What Does YOUR Mother Know?
by
My mother came for a visit yesterday. Just before she arrived, Sun had another one of her exploding diapers. This one spread all around the waistline of her onesie. I immediately put the onesie in the washing machine. When the washer buzzed, I went to check it — it was still stained. I tossed it in the trash and called to my mom, “Well, there goes another one.” She called back, “Here’s a little hint: put it in the sun. Baby stains will come out.” I thought, “Sure; I’ll humor you.” Just like I humor her father when he offers me cans of tomato paste that are so old they are about to burst — I take the can telling him I’ll use it then toss it in the trash when I get home. It’s a public service, from my way of thinking. I am getting bad food out of society.
So I open my door to place the onesie on the porch. “On the grass,” my mom says to me, “You need to put it on the grass — it has something to do with the chlorophyll.” I find the one small patch of sunlight in the yard and lay the onesie in it. “This will never work,” I continue to think.
We then go to lunch and return an hour later. It is now overcast and there is no sun in my yard. I pick up the onesie and am shocked, SHOCKED, to see nary a stain. Not on the front that was touching the grass, and not on the back that was facing the sun. It looks brand-spanking new. White as white gets.
So there’s my mother’s helpful tip to all you mommies out there: “Baby stains” (nice euphemism, huh?) come out easily in the sun but only if you lay the item in grass. What tips have you gotten from your mother that you thought were outrageous but proved to be true??
You can, also, get the stains out with Shout. I use the Shout Gel. You need to spray it as soon as the stain happens and then you can throw it in the laundry basket. When you go to wash it, spray it again. If it is truely a tough stain, then do the grass thing. I fear that we will find your lawn littered with baby clothes and people will think you are having some kind of yard sale. However, cool tip. Does it work on other stains or just baby stains?
I am shocked, SHOCKED, that you were throwing them away.
My Mom and MIL both do the whole soaking the stain w/liquid detergent, I use Gain so that’s what I put on it, and rubbing the hell out if it:) Then washing it. I have had to do this a few times back to back but it’s always got the stains out for me. I do it for my stuff, when I remember:), and my son’s stuff….again when I remember:) My MIL mentioned it to us first but looking back I know my Mom did that stuff too. And my Mom also uses those stain thingy removers, I’m so sure that’s the technical name too!, and let that sit for a little bit before washing.
Wow! I’m going to keep that in the back of my mind for days when we have kids. I feel a need to find the chemistry in that, but I think I’ll skip that for now.
The tip my mom gave me that I thought would never work but did was that if you’re making a cake mix cake and it says to butter/flour the cake baking tin thing, use a little of the cake mix itself (before it’s mixed with the liquids) instead of flour. It won’t leave the edges floury and it works like magic.
On the other hand, my Grandma always said that eating ice would make you anemic (and she was a nurse…), so there’s another nugget of wisdom from my family, but that one, I’m pretty sure, is wrong. Even still I almost never eat ice even all this time later.
My mom always said that if you popped your knuckles that you would get arthyritis (I know this is sooo spelled wrong but I’m hungry so I’m not looking up or thinking about the right spelling – sorry folks) but I know it’s not true – I think. Oh, and my MIL says that if you dream about fish someone’s pregnant:) Not me though!