. . . Better Than The Real Thing!
I did my initial post about making your own homemade version of Shout Stain Remover not long after I started this blog….back in July of this year! Wow…time flies.
At the time I hadn’t been using it very long and didn’t have any pictures to share….so I figured it was time for an update. Something I like to call “walkin the walk”. ;-)
I was actually inspired to DO this update after my 16 year old presented me with this shirt to wash last week. He said it had been sitting in the bottom of his dirty clothes basket for awhile. (I don’t think I even want to know what HIS version of “awhile” is!) All you “professional” clothes washers out there will know exactly what that is on the front of it. Yep…chocolate. A chocolate stain on a shirt that had been in his closet for “awhile”. Seemed like the perfect opportunity to show how my homemade “Shout” performs under pressure!
First, let’s review the “recipe”:
Homemade Stain Remover (Shout)
- 2/3 cups Dawn Dishwashing Liquid
- 2/3 cups ammonia
- 6 Tblsp baking soda
- 2 cups warm water
(I had Palmolive on hand, so that’s what I used)
Mix everything together and pour into a spray bottle. I got this one at Wal-Mart for about a buck. (I actually got SEVERAL of them for the array of natural/homemade cleaners I have started using. My inventory continues to expand!)
Before you go to use it…if it’s been sitting for awhile…give it a good shake. As you can see in this picture…it does tend to separate a bit. But after a quick shake it’s good to go. To use: spray on stains as you normally would. I usually let mine “soak in” for a few minutes at least. Then launder as usual.
In this case, since the chocolate stain posed a bit more of a challenge…I took a few extra seconds (literally, that’s all it took) and rubbed the fabric together where I’d sprayed and when I was finished was somewhat shocked to see the stain was practically already GONE! It’s still there….but barely visible. My old bottle of “real” Shout never did that!
So I tossed it in the washer with the usual suspects….homemade laundry soap, a little of my
faux “OxiClean“ and about a teaspoon of my favorite new laundry ally…Fresh Scent Downy Unstopables. I just love how it makes my clothes smell! I know it’s a bit of an indulgence (it’s fairly pricey at about $8 at bottle) but with all the money I save making my own detergent…I’m OK with it.
And through the magic of the internet…….TADA! Here is the “AFTER” shot.
Once again…clean and pristine. I think even my son was impressed with this one. I really don’t think he believed I could prevail with this one. HA! That’ll teach him to doubt my laundering prowess. lol.
So that is my latest adventure in “clotheskeeping” (Martha Stewart knows how to make anything sound more glamorous!) I hope you find it helpful in your “battles” in the laundry room!
And that’s today’s….
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
I have problems too with the sprayer getting clogged. The baking soda looks like it is all on the bottom. It still works if you can get it on the garment. Any advice? Thanks!
Try putting it into an old dish soap bottle and just squirting it on… I had the same problem and that is what I am doing with this batch.
made the shout and it worked great. i am however having trouble with the spray bottles getting jammed up too. baking soda is clogging up the sprayer and baking soda is in chunks on the bottom.i used hot water to dissolve it in but it appears to have un-dissolved! any solutions or ideas. if its working with the baking soda all solid is the baking soda necessary? what does it do in this solution? thanks for any help
I've been giving this some thought. Not sure why mine doesn't clog. I do make sure and shake it well before each use. Sometimes I'll get some dried baking soda residue that collects around the nozzle. When that happens I just run it under hot water for a minute.
I'm guessing if you cut back on the baking soda, you would still see good results. A little experimenting might be in order. :-)
New to your blog…just had a question…do you know how to get white undershirts to stay white? My husbands turn yellow all around the neck. I've tried a few different methods, but so far no luck. And things overall seem to get dingy grey after a few months.
Cant wait to try it! Thank you!
Do you think this would work for pen stain?? or what ideas would you have for removing pen stain? thanks ps love your blog!
Amanda….you mighy want to check out this post about Whitening Whites: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/12/whitening-whitesor-can-this-cami-be.html
Hope this helps!
katelynn….you might want to check out this post I did on Removing Ink Stains: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/01/removing-ink-stains-surprising-solution.html
Thanks for stopping by! :-)
Is this "safe" to use on colored clothes? I so am going "greener" with my cleaning products! Love this idea!!!
I have used this MANY times on colored clothes with no problems. As a matter of fact…last night I used it on a dark red t-shirt of my sons that had some mysterious grease spots on it. I even rubbed it in pretty good…no discoloration at all. :-) Hope this helps!
@ Jill Nystul Thanks I will try this!
Jillee .. after what you posted regarding baking soda vs. washing soda and their pH differences,
should we still use baking soda in this mix?
I am an old pro at using homemade cleaners; but the homemade shout is new to me. I will try it!
Thanks Anony and Tonya. :-)
Kathy…Yes, I still think baking soda is the way to go with this mix. Hasn't let me down yet.
Elaine…I am fairly confident you will love it! Works every bit as good, if not better than the "real" stuff.
Hi
Love the site, used the carpet stain remover with my iron and i think i finally found out what that thing was made for, LOL! My question is clay baseball stains, i have tried everything even murphys oil soap, do you have a magical tip?
Awesome!!!!! Love it!!!! Thank u so much for sharing!!!!! Do u think vinegar would work instead of ammonia??
Is it really safe to mix ammonia with the dishwashing soap?
We have well water which turns all of our whites yellow. I made a batch of homemade Shout snd tried it on some of my girls' horribly-stained, should-go-in-the-trash shirts. We were AMAZED how clean and bright they came out! So my husband treated his "white" dress shirts with it–doused them all good, and was practically dancing over how white they are now!
is it safe to use, then wash the treated "shirt" with other clothes?
Sounds great but just an FYI…ammonia can be very dangerous…never mix it with bleach!!! google ammonia and just be careful.
I made this and it works GREAT!!! The only thing I have noticed is that it seems to clog the spray bottle. I am going to put the next batch into a dish soap squeeze bottle. That should eliminate that problem!
i was reading your recipe for your homemade shout, would washing soda do better ? u used it in your faux oxi cleen where u switched out the baking soda for washing soda…
Is there any hope at all for set-in stains? I have a bagful of clothes (mine and my son’s) that are perfectly fine save a stain or two. I absolutely hate the idea of tossing them.
is this safe to use on colored clothes?
Just make some of this lovely stuff and it works like chocolate on a bad day. Had to share on my blog here: http://www.thoughtsondirt.com/2012/04/girls-only.html
Does this work on make-up stains? FYI-a 4 y/o and her 15 y/o sisters makeup ruin things like clothes, carpets and mommy’s sanity.
I LOVE this stuff but like others have said, I am having trouble with it clogging my spray bottle. First I just thought it was the cheapo one I bought so I bought a more expensive one from the hardware store. It clogged almost immediately. Other than putting it in a squirt bottle, has anyone found a solution? My 2 year old is MESSY so spraying and getting a wider coverage is what I need. I think I would go through it a lot faster if I was using a squirt bottle and would offset the savings. Thanks in advance for any help!
Would this be safe to use on stains and wash a few days later? I treat stains each night and throw the item in with the dirty laundry. It might be a few days until it gets washed. Thanks!
I used an old Shout bottle and haven’t had any problems with clogging. I am now refillling the bottle for my second batch. Love this stuff.
Ah! I JUST bought a new bottle and big refill of Shout at wally world yesterday, along with the ingredients you provided for homemade laundry soap. As I put the Shout in my cart, I thought, I haven’t seen a recipe on Pinterest to make THIS homemade, so I’ll just stock up. And look what I find :) Thank you SO much for sharing! They are such great ideas and I love trying them out. I’ve made the citrus cleaner but not found a spray bottle to put it in yet… It smells great though! Thanks again! Amanda
Does the amonia leave a horrible smell behind? Is it a overpowering smell when your using it, I have asthma and amonia flares it up fast for me. Was just currious before I start mixing it up. Thanks for any input!
I have a question. I’ve made this and used it, but had one problem…It got all of the chocolate “color” out of my son’s shirt, but left the “grease stain” part of the chocolate behind. I haven’t tried to respray and try again, but the dawn should cut the grease, right?
Is this safe to use on all kinds of fabrics? Even delicate hand washes? I’m just starting to get into the homemade cleaning supplies world and I have no idea what ammonia does to clothes
It’s safe for delicates as well.
Hi again, I tried an old shout bottle recently and still the same clogging problem. Maybe it’s the type of Dawn I used. All I had on hand was Dawn but not the original. It was the lavender scent. Anybody not having the clogging problem did you all use Dawn original or another brand? I really do love this stuff and the cost savings, just trying to figure out if the type of dishwashing liquid I used was the problem since that’s the only thing that was different than Jillee’s recipe. Thank you in advance for any help!
I just tried this to do a “spray load” of t-shirts. The colors all faded where I sprayed it and the grease spots stayed. I ruined a whole load of clothes. I followed the recipe and instructions to the T. Really disappointed!
I also had troubles with the spray bottle. The baking soda would dry in the springs between uses. I just put it in an old shampoo bottle. I made my 2nd batch today and replaced the baking soda with washing soda. There were a few stains I could not get out of my kids’ clothes. So right now I have my daughters white shirt out in the sun with some lemon juice on it hoping to bleach the stain out. But for the most part it works really well. Hopefully with this change it’ll work even better! Thanks Jillee!
*update* after switching out baking soda with washing soda this recipe works so much better and the washing soda doesn’t separate like the baking soda does. This might help with the problems of clogged springs in the bottles. I think this is a great revision to the recipe! :-)
Jill – Just wanted to say I am a “Pinner” and find myself at your blog more than any other. Love all your homemade products and appreciate the work you put into them – especially the sharing. I admire your willingness to share your recovery too.
Connie
Would love to try this. My husband fixes large machines and he gets really greasy. The think black kind that is hard to get out. Do you think that this would work on his cloths.
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