I found a recipe for Homemade Oxiclean on Pinterest not too long ago. And right then and there I decided I wanted to try it myself.
We go through Shout like crazy. Something about three, busy, active, on-the-go children who seem to think it’s their God-given duty to find new and creative ways to get stains on their clothing each hour of the day. 
I invested in a big bulk box of Shout almost two years ago using my Amazon giftcards from Swagbucks to pay for it. We’re nearing the end of that bulk purchase and I’ve been surveying my options.
So this Homemade Oxiclean jumped off the page at me. Maybe this would be the answer to my stain-fighting problems?
I had all the ingredients on hand already so I knew I at least had to try it and find out. The worst thing that could happen would be for it to flop and not work.
Homemade Oxiclean Recipe
1 cup water
1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide
1/2 cup washing soda*
Mix all ingredients together and store in a dark spray bottle. (Hydrogen peroxide loses its effectiveness if stored in a light container. I have mine in a yogurt container for now, and plan to check the dollar store for a dark spray bottle in the next few days.)
To use: Spray on soiled laundry and let it sit overnight. Or, if you have a number of clothes that are soiled, you make up a batch of this and soak them in it overnight. Then, launder as usual.
The jury’s still out on whether or not this will replace my incessant use of Shout, but I’m really hopeful that I’m going to be duly impressed with it over the next few weeks as it was very simple and inexpensive to make.
*Many recipes online call for baking soda instead of washing soda. While this might work, from the research I did supposedly the chemical properties of washing soda are more accurately suited to getting stains out. Or something.
Don’t ask me to try and explain chemistry stuff because I’m pretty much clueless about all the formulas and anything that has words I can’t pronounce. But I’m hoping maybe some of the chemists here could better explain why you should use washing soda instead of baking soda.
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If you don’t have a sprayer that fits the hydrogen peroxide bottle, then just get some aluminum foil and wrap it around the outside of your bottle. Voila, instant darkness for the contents of your bottle. This is what we do for light-sensitive chemical solutions at my work. It’s easier and cheaper than special ordering amber bottles.
I found what I thought to be a great deal on hydrogen peroxide this week too! At wags they have a double pack of 32 ounces for $2.00. Match that with the BOGO50% you can get 4 32 oz bottles for $3.00 or .75 a peice.
I found a recipe for stain remover that I have used on stained baby clothes. It works wonderful!
1/2 cup Clorox 2
1/2 cup Cascade (dishwasher detergent)
1 gallon warm water
Mix together and soak clothes in solution overnight
I tried this on some set in stains on hand-me down baby clothing that had already failed the Shout test. I soaked for a couple of hours (watered down so the water level in the bowl was high enough to cover the 3 items). The solution did bubble and foam, and when I went to push the clothed under the surface again it splattered. I defititely agree with other posters about NOT putting this into a bottle, it will explode. And the washing soda, when diluted in water, is a strong base you do not want in your/your kids eyes. Anyway, did not seem to work for my stains at first- ended up tossing the clothing in with my hot/bleach towel load and some of the stains were much lighter, but hard to tell if the stain solution did it or the bleach, or both.
Has anyone been using this recipe? I’d love to hear if it is working.
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