March 1, 2019

Power it Out with Plants! Tips for Taking on Outdoor Stains

plant power outside

Warmer temps mean it’s time to get outside! Rising temps bring our favorite outdoor activities with them – from digging in the garden to enjoying ice cream cones and firing up the BBQ. But with outdoor activities often comes tough laundry stains – dirt and grass are no joke!

Get outside, embrace those outdoor messes and fear not: our powerful, plant-based laundry formula has you covered. We test our formulas on 60 tough stains, so you know they’ll work when you need them most. Plus, their renewable, plant-based ingredients deliver a clean you can trust that’s tough on dirt but gentle on our planet.

Always Act Quick:

Get the jump on tough stains by treating them quickly. That way, they won’t have a chance to get too comfortable.

  • Keep an enzyme-powered stain remover on hand. It begins breaking down tough stains fast, and lets you come back to them later. Sports practice or summer road trip? Keep an extra bottle with you so you’re always ready.
  • If you can’t treat stains right away, soak stained garments in cold water until you can.  
  • For the season’s most stubborn stains, try an advanced stain fighting detergent. Our liquid laundry detergents’ plant-based ingredients are powerful enough to help you tackle even the toughest stains, so sit back and watch them work!
Kids in Garden_Seventh Generation
DO Play in the Dirt:

As outdoor sports kick into gear and you dust off your gardening tools, grass, dirt, and sweat stains are bound to make an appearance. Nothing plant-power can’t handle! Our plant-based liquid laundry products help make sure you’re ready when they do.   

  • From the garden to the baseball diamond, treat dirt stains by gently removing any extra, caked-on dirt. Then spray with stain remover and wash with a biobased detergent.
  • For grass stains, mix a solution of vinegar and water to help break down the proteins, then gently scrub the mixture into fabric with a rag before washing.
  • Try treating yellow sweat stains with a mixture of equal parts baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Sunshine can also help fade yellow stains, so embrace solar power!
  • If t-shirts and socks smell a bit funky after all that rowdy outdoor fun, a vinegar soak before washing can help neutralize odors.
  • For those occasional blood stains from skinned knees, pour hydrogen peroxide directly onto the stain and blot with a clean rag—or try our color-safe chlorine-free bleach. {1} ​​​​​​​
Summer Berry Stains_Seventh Generation
These Stains Are No Picnic:

From juicy blueberries to brightly-colored condiments and drippy soft serve, our favorite warm-weather foods have an amazing knack for ending up on our clothes. Spend less time worrying and more time embracing life’s messy moments —we’ll help you clean up.

  • For greasy food stains, squeeze on a little plant-based dish soap, which will help break up the stain and keep it from setting.
  • For fruit stains from popsicles or berries, saturate the stain with a water and vinegar mixture before spritzing with stain spray and washing normally.
  • For pesky condiment stains, especially mustard, a salt and lemon juice mixture works wonders as a pre-treatment before washing.

The warm weather months are all about being active, being joyful, and being together. We hope these tips get the season off to a clean start, so you can worry less—and play more.