Remove Permanent Magic Marker from Clothes Using Whole Milk

My daughter came home yesterday with pink permanent magic marker stains on the sleeve of one of her favorite shirts.  This was not a cheap shirt.  My wife was not happy and my daughter was in tears because it was a Frozen themed shirt with Elsa and Anna on it, her favorite characters right now.  My first inclination was to start looking for a replacement because it seemed unlikely that this shirt would ever be OK to wear again.

Several family members and friends offered remedies that seemed completely farfetched, but given my reluctance to spend money on an article of clothing that we already purchased once, I decided it was worth at least giving them a try.

The option that was least likely to work, in my opinion was to soak the shirt in milk, but as it turns out, it was the solution that kept me from having to go out shopping for Frozen shirts.

We took a cereal bowl, which has seen its fair share of milk and filled it almost completely full with whole milk straight from the refrigerator.  There were pink stains around the cuff and also higher on the sleeve, but we decided to start small and just soak the first two or three inches of the sleeve and see what happened.  To our surprise, within minutes, the milk had already started turning a faint shade of pink.  We let the whole arrangement sit overnight.

The next morning, my wife checked on the shirt and noticed that the bowl of milk was almost empty.  We don't own a cat. so it seems that the shirt was rather thirsty and soaked the milk up slowly.  Fortunately, we positioned the shirt and bowl in the center of the counter so that it didn't get too heavy and fall off the side pulling the bowl with it.

Amazingly, the permanent marker stains were about 95% gone.  There was a slight mark left, but it so faint, it was almost unnoticeable.  The worst stains had completely disappeared.  Of course, the next step was to immediately wash the shirt so that my daughter didn't smell like sour milk the next day at school.  So today, I learned an important lesson: If you have a bad stain and nothing else will clean it, try whole milk.  You may be as pleasantly surprised as we were.

Finding the Best Deals at a Children's Consignment Sale

Why pay retail prices for children’s’ clothes and toys when you can pay a fraction of the price for lightly used items at a children’s consignment sale

The basic idea behind a children’s consignment sale is that someone gives an organization, often a church or school, some articles of clothing or toys which are clean and lightly used.  The organization will tag the item with a price and a reference to the seller.  The general public is admitted and when someone buys the item, a large percentage of the money goes to the seller and a small portion to the organization, so both parties benefit.  These consignment sales may be listed in local newspapers or even mentioned on web sites like Craigslist.org.  Friends who also have young children are also good resources for discovering new consignment sales.

Most organizations who conduct consignment sales will offer a discount to the people who consign their items.  Volunteers who help with the sale also may receive a discount and be allowed early entrance to the sale.  Early entrance is a great privilege because it will give you access to the best items at the best prices.  Also, you get to shop with a much smaller crowd.  Some popular things to search for at children’s consignment sales are the “boutique” items, which are normally isolated in their own section.  These are high dollar items like fancy dresses and shoes and usually cost more than the average items.

If you do not consign or volunteer for a sale, but you do want to shop, be sure to arrive early and bring a container, like a clothes basket to carry your purchases.  Also be sure to bring some cash as many consignment sales are not equipped to process credit cards.  Be prepared to navigate through a highly motivated crowd.  Due to the low prices and crowded spaces, it is not uncommon for tempers to flair and for people to get into arguments over items.  It is best to avoid these confrontations if possible.