Why do baseball teams choose white pants? Struggling to keep them clean, and can’t use bleach as it turns the white polyester yellow, plus this year’s pants have a side blue stripe.
The reddish dirt stains are just not coming out and I never dry the pants, so stains are not set. I have tried many things: Biz powder, oxyclean powder/spray/gel, shout spray/gel, Iron out, greased lightning (works well for the black rubberized marks from some turf fields), pretreat with detergent (Tide and Persil), white vinegar, Clorox stain remover, Resolve pretreater.
Thanks in advance for any ideas/formulas/concoctions!
This might be worth a try, especially the last bit about leaving them to dry in the sunshine. Sunshine is good at helping bleach out stains for some reason.
My dog got into my veggie garden and then got dirt on a white area rug. After googling, I used a mixture of cold water and blue detergent (one that was billed as a degreaser–Palmolive Oxy). Applied it to the stains on the rug and used a small brush to rub them out. It worked!! Don’t use too much of the mixture and be sure to blot it out–old white wash cloths worked well for that. For the mixture, I used 2 cups of cold water and 1 T of the blue detergent. Maybe you could soak the pants in that solution because it sounds like the dirt stains are extensive.
Thanks everyone, these ideas are helpful and I will try them. The areas that really don’t come clean are knees and rear end from sliding. Keep 'em coming! I will report back as to what works!
I am a former expert at this, although it is not easy.
Pretreat all stained areas with some kind of stain stick--the gooey kind that looks like deodorant.
This is the key: after pretreating the stains, pour some of your detergent over the area, and then use your fingers to work the mixture of detergent and stain stick deep into the stained fabric. This requires some "elbow grease".
After you've got all of the seriously stained areas, put the pants in the washer by themselves, and use the hottest water temperature and longest wash cycle that you have.
In most cases, a second wash following the same process is required.
This will also work for grease and oil stains acquired from working on your vehicle. :)
The important thing is to physically work the cleaner/stain remover into the fabric at the stain sites. I don’t thing a brush works that well. Fold the fabric over on itself and rub it with your fingers. Use some force.
Effort and persistence is the key. Use your hands and fingers. God made them for a reason. The stains will come out. It just may take two or three repetitions. Two is really the minimum. Good luck.
Fels Naptha soap worked wonders through my son’s middle school and high school years. Iron out is another alternative. Both old fashioned and somewhat hard to find - I usually bought online at the beginning of the season. He was sure happy when he learned that the college team had a centralized laundry to take care of their uniforms!!!
Sometimes the hardness of your water is part of the problem. We have a softener but the water is still quite hard. I used a lot of the methods listed above and the pants were presentable but never sparkling clean. And white with a red stripe were the worst!
Then I had to wash a couple of pairs while at a travel tournament out of state, and they came out perfectly with nothing other than a little pre-treating and regular detergent.
Honestly, I don’t think my son ever cared how clean they looked (although he had one coach who was a real stickler about appearance, even reminding the boys to regularly polish their cleats :().
Why do baseball teams choose white pants? Because the people choosing the pants, usually men, are not the ones who do the laundry. When my sons played little league, I always hated when the dads would encourage the boys to slide into base as it meant grass and dirt stains that were difficult to get out. I have successfully used Oxyclean with a scrub brush to remove baseball pant stains. My coworker has run her DS’s pants through the carwash as someone suggested above.
Not specific to white baseball pants but in terms of stains on clothing in general, I find using dish soap (handwashing kind) to pre-treat is much more effective than laundry detergent. It seems to lift the stains out better.
Oxy Clean spray for the grass stains, work in some clear colored Dawn dishwashing liquid onto the sliding stains and then soak overnight in Tide. (important to soak or rinse thoroughly if using the Dawn method or you will end up with too many suds in your washing machine)
I miss the baseball days…especially some of the parents.
Have you tried murphy’s oil furniture soap? A friend used this and dawn on her son’s uniform pants and used to soak rub it in and then soak it in the washer. I don’t remember the amount she used.
Agreeing with @scualum about Fels Naptha soap. My S didn’t play baseball, but I did have good luck with Fels Naptha soap through the years in getting out grass stains, chocolate, & other stubborn stains as mentioned above.
We used the Fels Naptha soap too but it didn’t work really well on the red dirt. I mixed it with the Oxyclean and scrubbed the areas. It was a real pain! Hate white pants!
I think any good quality soap would work when paired with a scrub brush and a large amount of elbow grease. I recall that the scrubbing made all difference.
Thanks for all the additional good suggestions. The red dirt is really the problem, and vigorous scrubbing hasn’t been that successful…but I will try some different home brews now. Wish me luck! Pants are in the sun right now with baking soda solution!
I actually had moms ask me how I got my son’s Lacrosse clothes so white. I use a product called White Brite. I sent it to college with my oldest because his dorm washers were so filthy all his tshirts were dingy and gray when he came home for Christmas. I love White Brite. The only think I would NOT use it with is something embroidered. It turned the polo pony a totally different color on one of the guys’ polo shirts a few years back but in general it’s pretty safe to use. Read the label.
The stains will come out. It just may take two or three repetitions. Two is really the minimum. Good luck.