HOW TO GET WHITE BASEBALL PANTS CLEAN

They say the clothes make the man, and that is never more true with All-Star baseball.

N had such a great regular season in baseball that he decided to try out for a much-coveted spot on the "All-Star" team.  Each summer each town with a Babe Ruth / Cal Ripken league picks 12 players for each age group to form an "A" team.  They also make a team of 9 and 10 year old's to form a combined age "B" team. 

N was so thrilled to earn a spot on the 9-10 year old "B" team.  I was worried he would be disappointed but he was so excited.  This ended up being the perfect place for him, as he was able to get a LOT of playing time... much more than if he had made the "A" team (on a biased mom side note he really was qualified to play on the A team and in my opinion was not chosen simply because the coaches do the choosing and they picked their own kids).

The regular season went for eight weeks, in which we played 16 games (2 per week) with about 16 hours of practice time.

The All-Star season just wrapped up.  We played for four weeks, and in that time N played another 12 games with about 20 hours of practice time.

Baseball is pretty big in our town.  For example in N's regular league for 9-10 year old's there were 8 teams with 12 kids each.  Considering E1's graduating class was around 100, this is a pretty high participation rate. 

All the different ages of All-Star teams got new matching royal blue red jerseys with big red satin numbers, and matching caps.  We also received a pair of the coveted "All-Star" pants (white pants with a royal stripe down the side).  During the regular season it is kind of an un-written rule that you DO NOT wear white pants to play baseball in unless you had been on an All-Star team in previous years.  It is kind of a status-symbol with the boys.

N has been pretty thrilled with his new uniform, and I have to admit that we played a lot of ball this summer and their team always looked the most sharp.  N has worn his base-ball cap with pride nearly EVERYWHERE we go.  People around town have been really cute and will say things like, "Is that an All-Star cap you are wearing? You must be a pretty good player!"  It has been part of the fun.  I told Darren the cost of the extra league play was worth it right there to see how proudly he wears his hat.

N played HARD this year.  He had a lot of highs and lows. They got beat a lot.  But he got out of it what we wanted.... some summer fun and a crazy increase in his baseball skills.

As you can imagine, white pants may look cool but can be a challenge to maintain, especially with the red dirk Richfield keeps on it's ball fields.   And for someone as OCD as me it will not even surprise you to know that many Friday nights I was up until 1 in the morning washing pants to be worn again the next morning.

 

Below are some of the products/methods I tried for the sake of science. 

For each method I would wash the pants using the HOT WATER setting.
I would check the pants after the wash cycle was over (but before the rinse cycle began) and usually drain the tub and wash them again a second time in hot water simply because the original water was totally red and muddy by then.

I also always used generous amounts of TIDE CLEAN BREEZE powder detergent as that is the only detergent I will use. I did not use a fabric softener.

I also need to note that at NO TIME did I ever dry the pants in the dryer.  After washing they were clipped to a skirt hanger and put outside to air-dry.

1) AMMONIA

 

I learned this method from another mom on the team.
She indicated she simply filled her kitchen sink with just enough hot water to cover the pants, then added generous amounts of Ammonia.  After soaking, wash in the washing machine.

I did as she instructed and left the pants to soak over-night.
When I went to lift them out of the sink to put in the washing-machine, the pants looked BRAND NEW with zero scrubbing (even the grass stains were gone). I of coarse still washed the pants in the washing machine and they came out looking great.

I tried it again a second time, with the pants pictured in the photo above. I soaked the pants for a few hours, and this time the stains did not magically disappear. I tossed them in the washer and washed them with TIDE. I checked them after the first wash cycle and they still looked like this:

 I ended up scrubbing the stains with a toothbrush and extra detergent to get them clean.

RESULTS:
As you can see, my results were mixed on the ammonia method.
This is probably the cheapest method, as ammonia is so inexpensive.  I believe the secret here is allowing the item to soak over-night.

2).  SHOUT SPRAY

I keep SHOUT on hand, so I tried this method next.  I literally soaked the pants with the product and threw them in the washer immediately. I checked them after the first wash, and sprayed some of the areas on the hem a little more, rubbing the cloth against each other to get the spray in.

RESULTS:
They came out PERFECTLY clean. They really looked brand new again.  I've used SHOUT several times now, and have found if you let the product stand on the pants for a few hours it works even better.

3. OXI-CLEAN

 

I purchased this OXI-CLEAN Gel Stick specifically for the sake of experimentation.

I laid the pants out and rubbed the gel all over each stain.

It was super-messy and ended up using nearly half the bottle to treat all the areas.  I ended up having to mop my bathroom floor as it was all gooey and sticky.

The instructions said to allow the gel to soak into the material for at least ten minute or overnight. I left the product on over-night.

RESULTS:

When I checked them after the first wash cycle, they were nearly clean but like the SHOUT method there was some lingering red dirt on the hems of the pants.  I rubbed more gel in and tried again. 

After a second wash there was still red dirt. I ended up using the SHOUT spray and washing them a third time to get them spotless.

NOTE:
Another mom told me about the product IRON OUT. She swears by it.  She said it is not in the laundry section but usually more often in the carpet chemicals section of the super-market.  I looked for this product and could never find it. I imagine it would be good in areas like Richfield that have a lot of red dirt.  I will admit that when she first said IRON OUT I was thinking it was something I would have to put on the pants and then use the IRON to get it to work. I hate ironing. Like more than anything.  Luckily she set me straight.

FINAL RESULTS:
While the ammonia is likely the least expensive method, the SHOUT spray provided the easiest, most convenient, most effective method of cleaning the pants.  I've been using that method exclusively since finishing the experiment.  I still check the pants after the first wash cycle, and sometimes have to get out the old trusty toothbrush to scrub out some of the problem spots.  But I can honestly tell you that his pants after 12 games still look BRAND NEW... and ready for him to wear during the regular season next year in full swagger mode.