Black marks are appearing on my babyās clothes. Itās where formula lands and itās freaking me out. Itās on her bibs, burp clothes and collar of her clothes where she dribbles the most milk out. Iām hoping itās just the iron from the formula maybe. Has anyone else had this happen?
What formula are you using?? Cause my baby gets formula everywhere and this has never happened before? Like sometimes thereāll be a spill on our bed sheet or whatever and Iāll jus wipe it off with a baby wipe and leave it until the sheets need to be cleaned, so it essentially will be on the fabric for days and not do this.
I will also wash his clothes every other day and I have never had a stain like this so I could be worth checking to see if the other people experiencing the same issue are using the same or not!
Yes same, sometimes if Iāve left a burp rag in the car and itās a lil crusty just pop it in th wash and all good againā¦ Iāve had an almost bleach like Stan happened where it left a white stain on a grey shirt but never mould. I donāt know whether OP should be concerned that their formula is causing mould, or that mine doesnāt?!? š¤Ø
Yeah itās weird because it doesnāt happen to all fabrics it spills on. Iām so confused. Iāve been using the target brand version of enfamil gentlease.
I had it happen with some bibs and burp cloths despite washing them well everyday with detergent and even laundry sanitizer sometimes. My daughter started on emfamil gentease and then went to Similac sensitive and it made no difference in the weird mold on some of the bibs and burp cloths. The cheap ones we got online and at Walmart would always mild like that but the ones I got as Marshalls never had a problem.
This happened to me recently and it was like the powder specifically that was dropped on my babyās clothes. And after the wash, I guess not wiping it all off made that happen.
It happens so quickly Iām shocked, itās just a few hours Iām doing her laundry every day. I guess Iād rather it be mold and trash it than something she is drinking cause I was scared.
This is what I suspect. I've had mold grow quickly on bath linen when hanging up to dry in the bathroom and it was because the bathtub had a mold issue. I got a new unit and I don't have this issue.
I live in one of the most tropical and humid countries in the world, and Iāve never had this issue beforeā¦ I think there might be spores already present in OPās home that might be rapidly growing?
Certain fabrics are more likely to grow mold than others, and will do it more quickly too. Bamboo is a big one that will grow mold easily. Especially if you just toss the clothing into a pile with other clothes and it doesnāt really get a chance to dry up.
I think itās probably a chemical reaction, maybe to your detergent.
Have you ever pre treated a blueberry stain? It acts as an indicator. Rub something basic like soap in it and the stain turns dark blue, something acidic and it turns red.
Put a drop of your detergent on a paper towel smear it thin and let it soak in. Next drip formula on top and see if thereās a reaction.
I live in California and itās been pretty warm. I donāt think thereās mold in the building though because I moved into a brand new apartment complex that was built this year but who knows I donāt know how mold works.
Absolutely get it checked out by maintenance, new builds are crap. Check extra moist places like under sinks, bathrooms, behing washer/dryers, etc. Might not hurt to get a mold-icide spray and clean places with it once a week for a few weeks to see if it helps.
Hi I also had something like this happen because the hamper I was using for my babies clothes, was made of cotton and double lined. I never āwashedā the laundry basket so the moisture would sit in there and eventually it grew mold. I only do laundry every 2-3 days
Yeah I just moved into a new building, I am the first ever resident, and our kitchen sink hose is so moldy already that I have to use the bathroom sink for drinking water. Itās absolutely astonishing how quickly it can happen.
FWIW, it is public housing but the building is literally less than a year old. 6 months at most.
Iād get it checked out. I was the first tenant to move into a brand new āluxuryā apartment when I was in Austin, and sometimes Iād go on a weekend getaway. I came back 3 times with my AC set to 76 while I was away, and there was mold all over my shoes, on my wicker baskets, and on most of my clothes. It was disturbing. Normally, Iād keep the temp around 72 when I was in the unit so I didnāt think 76 would be a cause for concern.
I think there were issues with the compressor and potentially other building standards that were looked over.
Do you notice this on anything else? Towels? Suede shoes, cloth or wicker? What room does it happen in, and where are the clothes going between being on your baby and going into the wash?
WHAT this is on some of our bibs and I just assumed it was some weird thing. Omg gross I feel terrible Iāve been putting moldy bibs and wiping his mouth with it!! Ugh!!
Itās mold and can confirm baby bibs especially are prone to this. Iād chuck these and try to do laundry more often, ie not letting damp fabric sit for too long before washing.
I had the same problem with bibs we got online or from Walmart. Got some from Marshall's that were the exact same price and they didn't mold despite getting treated the exact same as the other bibs. I think it's partially a fabrics thing.
Same. Used formula with two babies and it never happened. We do laundry 2x a week so there is definitely time for the soiled items to sit there for 1-2 days and Iāve never seen that before š¤·š»āāļø
So my baby has been spewing for a while all over herself and clothes and I have not seen that. What type of detergent are you using? I wonder if you need an enzyme cleaning product, like Dirty Labs. They also make a laundry boosting powder that might be a good start.
I love this stuff. I was able to rehab my husbandās gross undershirts with the powder and a scoop or two per load keepās babyās clothes nice and fresh.
Dreft suckers in new parents with their marketing, but itās actually terrible detergent. The perfume/scent in it bothers a huge percentage of babies too
Unrelated to formula question but I also need to rehab husbandās shirts! Were yours just stained? Mine has that gross deodorant build-up and nothing I do works to remove it.
It was a bit of both. They were ancient with stains and the pits were stiff from deodorant. I want to say I did a round with three scoops and maybe a second wash? I canāt remember. What I do remember is my husband remarking he couldnāt find his favorite undershirts in the basket easily (the gross ones, of course) because of how well it cleaned them.
If you donāt want to fully commit, they do sell it on Amazon and at Whole Foods. Since Iām a total convert with the laundry detergent, the booster, and the unscented dishwashing powder I have a subscription from the website which is super convenient.
Humidity levels stay in the 50s/low 60s and I wash my babyās things daily at this point because of the staining. I donāt see this happen on everything but whew itās ruined quite a few things this year š„²
Thatās frustrating but mould can grow around 55% humidity plus. Be careful itās not sitting long with other wet items too it only takes about 24 hours for mold to start growing. I was devastated when I lost a whole basket of clothes of my daughters because I must have had one wet item in the basket and I also had the humidifier running overnight while she was sick once. Iām super careful now
Definitely mold. Bibs, burp rags, muslin fabric, and bamboo fabric are especially bad. If you're just tossing the clothing into a hamper to wash later, it can literally happen overnight.
Learned my lesson from this after mold ruined a pair of Little Sleepies jammies. No matter how many times you wash, its not going to come out.
Edit to add: Rule is, if formula bottle isnt finished within 1 hour after baby starts drinking it needs to be discarded. This is because bacteria starts growing, especially after babys saliva is introduced into it as well. So just imagine whats happening when formula from spit up is sitting on clothing for a couple of hours or longer. Bacteria just having a party thriving lol
Cause youāre leaving it to grow mould it looks like.
Are you leaving it in a damp or enclosed space? Potentially laundry basket ? Youād be suprised how quickly mould can grow.
Always dry damp things before throwing them in the laundry basket. We live in one of the hottest places on earth with high humidity and we have ac on all the time, making it super dry in the house but if we throw the dirty clothes in the laundry basket without drying them first, theyll get smelly and moldy too. Cant imagine how it is if its more humid in your house.
My oldest oneās bibs turned like this too. It was because of all the spills and food that stayed on them for too long before washing. I donāt think itās because of a specific formula.
Does your baby drool or spit up a lot?
Itās also probably a low quality cotton or not intended for this purpose hence why it goes moldy so quickly: it is not appropriately treated. When buying cotton items for baby make sure they have some sort of certification. In Europe itās Oeko Tex.
Its mold. Throw out that its growing on. Make sure to rinse off or soak in white vinegar until they get washed. I actually just do one load of laundry every night. I dont let my babies bibs or anything that gets wet sit for days.
There shouldnāt be mold from things wet the same day. Iāve had a week old dirty clothes that just have regular yellow stains and no black stuff. Things that are wet I hang to dry before throwing in the basket though.
Aw, sorry this happened. It looks like you already got your answer - that itās likely mold. I just thought Iād drop here in my routine for washables that have bodily fluids as a mom with multiple kids and a dog that likes to barf everywhere š« I always treat these as different from regular laundry.
-baby/kid items with a small amount of bodily or other fluid: ideally rinse out with water, then squeeze out as much water as you can, and hang to dry until itās time to do laundry. Or if thatās not feasible, at least hang on the side of the laundry basket to dry and so that no other articles in the basket get wet. Wash with other similar items as normal, as soon as possible but definitely within a day or two
-items with poop or any significant amount of bodily fluids (spit up, vomit, pee): the fluid must be washed off ASAP. Anything chunky or that pooled gets scraped off and into the trash or toilet. Iāll rinse thoroughly first in a sink with no other items. I usually use whatever soap is closest - hand soap or dish soap. Give a short hand washing, squeeze out as much water as you can, and leave to dry before washing in a load ideally with other similarly contaminated items, with hot water and a very good detergent. The sooner you can get it through the wash, the better. (If itās poop, Iāll usually hose it off in the backyard first before all this).
Unfortunately, once you see those black mold spots the item is done for :(
I put a wet/used bib in the diaper bag and forgot about it for a couple days after getting home. Mold! A bottle leaked in a diaper bag pocket, that created mold. I learned quickly to always empty that thing out upon returning home.
My curiosity could be way out in left field - you know how your tongue or stool can turn black from taking Pepto? Itās because the salicylates react with the sulfur in our saliva. A very brief google search tells me formulas have salicylates in them. Maybe babyās saliva is reacting with the formula and turning black!
Random thought, as it's come up in mum conversations - does baby play with bubbles and bubble wands often? Bubble solutions leave these dots on clothes sometimes.
Everyone saying mould but Iām not convinced. It looks like what happened when I attempted to wash my mattress topper in the washing machine and it was too big and got caught in the door. The friction from washing turned it black like this. Iād say was your washing machine overloaded?
Formula has never done this to our clothes
My understanding is that one of the concerns with formula is the possible exposure to e.coli. which dies at 70c, so you want to mix the formula while it is over 70c but under boiling so that you don't break down the proteins.
So it's not about sterilizing the water but about sterilizing the formula itself.
For formula E coli is rarely a problem. I think you're thinking about Cronobacter or Salmonella as these were maybe more prevalent but still quite rare.
E coli is mainly a risk for formual dispensing espressors.
Either way, this depends on tje country and milk.
The formula I offer my baby is Topfer and as long as I use sterile water, the formula's box instructions recommend to use 40 Celsius degrees.
So like I said, it depends on the country and the brand you're using.
The formula ideally shouldn't be sterilized at extreme temperatures because you're also killing all the probiotics. But let me reiterate: it depends on the brand's and country recommendations!
It is the iron. And it depends on the composition of the iron and its origin. Usually enfamil and Similac have that metallic smell and taste for the iron I donāt like. I switched to Kirkland because of that.
Any chance the clothes had sidewalk chalk on them before washing? We ruined several items after our kiddo sat in sidewalk chalk. Hot water sets the stain in the clothes and can change the color too.
Try posting on r/laundry. There are some laundry wizards on there who might be able to confirm what it is and how to get it out so that you don't have to throw anything out.
Oxidation can occur. It happens with the lil poos my baby passes while sharting. It's not a lot of volume so I figured there isn't a lot of water? Idk I've heard it's normal with goat milk formula. It looks like lil silver specs. That's with poo though and when I've dampened it it turned back yellow green.
I've had this happen to literally one onesie! I didn't have a clue what it was! Figured mold from an excessive spit up and possibly near a wet wash cloth in the dirties? Washed it and had to trash it, at that point it was like a stain. It's never happened again at least. Learned that spit ups and lil poos from sharts can change into some pretty wild colors. Wet mixed with air can do wild things.
If that is mold itās an instant throw away you cannot get rid of mold spores. But Iām not convinced unless itās in the laundry bag for days on end but even then I think this could be iron but itās v odd never had this before
Does your little one take any meds for reflux by chance? I had this same thing happened and then I realized it was only from the bottles that contained his esomeprazole. For us, it is just a reaction with the meds. Not mold. But I was definitely horrified until I figured that out.
Thatās crazyā¦ three kids later and Iāve NEVER seen any of their bibs do this. Iāve always used bottled water and Enfamil formula - pardon me if I missed it, but do you mind telling your water and formula combo? Just curious as to if it could be a common cause of this! Iāve always noticed the formula turning a dark orange/brownish color, but never this! Interesting.
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u/thesoundgardenofeden Oct 23 '25
What formula are you using?? Cause my baby gets formula everywhere and this has never happened before? Like sometimes thereāll be a spill on our bed sheet or whatever and Iāll jus wipe it off with a baby wipe and leave it until the sheets need to be cleaned, so it essentially will be on the fabric for days and not do this.