Have you or one of your loved ones had an accident in your underwear? Feces stains can be an unpleasant thing to deal with but the good news is there are plenty of ways to you remove them – like they were never there in the first place.
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Why are there poop stains on my underpants?
Before we jump to how to get rid of these marks, the best step is prevention. We need to understand why these stains make their way onto your underwear.
The causes of these stains on your underpants can be from a whole manner of factors that vary from one person to another.
One of the main causes of this is not wiping correctly or appropriately. This is probably the biggest cause, and we are going to blame your parents for this, they should’ve taught you how to wipe properly.
Proper wiping is crucial, especially if you have sticky or soft bowel movements. Unlike a solid bowel movement, soft feces do not exit fully, and they tend to make a bit of a mess on their way out. This will need you to wipe a few times.
If you have very soft movements, especially if you suffer from diarrhea often, then do not be afraid to wipe and wipe and wipe away until you’ve got all that mess gone. It is also imperative, especially for girls, to wipe from front to back.
If you are a lady, wiping back to front can result in some nasty infections, and even if you got all the mess from your rear end, your lady parts will end up leaving a stain containing fecal matter if you wiped the wrong way. Similarly, for guys, if you do not wipe from front to back, your boys might end up a bit smeared, and even if you cleaned your back end well, your boys will leave a stain.
You need to add more fiber to your diet to have harder movements. The reason is that fibers will improve the quality of your stools by increasing colon bacteria and adding more bulk to your bowels. Vegetables, fruits, and oats contain these fibers, so eating them will help your movements.
More to know
Getting stains can also be caused if you have a bit of a hairy backside. Hair can trap bits of your fecal matter even if you wipe, really, really well. And you’ll end up with skid marks that way.
If you sweat a lot, the sweat can dribble down your rear cavity, and presto, you have a stain. Sweat absorbent fabrics will help this along with looser underwear.
If you sit on the can for a little too long, this can also create stains, this is because sitting there for too long will dry your stool, making it harder to get with a wipe, and then it will react when your body sweats and your underwear will be scarred by the bit you missed earlier.
Hemorrhoids will also cause stains. In that case you’ll want to wash your rear with some warm soap and water and consult your physician. Finally, bowel incontinence can make life hard and results in leakages of stool from the rectum.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), nerve damage, and conditions that cause diarrhea are all at fault here. If you’re suffering from those conditions you’ll definitely want to speak with a doctor to ask about relief.
Are fecal stains on underwear normal?
This is not a simple yes or no answer. All the factors above can result in skid marks, and so this varies from person to person.
It is not uncommon to experience them, however, if you are seeing them nearly every day, you might need to see your doctor as you may have some underlying health conditions that are causing this mess.
How can you remove poop stains from underwear?
Okay so now we know what causes this unpleasant problem, and how common it is, let’s get into how you can get rid of the issue.
There are plenty of techniques you can use to get rid of a stain, no matter what you keep stocked up on at home, there is a method that you can use.
However, the most common method used to remove fecal stains is a cold water wash.
This is the easiest and simplest thing to do. You use cold water because warm water can bind the stain to the fabric and thus make it worse.
If your underwear is white, you will want to consider soaking it in cold water for ten minutes at the very least. This will help to mitigate the potency of the stain on the fabric, you can also do this for colored fabric to be sure.
You do need to make sure that whatever items you use to do this are clean and free of any debris. So if you are using a bowl of cold water, make sure the bowl is clean before you do this.
Techniques to remove feces stains from your underwear
If the cold water trick is not enough to rid the powerful stain from your underpants, there are alternative methods you can use.
White vinegar is a popular method. Any stains that are soluble with water can easily be rectified with white vinegar. Simply mix a tablespoon with 1.4 liters of water in a spray bottle and spray the solution onto the stain, then give it some time to settle.
Once you have done this, pop your underpants into the washer at a high temperature. You can also use apple cider vinegar, but white vinegar works best.
Similarly, vodka works wonders, for having a good time and for cleaning your boxer briefs. If the stain has gone, the smell remains, this is your saving grace. Simply spray the vodka where the stain was, and let the vodka evaporate.
Do not water it down, as it will dilute its power to get rid of smells. It amazingly works to collect the odors properties together.
When the vodka evaporates, so will the smell, just make sure you use original vodka and not one with a flavor to it.
Be mindful that fabric has a lot to do with how well stains are removed, stains on Lycra will come up a lot easier than stains on cotton will.
You could also scrape it away. What we mean by this is scrape away any hard fecal matter and then soak the clothing in lukewarm water, add in some hand washing detergent and some ammonia, and rub it in, you may want to use gloves for this.
Repeat this over and over, and then do a soak with an enzyme product. If this doesn’t work, you can use chlorine or oxygen bleach, however, be careful not to breathe in the fumes from it.
You could use baking soda too. This is especially useful if the stain is very old, if it is new then you might make it worse with this method. Firstly, you want to wash it with cool water, to get rid of any excess dung.
While the panties are still wet, sprinkle on a bit of baking soda and scrub it in with a soft brush or a dishwashing brush (throw it out after). Then rinse and chuck them in the washer.
After this, use a stain remover on those panties, applied to the same spot for about ten minutes of so, or whatever the product instructions suggest then wash them again with a touch of bleach, only use the bleach if the underwear is while though, or if the material is delicate such as lace.
If you can’t use bleach, why not add in a delicate touch of some white vinegar, just to slay whatever is lingering behind.
Finally, why not go for old faithful, a lemon. Lemon is known for cleaning everything thanks to its high acid count. Why did you think so many cleaning products were lemon scented? You can use this method by applying some lemon juice to the stained area.
Give the underwear a good half an hour to really take in those stains, then throw it in the wash. Do be mindful, though, the high acid count of lemon will bleach dark fabrics.
If you want to go above and beyond, you can mix this lemon juice with other ingredients such as baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and a dishwashing detergent. All of these are natural stain killers. Your skid marks won’t stand a chance against a team this powerful!
