Vaseline, Silly Putty, and Lipgloss, oh my!

Thanks to my busy, dirt and mess magnet, typical two year old I thought I'd share some things I've learned recently in the stain removal department..

A couple of months ago she reached the jar of Vaseline off the bathroom counter and it was wiped all over the front of my favorite dress of hers. Here's what worked to get it out:

First I scraped off as much as I could with a metal spatula. Then I scrubbed it with dawn dish soap and soaked for a long time (a couple days) scrubbing every so often. After air drying, I dabbed it with rubbing alcohol. Let dry again, rinse and repeat dawn/alcohol cycle again. An again and again for a couple weeks until it came out!

Next it was silly putty on a leg of pj's that my MIL noticed when she was folding the already washed and dried laundry (yup, I'm spoiled, she folds my laundry!!!). To remove the silly putty I first tried freezing it like gum but it was very stubborn. Then we read online to use hand sanitizer. My friends, it literally took all the gooey stuff right off! Then dawn again to get out the rest of the stain perfectly!

Next she found a glossy lipstick and painted it all over the front of a dress grandma made her! So to get out my glossy lipstick first I dusted it with cornstarch and rubbed it in a bit to absorb any excess so the stain wouldn't spread or bleed. Then I scraped it off a bit a put it through the wash cycle. Then I scrubbed the remaining stain with my current favorite grease stain remover. Yup, dawn dish soap is pretty high on my list at the moment!

A bonus tip that my Mom shared with me is that one package of lemonade kool-aid will take the hard water stains off my dishwasher. It did! And I'm not planning on ever drinking it again because I don't think my plumbing needs such a thorough cleaning thatnkyouverymuch!

So just in case anyone else out there has a child who seeks out the hardest to remove stains, it's out here!