How To Wash Kids’ Sport and Activity Wear

We all know that kids love playing outdoors, and like nothing better than a bit of rough and tumble in a field or playground. This can however be tough on their clothes, with mud, grass and blood stains all common on kids’ sport and activity wear. Thankfully though, these stains can be treated relatively easy with the right know how, and so needn’t cause too many sleepless nights.

For persistent grass and mud stains, the key is treating the stain before the machine wash. For this, it’s best to use a specialist stain remover and follow the instructions on the box, although some parents swear by washing up liquid, which should be rubbed onto the stain once the garment is moist. After this step has been completed, a normal machine wash should be fine, although you should always check the label of the clothes you are washing, as some materials need to be treated more carefully than others.

Blood stains are some of the most difficult stains to remove from all clothing, but again the key is preparation prior to a machine wash. First, the stain should be treated with cold water, and the sooner this is done the better, with large stains needing to be submerged entirely and small stains needing to just be covered with a small amount of cold water. Make sure to use cold water though, as hot or warm water will merely fix the stain in place and make it that much more difficult to remove. Following this, a regular machine wash should take care of the stain, but again refer to your clothes’ washing instructions to avoid damaging them.

Washing your children’s trainers can often seem like a particularly thankless task, with grass and mud stains often being worse than those generally found on clothes. What many parents don’t know however is that kids’ trainers can generally be washed in a washing machine, as long as certain precautions are taken. Generally, trainers should be put on a 40 degrees Celsius machine wash, as higher temperatures could cause damage. Most importantly, make sure to put some towels in with your trainers, as this will not only protect your shoes from damage, but also prevent the process from taking its toll on your washing machine. This is because the working principle of a washing machine is for the drum containing the items to be washed to spin around rapidly, which causes your clothes to collide with the sides of the drum. For clothes, this is no problem, but trainers spun round at high speed could cause damage to your washing machine, as well as damage to the trainers being washed. Putting towels in with the trainers will cushion the impact against the drum, minimising the possibility of the damage. With this precaution, a quick machine wash should leave your trainers sparkling once more. Once washed, leave them to air dry, maybe positioning them near a heater, but direct heat should be avoided so as not to damage them. Once they are thoroughly dried, they should be ready to face the playground again.