How to Use Stain Remover Laundry Bars

These little bars are a fabulous zero waste option for your laundry. Not only are they simple to use, not harmful to the environment or our bodies, and easy to carry around (read here: toss one in your suitcase for your next trip or diaper bag, purse or glove box for everyday messes on the go), but they're also effective and versatile. Read on!

This Stain Remover Laundry Bar works wonders on dirt, grease, blood (period underwear, ladies?), grass, poop (great for cloth diapers and accidents!), sweat, curry, lipstick, chocolate, and more. It even works on some types of paint, food dye, pen ink and on a recent family holiday it got out a henna stain from a white shirt that took days to get in the wash. Say what?!? Basically, this little bar is magic!

How to Use the Stain Remover Laundry Bar

It's so simple to use your bar:

1. Rinse the stain

2. Rub the bar thoroughly onto the stain

   • Optional: do a quick rinse and reapply

   • Optional: massage lather into the fabric with your fingers, an old toothbrush, a laundry brush or simply rub the fabric together

3. Launder as usual

If you're not able to wash the clothing right away, don't worry. You can treat the stain and toss it in your laundry basket for your next wash. This is a great way to save clothes from stains when you're away from home or on holidays - pack your bar!

If you're not able to treat the stain right away, give it a rub once you can. This bar can still work on stains that are days old, or even old stains that have gone through the dryer. There's nothing to lose by giving it a try!

Worried about delicate fabric? Work up a lather with your hands, apply the lather to the fabric and massage in with your hands. Easy!

You can also use this little wonder of a bar on shoes, jackets, leather, car seats, walls, curtains, carpets, couches, your purse... Simply rub or spray on (see below), work onto/into the fabric as needed, and wipe clean. Wash your makeup or small paint brushes with this bar. Or use it as a non-toxic "shampoo" for your mini carpet cleaner. Instead of filling your cleaner with detergent, just fill with water. Wet the soiled area, rub thoroughly with your bar (or do both at once with the spray version of this bar outlined below) working in as needed then use your carpet cleaner to suck up the soapy soiled area. (As always, it's best to test on a small area first)

And to add to it's versatility, this bar also doubles as a fabulous option for hand washing laundry!

Why Lemon and Litsea Essential Oils?

The lemon bars are scented with lemon and litsea essential oils. You may be wondering what litsea essential oil is. The long answer is here, but in short, it has a scent and properties very similar to lemon. Citrus essential oils have a hard time sticking around in soap unless they have an "anchor" scent with them; litsea is that anchor for the lemon. However, both of these essential oils have been used in the stain remover laundry bars not only for their uplifting fresh scent, but both oils are also antibacterial, antifungal and have numerous beneficial qualities for your skin. They're a perfect fit for a bar you'll apply to your clothing.

DIY Stain Remover Laundry Spray

Do you prefer the convenience of a spray? If so, you're in luck! Try out this 5 minute DIY to turn your bar into a spray.

• Finely grate some of your stain remover laundry bar

• Pour 1 to 2 cups of hot water in a spray bottle

• Add approximately half a cup of grated stain remover to the bottle, put on the lid and gently shake to dissolve

To use, give it a shake and spray on stains. For a double bang, after spraying, rub the stain with the bar. This spray also makes a fantastic all purpose household cleaner!

We have great tap water, and I haven't had any issues with simply using hot water from the tap. If your water is less than good, go with water that's been boiled and cooled a bit.

Often, DIY projects sound simple but when you go to actually make them, there can be little things that are more complicated than expected. Here's a couple tips to make this DIY go as smoothly as it sounds:

• Use a funnel in the top of the spray bottle to pour the grated stain remover through

• Use a chopstick or something skinny to push the grated pieces down through the funnel if they get stuck

• If you don't use the spray for a while and find it thickens in the bottle, this is generally a sign there is a bit too much soap for the amount of water. Simply add a squirt of hot water to the bottle, shake it up and it will be good to go again. Or, try using it "thick" - squeeze some out onto the stain and rub in. So many options!

A Note About the Ingredients...

Although the ingredients in these Stain Remover Laundry Bars are the same as my Solid Dish Soap - simply saponified coconut oil and essential oils - the ratios are different to better serve the two applications (due to something called a superfat percentage). In a pinch they can be used interchangeably, but it's best to not do this on a regular basis. The stain remover bars will tend to dry out your hands if used regularly on dishes and the solid dish soap will not be as effective and possibly leave behind grease residue if not washed out of your clothes right away.

Nature's Stain Removing Tricks

I love how nature so often provides us with what we need, so I want to finish this post with a couple of nature's stain removing tricks we use regularly in our home.

The sun is surprisingly effective at getting out tomato-based stains as well as baby poop stains (breastmilk only). Remove any chunks and thoroughly rinse the stain, then lay it out in that sunshine. Depending on the stain, you may need to wash and repeat this.

Did you know boiling water instantly dissolves berry stains? I know it can go against everything you've been told pouring boiling water over a stain like that, but it works. Rinse off any chunks then, holding the clothing over the sink, pour freshly boiled water through the stained area. The stain is generally gone within a few seconds of pouring!

Although hydrogen peroxide is a man-made substance, it's worth mentioning because it breaks down into simply water and oxygen (so is a great alternative to chlorine-based bleaches). Hydrogen peroxide is incredible at getting out fresh blood from fabric and carpet. Lay the fabric so the hydrogen peroxide will pool in the stained area and pour some on. It will begin to bubble. Once the bubbling dies down, if there's still a stain, you can pat it with a rag or paper towel and repeat pouring more on until there isn't. Wash as usual after.

A big part of working towards a zero waste lifestyle is taking care of what we already have. I hope these tricks and my Stain Remover Laundry Bar can help you with this!

(As always, other than links to my own products, the links included in this post will bring you to more information, not where to buy a product.)