How To Get Poop Off of Onesies and Baby Clothes

It takes a village — to clean up poop. On the plus side, though, the fact that these stinky situations are so common means that there's no shortage of tried-and-true tips and hacks from people who have been in your shoes. So, the next time you find yourself and your baby elbow-deep in you-know-what, use these tips to get through the mess and save their clothes (and your sanity).

First things first: You probably already know this, but whenever possible, you should deal with poop stains as soon as they happen. As with all other stains, you'll have more luck getting the poop out if you tackle it while it's still fresh, for lack of a better word. Plus, nobody wants a stinky, soiled onesie just hanging out with their other laundry and smelling up their home.

Second, poop falls under the category of protein-based stains, which respond best to enzyme cleaners. Spit-up and breast milk are also of the protein variety, so there's a good chance you'll need an enzymatic stain remover often during your child's early years. Look for formulas that include protease enzymes. (But don't use enzymatic detergents on wool or silk; they can damage the fibers.)

Third, think of heat as your enemy until the stain is gone. According to The Spruce, an iron, the dryer, or even hot water can set protein stains and make them much more difficult to remove.

And finally, check the laundry labels on your baby's clothes. Typical onesies probably won't require any special care, but it never hurts to make sure. (Baby sleepwear and outerwear are two types of clothing that may come with unique instructions.) The last thing you want is to go through a lot of trouble to clean a garment that ends up becoming unwearable for another reason.

Step 1: Remove as much solid waste as possible. It sounds gross, but it would be grosser to let the poop spin around in your washing machine. Use a baby wipe or a paper towel to get rid of chunks, and take care to avoid rubbing, which could work the stain deeper into the fabric.

Step 2: Rinse the garment. In her Ask a Clean Person advice column, Jolie Kerr recommends flushing stains with running water, letting it flow from the clean side of the fabric to the dirty side to push proteins away from the material. (Her column was in response to a question about skid marks in underwear, but the same principle applies to poop on baby clothes.)

Step 3: Pretreat the stain. Both Kerr and MarthaStewart.com recommend using an enzymatic stain remover, such as Zout or Biz, to treat protein stains before putting them through the wash. "Protein stains can be tricky, in part because they can just be kind of gross, but treating them with an enzymatic formula will break them down and remove them from fabric," Kerr explains in her 5 Neat Things column for The Inventory.

Other stain pretreatments may work as well. Good Housekeeping recommends Shout Advanced Gel, while Erin Kravitz, the mother of a toddler, swears by Spray 'N Wash. "It's a miracle worker when used as instructed," she told Mom.com. "Spray on the poop, let it sit for five minutes, put it through the laundry, and you'll never know anything was there."

Whatever you use, make sure you follow the directions on the product. Most stain removers need time to work on the fabric before being washed out.

Step 4: Launder the garment. Once you've pretreated the stain sufficiently, you can wash the onesie as you would normally. Good Housekeeping recommends using an oxygen bleach, such as OxiClean. Note: You may want to add an extra rinse cycle, just to make sure any residue from the original stain remover is gone.

Step 5: Check your work. Remember: Heat is your enemy until the stain is completely gone, so make sure that onesie is actually clean before you toss it in the dryer. If it's not, or if it still smells of poop, you may need to wash it again.

Step 6: Give yourself a pat on the back. You did it!