Spaghetti stain - HELP!

[Southern Ivy]

Dd had spaghetti at preschool while wearing a white shirt with black stars. She got sauce all over the sleeves and front. :/ 
I soaked it overnight in oxyclean. I rubbed Gain dish detergent with bleach alternative onto it and let it sit for awhile, then washed it. The stains are still there and obviously, due to the stars, I can't bleach it. 

(I have not dried the shirt, though it has air dried.) 

Any other suggestions? 

[alisoncooks]

Sometimes Dawn gets out stains, especially if there is grease involved.

ETA: oops, you tried dish detergent. I just read Gain.

Edited December 7, 2015 by alisoncooks

[Bambam]

Soak it in a mixture of Dawn dishwashing liquid (the kind that comes with the foaming squirt nozzle) and water overnight again. Wash again and see if that helped. 

 

I've had success with the bleach pens when there was a pattern of colors on the white shirt. I would save that for my last attempt.

[zoobie]

There's just something magical in Dawn. Try it with vinegar.

[Southern Ivy]

Ok, I'll grab some blue Dawn and mix it with vinegar tomorrow for another soak. 
 

[Forget-Me-Not]

Shout makes a concentrated gel that I swear has magic as a secret ingredient. The bottle has a brush top so you can really work it into the fabric fibers. It has taken tomato-based stains out for me on many occasions. I love it so much I take a bottle on every trip because it can sit on the clothes for a week. I can usually find it at Target or Walmart. The bottle looks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0049T2SWQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1449458221&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=shout+gel+stain+remover&dpPl=1&dpID=41dIYS2%2BZoL&ref=plSrch

Edited December 7, 2015 by Forget-me-not

[Tanaqui]

Try soaking it with dishwashing soap and vinegar and then letting it sit in the sun after washing.

[Evergreen State Sue]

I don't know if this will work, but try detergent you put in the dishwasher.  This last week, the door on the cup where I put dishwasher detergent in the dishwasher failed to open properly so when the cycle was done and I opened the door, there still was some of the gel dishwasher detergent on the door of the dishwasher.  I took my dishwashing cloth from the sink (which happened to be green in color) and wiped it up.  When I rinsed the cloth out, I noticed a lot of the green color was bleached out to white!  I guess I never knew there was some sort of bleach in dishwasher detergent.  You might see if that works for you if nothing else will. 

[Pippen]

When nothing else works I try Lestoil.

[justasque]

Shout makes a concentrated gel that I swear has magic as a secret ingredient. The bottle has a brush top so you can really work it into the fabric fibers. It has taken tomato-based stains out for me on many occasions. I love it so much I take a bottle on every trip because it can sit on the clothes for a week. I can usually find it at Target or Walmart. The bottle looks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0049T2SWQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1449458221&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=shout+gel+stain+remover&dpPl=1&dpID=41dIYS2%2BZoL&ref=plSrch

 

Shout with the scrubbie on top gets out EVERYTHING.  I am a fan.

[Guest]

Yup. Shout is amazing. Soak it ten minute, scrub, wash on warm.

[Junie]

My mom used to be able to get spaghetti sauce stains out simply by washing it normally and then putting it outside in full sun to let the sunshine bleach the stain out.  It almost always worked!

[HS Mom in NC]

My oldest got a spaghetti stain on a beautiful white sweater. I got it out by soaking it on oxyclean for week.  Every day I changed out the water with a new scoop of the powder and rubbed  new a spoonful of the powder into the stained spots for a few minutes. 

[littlebug42]

I have had excellent luck with clorox 2.  It gets out a lot of stains, especially blood, even after it has gone through the dryer. 

 

[Pawz4me]

The spray Shout (triple action or something like that) works best by far for us.  Even better than the Shout gel with the scrubbie lid.

[plansrme]

Sun, if you can find it this time of year.  Though I am intrigued by this Shout with the scrubbie thing on it.  I'll have to look for that.  Stain removal is one of my passions, which is a good thing, because my son's travel baseball team wears white (polyester, of course) pants.  Georgia clay is red because of its iron content, so imagine getting rust stains out of white polyester multiple times a weekend.  Oh, and there are always grass stains under there--bonus!  Making those pants shiny white again really does fulfill me in a way that my professional (paying) job rarely does.  

[Southern Ivy]

I soaked it in vinegar with dish soap on the stain. Currently, it is washing and I'll put it in the sun to dry. But, if that doesn't get it, then I'll grab some Shout at the store tonight.

[zoobie]

Sun, if you can find it this time of year. Though I am intrigued by this Shout with the scrubbie thing on it. I'll have to look for that. Stain removal is one of my passions, which is a good thing, because my son's travel baseball team wears white (polyester, of course) pants. Georgia clay is red because of its iron content, so imagine getting rust stains out of white polyester multiple times a weekend. Oh, and there are always grass stains under there--bonus! Making those pants shiny white again really does fulfill me in a way that my professional (paying) job rarely does.

Lestoil (which stinks) and Totally Awesome concentrated spray in the clear bottle from the dollar store not diluted works on white baseball pants for me with very little scrubbing.

[plansrme]

Lestoil (which stinks) and Totally Awesome concentrated spray in the clear bottle from the dollar store not diluted works on white baseball pants for me with very little scrubbing.

 

I soak in Iron Out first, and then wash.  Pouring powdered Iron Out into the bucket requires that I open a window.  Then I wash again with Shout (no bristly top, though) for the grass stains.  That usually does the trick with no scrubbing.

[zoobie]

I soak in Iron Out first, and then wash. Pouring powdered Iron Out into the bucket requires that I open a window. Then I wash again with Shout (no bristly top, though) for the grass stains. That usually does the trick with no scrubbing.

DS's last travel baseball team used gray pants. And football pants were black. Hallelujah!

[Tree Frog]

I spray shout on the stain, put on some oxyclean, add a bit more shout to make a paste, and scrub with a toothbrush.

[mathnerd]

My oldest got a spaghetti stain on a beautiful white sweater. I got it out by soaking it on oxyclean for week.  Every day I changed out the water with a new scoop of the powder and rubbed  new a spoonful of the powder into the stained spots for a few minutes. 

For me, this method works every time - I use hot water and 3 or more scoops of Oxyclean + regular detergent + Borax and soak in a bucket which is covered and undisturbed for more than 24 hours and any food based stain goes away. You can also pretreat the strain with an oxyclean paste before soaking. The important thing for me is soaking for a long time and hot water.

Edited December 7, 2015 by mathnerd

[mathnerd]

I was always told to avoid hot water on stains. Well, it'd be different if I was using hot to sanitize but for actual stain removal I thought heat kept stains in, hence no dryer right afterwards. Maybe the sun is the exception, but in general I thought you avoid hot water?  :confused1:

I was told that Oxiclean works best with hot water (releases the hydrogen peroxide better with hot water, I believe). That is the reason why I use hot water with oxiclean.

Edited December 7, 2015 by mathnerd

[Tanaqui]

You're supposed to dissolve Oxyclean in hot water. However, it is then okay to add the dissolved Oxyclean to cold water for soaking some stains.

[Tammi K]

Sunlight is great for taking out tomato stains.  Wash and dry in the sun. Repeat if needed.

[sarasue7272]

Sunlight will also fade the black stars. My favorite stain remover right now is kidsNpets.

[Southern Ivy]

Sunlight will also fade the black stars. My favorite stain remover right now is kidsNpets.

I've never heard of that one. I'll have to look for that. 

[Seasider]

Sometimes Dawn gets out stains, especially if there is grease involved.

ETA: oops, you tried dish detergent. I just read Gain.

But Dawn, specifically, is really good! So give it a go if you haven't already! Also, I have been known to oxyclean soak things for days and days, at a higher concentration than the pkg directs. If it comes down to fading the stars or tossing the shirt... gray stars would still be cute with gray leggings!

[Laurie4b]

My sister used to work at an Italian restaurant. She used Wisk detergent on her clothes and it got the stains out. 

[Southern Ivy]

Who knew the sun was so awesome? Well, other than you wonderful ladies. :D 

The sun successfully removed the remainder of the stains. I have to admit, I was skeptical, but WOW! I'm a believer now. 
Thanks for the suggestions.