crochet the pacifier monster cloth? When removing stains, you also have to take the material into account.
Best regards for now
Mod Josefa

Hi Haekeloma,

unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with the pacifier bib—but I do have experience with baby food stains and the like.
Especially fruit puree and carrots… those are very hard to remove when washing.
It’s best to soak it quickly or apply one of those special stain removers (I think from Dr. Beckmann) directly to the stain; otherwise, they’re still hard to get out even at 60°.
But I would never wash crocheted items at such high temperatures. It depends on the yarn, of course, but I usually wash my knitted and crocheted items—if at all—in the machine at a maximum of 30°.
Since it’s just a bib, maybe it’s best to just accept that it’ll get a stain or two ;-)

Best wishes, Nici

Hi Haekeloma, you can get almost all stains out with ox gall soap. Let it sit for a bit and then wash as usual.
Best regards

Could you include washing instructions right in the pattern, or would that be too much trouble?

I don’t think that’ll work, Hamster.
Because it always depends on what kind of yarn the items are made from. (And that’s up to the buyer to decide—the pattern can only give tips on which yarn to use.)
However, there are always care instructions on the labels.

Hi, and thanks for the quick and many replies! :)

@Josefa: I used an inexpensive crochet yarn. Thanks for the website—it looks very helpful!

@Nici and Lucygurumi: Thanks to you both, too—I’ll pass this on to my daughter-in-law when my grandson gets his gift.

Hey there.... What works well is washing it by hand with gall soap or letting it soak. Then just lay it out in the sun. The stains are gone — most of them, at least. 

Ox gall soap? Where do you get that? And what is it? :D Sorry for asking such a silly question!

Hi FoxisNadel, you can find ox gall soap in liquid and solid form at the drugstore. There’s no such thing as a silly question!

Thanks, lucygurumi! I’ll check it out tomorrow :)

Best regards, Virginia

Gall soap works very well on stains.
But here’s what you shouldn’t do:
Treat stains on towels with gall soap and then throw them in the washing machine.
Throw a dishcloth with a little cleaning agent on it in there.
Set the washing machine to 90 degrees - and then accidentally leave the detergent dispenser open.
-->Then foam comes out, and the whole washing machine was so full of foam that I had to run the 90-degree cycle several times until all the foam was gone.
Gall soap itself probably doesn’t foam all that much, but combined with cleaning agent and laundry detergent, it was then suboptimal. ;-)
 

@Mod
that’s what happens when your mind is somewhere else and you do things. :)