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You’ve probably wondered what to do with those white softball pants after a game, since, the odds are, you want them to be white and shiny again. Having clean pants is actually very important, is key treat of your personal image and the image of your team, thus, having a clean and well-presented uniform is key. Keeping a clean uniform gives you status, while using the old, stained one, might make you look sloppy and again, might bring you problems with your team.
Consequently, you might be wondering, what is the best way to clean white softball pants? Well, there are many methods to wash your softball pants, here we present you with a summary of some of the most popular ways to get rid of those crazy stains easily and enjoy shiny white pants again.
After a game pants might be stained with dirt in the best case, and with red clay in the worst. The first thing recommended to do, is to do some dry cleaning of the pants before applying any kind of water. The first thing you should do is to brush it of, you can do this with a sponge or a brush. You’ll want to do large strokes, and try to remove as much dirt as you can with this method. You can also try to shake up your pants afterwards, the idea is to get rid of some dirt before beginning with the wet methods.
Now, that you’ve completed the dry cleaning, you can start by choosing a method to take care of the stains. Here is a list with the most popular methods to remove stains each of them with a different product.
Laundry Soap
OxiClean White Revive Laundry Whitener + Stain Remover, 5 Pound
- One 5 lb container of OxiClean White Revive Laundry Whitener and Stain Remover Powder to revive brilliant whites
- Oxygen-based, water-activated detergent booster whitens whites 40 percent better than chlorine bleach per load
Free shipping
Tide PODS 4 in 1 HE Turbo Laundry Detergent Pacs2, 3.62 Pound (61 Count)
- Tide’s #1 odor remover
- Reformulated to remove even week-old sweat odors
- Provides freshness that lasts 3x longer (vs. Tide Original)
- From America's #1 Trusted Detergent Brand* *Tide is Consumers' #1 Trusted laundry detergent brand in Readers Digest survey
There are tons of special laundry soaps out there forumlated specifically for whites and sometimes even sports gear with heavier than normal stains. Simply tossing your white softball pants into the wash after the dry brush cleaning is super easy and usually gets all the dirt and grass stains out – we also recommend air drying instead of using a dryer. If that doesn’t work, check out these next two methods.
Hydrogen peroxide and soap
McKesson Antiseptic Hydrogen Peroxide 3% Strength 16oz Bottle (1 Bottle)
- Antiseptic hydrogen peroxide is ideal for use on minor cuts and abrasions (do not use on deep wounds, animal bites or serious burns)
- 3% hydrogen peroxide solution; hydrogen peroxide releases oxygen when applied to the affected area
One could say this one is pretty old school, and it is also very simple. You want to create a mix of half hydrogen peroxide and half soap, this mixture you will want to spray it all over the pants on both sides and leave sit for a couple minutes. Make sure that the pants end up a bit damp. Do not let the mix dry and start scrubbing with a brush over the stains with the mixture. You can re-spray the mixture on difficult stains. After you are done with the scrubbing you should let the pants sit for about 20 to 30 minutes.
When doing this method make sure that you’re wearing clothes that can get stained since this mixture can damage the color of your clothes, be mindful as well of every surface that the pants come in touch with since they can stain in. Think ahead and find a place where is safe to do this method and nothing gets damaged.
After doing the treatment to the stains, you can soak in the pants in some bleach and warm water, later you can put them in the washing machine and they’ll come out totally clean !
Dishwashing soap
Palmolive Ultra Dish Soap Oxy Power Degreaser, 32.5 oz - 4 Pack
- Attacks grease and stains
- Fights hard-to-clean surface stains like coffee
- Phosphate-free
- Kosher
Dawn Dish Soap, Original Scent, Pack of 3
- Contains 3X more grease-cleaning power (cleaning ingredients per drop vs. the leading competitor's non-concentrated brand)
- Concentrated formula helps you get through more dishes with less dishwashing liquid
In case you are facing stains that are not that bad, you can simply use some dishwashing soap over them. The best way to do this is to dry clean your pants as much as possible. After the dry cleaning, you can leave them soaking in warm water with some soap already. Take them out of the water after 5 to 10 minutes and use more dishwashing soap exactly on the areas that require it and scrub it. You can afterwards put the pants in some bleach and later in the washing machine. This method is good and low effort if you are facing slight stains.
Image Credit: “UCS_6586” by Dirk DBQ is licensed under CC BY 2.0
