I knew that kids were messy, but I didn’t really know until I had one…and I know it’s only just beginning. Spit up was a breeze, poop stains were sometimes next level, but let me tell you…nothing prepares you for food stains. I’ve even had some dirt stains that made me question whether or not my child was playing in some sort of toxic wasteland.

I’ve had to just toss some of my son’s clothes. No matter what I tried, they were unsavable so they had to be retired to the bin. Now, let me first say that I am not a bleach fan. I don’t care to use it on clothes because of the smell and because it never fails that in trying to use it on one item causes me to ruin a whole bunch. When I was younger I used some on a new (and favorite) black and white stripped shirt. I know, not super smart. Anyway, it bleached some of the black stripes and I was devastated. I was determined to fix my mistake so I took a thin, black Sharpie marker and filled in the lines! I still giggle when I think about how silly and tedious it was to do that.

I was tired of getting rid of clothes for my son after trying all sorts of detergents, stain removers, etc. He had this one romper that had terrible stains on the knees from playing in the dirt at daycare. I tried everything multiple times and lost hope. Finally, one day I decided to try Beaman’s Fork Soap Company‘s bar soap. I didn’t just think of this out of the blue though. It’s kind of a random story. The week before I was struggling to clean all my makeup brushes using my usual method of liquid soap and warm water. I could never get them clean enough. One of my favorite makeup artists (makeupby_alo) on Instagram (I swear I get more ideas from there than Pinterest) created a makeup brush cleansing soap and one of the main ingredients was goat’s milk. I wanted to try her brush soap but I remembered that I had a couple of bars of soap from Beaman’s Fork so I thought I would give them a try. OMG…they cleaned my makeup brushes so quickly and I mean THEY REALLY WERE THE CLEANEST THEY’VE EVER BEEN. Not only were they super clean, but they dried very quickly.

So this made me think…let me try this soap on some my child’s old stained romper. It worked right away and completely got the old stains out. Like, it looks brand new. Unfortunately you will just have to take my word for it because I didn’t take any pictures.

However, I did take some pictures of me using it today on another stained shirt of his. You will see them below. Each will have a caption in regards to what step I was on when I took the picture.

Is it perfect? No but I am impressed! The shirt is in the washer right now (do we ever catch up on laundry???) and I am hoping will be back to its old glory after all is said and done.

The soap I used for the shirt above is scented. It is called Hippie Chick (smells so good) but it was limited edition. I would prefer to use Beaman’s Fork Soap Company’s Plain Jane Goat Milk Soap for my brushes and for clothing, but I haven’t made it back down to the farmer’s market yet. That’s the other thing about this find that makes me happy…I love that I found something that I like and that it’s produced by a local business! Beaman’s Fork also offers online ordering in case you aren’t local or can’t make it to the farmer’s market on the weekends.

I can’t believe this hidden gem was under my nose for years. What are some of your favorite ways of getting stains out? Do you have a magical method that works for you? Please share if you do…I am always on the hunt for mom life hacks!

Much love, Krista