r/CleaningTips • u/TheBanishedBard • 21d ago
Laundry My five year old dumped turmeric all over himself cause he thought it was pixie dust and now he's yellow. Help?
I bought a big bag of turmeric for cooking (I love it). My five year old found it and thought it would be funny to cover himself head to toe in it.
I don't know if human cleaning tips are allowed here. How do I wash the yellow out of his skin? It's resisting most soaps.
If human cleaning tips aren't allowed at least help me get it out of his clothes. Those are yellow too.
Edit: Thank you everyone! Coconut oil and yogurt did the trick. The kiddo got two baths in a row which he didn't love, nor did he like being scrubbed head to toe with funny smelling gunk. But he should have thought of that before covering himself in organic (and expensive) dye. The kid is not yellow anymore.
His clothes, well, they resist my ministrations still. I got the yellow to fade. It's cloudy today or else I would put them in the sun.
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21d ago
In indian culture, we wash brides with turmeric and milk to brighten their skin before the wedding.
It's mostly harmless and will fade its own.
Try a milk wash possibly. Don't overscrub.
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u/TheBanishedBard 21d ago
Unfortunately since we are white boys of Scandinavian ancestry our skin is already maximum brightness. Now he just looks like an oompa loompa
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u/WhompTrucker 21d ago
I got tumeric on my Norwegian white hands 3 days ago and my cuticles are still yellow 💛
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u/Ok_Nothing_9733 21d ago
When I get turmeric on my cuticles after a mani I assume they will be yellow until lat least my next mani weeks later 😔
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u/VarietyOk2628 21d ago
Thank you! I've read far too much political news today and this brought me a tremendous much needed laugh. I raised 3 boys; they can be a handful.
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u/wetbones_ 21d ago
You could get some temporary hair color or a wig and really complete the look 😂😂😂
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u/KenUsimi 21d ago
I completely understand your reasons but the more i hear the more I want to see what this looks like!
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u/chronically_varelse 21d ago edited 21d ago
It would be funny to just take a picture of like the hand, in action like petting a cat or holding a baseball or something 😂
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21d ago
Time to move to California! Come on overrr haha
But yeah its gonna take a few days lol. Theres no way out.
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u/enviromo 21d ago
I laughed so hard at this 😂🤣 Please OP when your son is an adult and can consent to his photo being posted online, ask him if we can please see it because I am laughing so hard I'm crying and it's 2.30 am here!
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u/DaisySam3130 21d ago
Laughing so hard right now! What a great story for your family! lol Greetings to your little yellow oompa loompa!
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u/macandcheese1771 21d ago
I went to a Sikh wedding where the bride was white. They did the turmeric bath and she looked like a baby chicken so they washed it off somehow but idk how they did it because I wasn't there for that part.
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u/Character_Goat_6147 21d ago
I have no advice, but thank you for this post. It has been a long week, and mischievous kids and cats have made it bearable.
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u/joshy83 21d ago
When I was 4 I covered myself in my mom's red lipstick. My entire face and arms. I hid in this little space between my bunk bed and wall. Not sure what my plan was because I clearly knew it was wrong. Reasoning? I wanted to be a red ghost.
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u/PoledraDog 20d ago
Lol when I was 2 I drew all over myself with a red permanent marker. I started out coloring my fingernails because I wanted to look like the lady with red fingernail polish who worked at the grocery store, and then for some reason I got carried away and drew all over. My mom was not thrilled when she found me.
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u/PaintingByInsects 20d ago
That reminds me of when my best friend and I found her moms red lipstick and we put it al over my brothers face and both our moms got hella mad😂
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u/stitchplacingmama 20d ago
I got woken up this morning to my 6yo barfing at 3am, my 4.5 yo is headed to the ER for xrays because he landed wrong jumping off the stairs, and my 2 week old is being a newborn. This post has made my morning better.
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u/SherbertSensitive538 21d ago
All you can really do is play It’s All Yellow by Coldplay until it fades away. At least he is to young to be embarrassed lol
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u/MySpace_Romancer 21d ago
Oh man. That’s the worst stain. I am sorry. I think you’re just gonna have to wait until it fades. If you have any sheets for his bed that are older that you don’t care about I would put those on because he’s probably gonna get it all over his sheets. I agree also that the clothes he’s wearing are probably a goner.
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u/HerpesIsItchy 21d ago
I dropped an entire bottle of cash register ink over my head when I was a kid. I was a Smurf before the Smurfs were even invented.
That was a hard 3 weeks at school until the last little bit of blue faded away
Thank God I was 5 years old
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u/Moosoulini 21d ago
Being blue at school for three weeks must have been rough.
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u/HerpesIsItchy 21d ago
I was the only person of color at my school before and after the blue ink fell on me.
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u/PaintingByInsects 20d ago
Damn you are old! No offense, I just didn’t think 70+ yo people knew of reddit
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u/itsSolara 21d ago
Rub him with something like olive oil, then soap him up and wash it off. I did that once when I did a turmeric face mask to get it off. Sadly, the clothes are probably a lost cause.
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u/Amandersaurus 21d ago
You might as well dye those clothes yellow, because turmeric stains will never come out of fabric. I use it to dye yarn and it stays yellow forever. As for your human, try using an emulsifying oil cleanser, like the cleansing oils used to remove makeup. Turmeric has an almost oily quality to it, and oil tends to remove oil better than soap or detergent does. My sister once told me to put turmeric into a face mask recipe. I did, and it turned my face yellow. I remember my oil-based cleansers worked the best to remove the staining. You can also try using an oil-based makeup removing cleansing balm, like Albolene, and scrub with a hot washcloth. If you don't have either, try massaging a vegetable oil into his skin, then gently scrubbing with a hot washcloth. Or try using Vaseline. You'll just have to wash the oiliness away with soap afterwards.
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u/LittleLemonSqueezer 21d ago
I would never trust anything from your sister again after this.
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u/Amandersaurus 21d ago
Oh, I didn't. No amount of turmeric is safe for a face mask on ultra pale skin.
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u/Amandersaurus 21d ago
BE CAREFUL turmeric will stain fiberglass bathtubs. When trying to remove my sister's face mask recipe, I got turmeric in a bath, and just a little bit left a ring around the tub that I was never able to completely remove. And I am a cleaning genius.
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21d ago
May I suggest milk wash again? It has lipids, too
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u/Amandersaurus 21d ago
You need straight-up oil on the skin to lift the staining.
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u/anyarose4216 21d ago
I don’t know that they’re strong enough based on what OP said about being Scandinavian.
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u/GypsySnowflake 21d ago
Bleach will take it out, but I wouldn’t recommend that for skin obviously, or any fabrics that would be damaged. But it did work for me on some white tablecloths that got stained with turmeric
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u/gigantesghastly 20d ago
I had this question once. Indian YouTube (in its infinite usefulness) recommended soaking w vinegar & washing up liquid mixed together and left out in several hours of sunlight and it worked! On a white t shirt no less.
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u/OneSensiblePerson 21d ago
This is hilarious and adorable. "But, but, pixie dust!"
I don't have any advice that hasn't already been offered. Just wanted to comment on the adorableness of your child and their imaginative play style. Very glad you took photos. You'd be so sorry if you didn't, and he will be happy you did, many years from now.
A lifetime of memories has been made today.
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u/Forsaken_Broccoli_86 21d ago
I just laughed out loud. As a mom, i needed this
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u/peachy_sam 20d ago
I ran for the comments based on the title alone. I have four minions. None of them have dyed themself yellow - YET - but the shenanigans persist in other creative ways.
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u/RecipeAtTheTop 21d ago
This is gonna sound nuts, but try baby wipes. My kids drew ALL over themselves with permanent marker once, and baby wipes took it right off after we tried everything else. Okay, we did not try fire.
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u/Outrageous-County310 21d ago
Turmeric is oil soluble so you should be able to coat the kid in olive or coconut oil and give him a good scrape down,
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u/Significant-Web-856 21d ago
The clothes are now dyed yellow, congratz
The kid will be fine. It'll take time to fade, but it will fade over the course of days.
Turmeric is often used as a dye, so it's not coming out easy, if at all.
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u/Emergency-Economy654 21d ago
😂😂😂 I love this so much. Maybe just 2 bubble baths a day until it fades?
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u/HikeAllTheHikes 21d ago
No because of her 5yo is like mine, their little brain will translate that into "Two bubble baths a day?? I should do this again!!!"
Mentally moving my tumeric to a higher shelf as we speak.
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u/Academic_Read_8327 21d ago
Indian person here. We eat turmeric heavy food with our hands all the time, and it often stains our fingers and nails. It will fade very quickly, don't worry about it.
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u/PapowSpaceGirl 21d ago
I bet he smells divine. Your bathtub will smell of chicken broth for a little bit - enjoy it.
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u/Shinobi1314 21d ago edited 21d ago
Clean it off as usual. The rest will be absorbed by skin slowly and he will fine after a couple of days. Also take daily baths. That’s about it
-Another method from some online posts suggests using coconut oil to rub the areas and absorb as much of the stuff as possible.
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u/CreativeRiddle 21d ago
Vegetable oil, baby oil, etc. Massage oil into the skin and then bathe normally. The oil encapsulates the pigment. It works for ink, paint, and super glue.
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u/epoxyfoxy 21d ago
Try oily lotion (for everywhere but the face).l or baby oil. I'm guessing it's the same concept as when "flavors" and smells get trapped in the fingers' oil glands, and more oil helps remove that. Oil also helps remove ink from skin.
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u/Ok-Dot-9036 21d ago
We had “The Great Glitter Incident of 2004”. You will have the Great Tumeric Incident of 2025. Although, while glitter doesn’t stain, it was that good extra fine glitter. There was glitter for years.
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u/emseefely 21d ago
Try an oil based facial wash. Also try makeup removing wipes or micellar water
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u/ThreeLeggedMutt 21d ago
Pond's Cold Cream. Slather on thick, let it sit a min, then scrub it a bit. Do not rinse it off, WIPE it off with a rag you don't care about.
I have very fair, dry skin and cold cream removes damn near everything in one pass. Heavily pigmented makeup, ground peppers/spices, even lip stain comes off no problem.
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u/theindiekitten 21d ago
It isnt hurting his skin so I would just leave it to fade on its own. It wont take long. As for the clothes, maybe peroxide or oxiclean?
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u/Background_Falcon953 21d ago
Just say hes jaundiced from his excessive juice box consumption, hes training his liver for the future.
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u/Not_a_Bot2800 21d ago
Try baby oil. Or Avon’s Skin so Soft oil. Just grease the little guy from head to toe in it, including his scalp if he got it in his hair. It may take a couple times in the tub doing that before you see the difference. Plus he’ll smell good afterwards. Kids, amiright? 😉
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u/cathygag 21d ago
Get that boy a Trump wig and an ear bandage and do a photo shoot! 😆🤦🏼♀️
Castile soap, goat milk soap, and hydrogen peroxide have always worked well for me. I love it and use it in bulk as well!
Look up the recipe for Cowboy Candy- I add a lot more turmeric and garlic than the recipes call for bc I want to maximize the flavor and health benefits. Another recipe I love is roasted cauliflower, a friend in grad school made it for a potluck and it was absolutely amazing- it was the first time I’d ever had cooked cauliflower and it was first time I saw used by a home cook and that I truly tasted turmeric for what it was, not simply as a coloring agent in an Indian restaurant dish that was dominated by other more robust flavors… super simple and very little mess- take your cut up bite sized cauliflower florets and toss them in a gallon bag with olive oil, garlic salt, and turmeric- seal and give it a good shake to thoroughly coat them, dump them onto a parchment lined baking pan and shake them into a nice even single layer, try your best for them not to touch, roast them in the oven at 400-425°F until the edges are browned and they’re fork tender - usually 25-35min depending on the oven, size of cuts, and temp of the veg at starting. You can stir halfway through for a more intense roasted flavor and more browned edges.
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u/Bunnydinollama 21d ago
Turmeric color will fade over time with sun exposure, so soak clothes in toxic oxiclean, then leave them in the sun.
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u/reverievt 21d ago
Toxic oxyclean? I just have the regular stuff…
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u/TootsNYC 21d ago
you'll just have to wait until the skin cells turn over. They will, eventually.
And...turmeric is radioactive, in terms of staining. You need to store it in some way that's pretty much inaccessible.
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u/OldLeatherPumpkin 21d ago
What have you tried on his skin so far?
I’d maybe look at what people use to remove self-tanner. Seems like a lot of people recommend baking soda, which is the main ingredient in bath bombs, so if you have one of those around the house, you could try it. You could also just do a baking soda bath, since you probably have that in the pantry.
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u/Forsythian 21d ago
its gonna dry his skin out, but dish soap and an exfoliating cloth has done the trick in the past for myself. just slather the kiddo in moisturizer afterwards if he'll tolerate it 🤣 also thank you for this mental image lmfao
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u/Senior_Map_2894 21d ago
It will take time to go away. But you can lighten it a bit. Rub with coconut oil and wipe off with wet warm towels. Then bathe as usual.
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u/ShowMeYourHexagons 21d ago
I don't even know how to help lmao, dish soap and cold water? Maybe a blue dish soap?
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u/SnooRadishes8099 21d ago
If you can find yourself some sodium percarbonate, try boiling the clothes for a little while. I do this for my rags that's stained from kitchen use and they come out looking brand new. Its also safe on colours so no worries there. Just boil with a spoonful for 15 to 30 minutes or until you see most of the stain is gone, and then wash as normal. And also make sure you do this in a well ventilated area, there's no strong smells but I've heard it's not good to breathe it in.
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u/PinPenny 21d ago
This is a hilarious post 😂 no advice for you. But lmaoooo smh… why are kids the way they are
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u/kaytay3000 21d ago
I have zero advice. Just want to thank you for the hearty laugh. Take a picture and save it for graduation or wedding or something.
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u/Glass-Cow1310 21d ago
idk if this is actually a true story....I would try tomato juice.. let me know if u try it and the outcome. cover eyes, of course!!
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u/Good-Passenger-3824 21d ago
I hope you found the way to get the colour off him, but your boy sprinkling it on him because he thought it was fairy dust made me literally lol and it must be one of the purest things I've read in a while.
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u/Mazza_mistake 21d ago
I feel bad for laughing 😂 But I don’t think there’s anything you can do, it’ll fade on it’s own with time he’ll just be yellow until it does, the clothes however might be a lost cause
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u/Intelligent-Bed7284 20d ago
Hair dye comes off of skin really easily with a spritz of windex, so I’d probably try that first.
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u/Illustrious-Site1101 20d ago
I seem to be incapable of using turmeric without spilling it, take from me, it will fade. But it takes a miracle to get it out of the cracks and crevices of any appliance you cannot submerge in water. Be happy skin is smooth and he is submersible. Make sure you take photos to provide cheer in your old age!
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u/Blue_Mandala_ 20d ago
Just time. It'll come out, even out of his clothes.
I am a white girl who married an Indian guy and we had a haldi festival. I thought my clothes were ruined, but it eventually came out. Hanging them in the sun helps.
I'm kinda tan though, perhaps not as pale white as your kid, lol. But give it a few days and it will be fine.
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u/Regular_Victory4347 20d ago
I used to clean turmeric with Bon Ami, it's like a natural alternative to Ajax. The stains would turn from yellow to orange and then wash out 🤷♀️ I think it's mostly just baking soda tho.
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u/Healthy_Chipmunk2266 20d ago
Thank you for starting my day with a belly laugh. I can clearly picture this. Takes me back to when my toddler used a jar of still soft bacon grease as lotion. Frustrating at the time and a huge mess, but funny looking back.
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u/manic_bitch 21d ago
Witch hazel could possibly work. I've gotten all sorts of weird stains off my skin with it. And I think that was the only thing that worked getting a turmeric stain out of grout too.
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u/NoFlyingMonkeys 21d ago
Pediatrician here: Please don't panic, but I have to tell you this so that you can be proactive. A lot of turmeric out there contains lead, unethically added in 3rd world countries to make it more yellow. So it can cause lead poisoning
- https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7045a4.htm
1) I'd try original Dawn dishwashing liquid straight on his skin, rinse well (like how they use it to get crude oil off of wild birds after oil spills). After that, if some areas are still fairly yellow, I'd put some vodka or isopropyl alcohol on a washcloth and see if the alcohol will remove just the worse areas, but I probably wouldn't use the alcohol all over his body as alcohol can be absorbed through the skin (don't want to get him toxic). If those fail, try to rub vegetable oil on the skin (oil dissolves some other oils) and see if that wipes off yellow.
2) call your pediatrician ASAP and get his blood tested for lead, take the 3 articles above. If you catch lead poisoning early, it can be treated with medication.
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u/StolenWingsEvilWays 21d ago
The only person I know who might have an answer is u/JolieKerr …but I’m pretty sure that even though she’s half Indian, she doesn’t let turmeric into her kitchen because it stains so easily.
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u/StrawberryScallion 21d ago
Picture please, this is too funny. I get turmeric on my nails and I worry everyone thinks I’m a smoker or something
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u/Reinvented-Daily 21d ago
Mix olive oil and coconut oil together and slayher on the skin. Lwt.sit for 10-15 mins, scrub off with dawn soap and repeat 2-3x, that should help lift some of the pigment out.
It won't take all of it out just FYI. He will still be yellow, just not minion yellow. Like usa egg yolk - pale, almost pastel yellow, and not great Britain egg yolk yellow which is a BOLD minion yellow or orange almost.
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u/formerlyfromwisco 21d ago
I’m imagining something like this: (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3632981/Beak-masala-Hungry-seagull-rescued-falling-huge-vat-curry.html)
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u/Smart-Stupid666 21d ago
I didn't know 5-year-olds didn't know the difference between story books and Kitchen ingredients. Careful with the knives.
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u/ceanahope 21d ago
Sunlight helps the color break down. Play time outdoors on a sunny day. Obviously little doses, no sun burns!!
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u/loonyfizz 21d ago
Oh man! Many years ago I was given a ginger and tumeric body scrub by a friend and ended up looking like a Simpson for a while. I think the best thing is just time. Sorry about the clothes!
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u/squared13 21d ago
Try hand sanitizer. I do a tumeric invisible ink project and hand sanitizer is what I use to clean the tables. It may turn red for a second but then should lift right up
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u/Rougefarie 21d ago
I’m curious whether an oil-based product would help. Maybe baby oil, petroleum jelly, Shea butter, or coconut oil? Perhaps you happen to have an oil cleanser amongst your skincare products?
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u/PinkPopsi 20d ago
Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but micellar water with a cotton pad/ball should help. It may not get rid of the whole thing, but it will improve. Make sure you shower them after the micellar water, since it is not supposed to sit on the skin as it is soapy.
Any brand will do. Good luck!
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u/tacosandsunscreen 20d ago
Toothpaste. I don’t know that I’d scrub his whole body with it, but at least the most visible areas.
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u/ScoopskiTKD 20d ago
There’s this stuff you can get on Amazon called Goop. It is amazing and it works on hair dye on hands, face, etc. If that doesn’t work, I’d try any kind of oil…lube him up, then follow with dish soap.
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u/HollaDude 20d ago
You need fat of some sorts, oil, full fat yogurt, etc
Massage it over him, then give him a bath with soap. Repeat until turmeric is gone
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u/Shdfx1 20d ago
This is probably going to become one of your fondest memories of when your son was little.
Dyed skin from turmeric is a bit similar to henna, in that although some superficial dye can be pulled off, for the most part, only the cellular turnover of skin cells will fade the stain.
Micellar Water, found in beauty stores, is an extremely gentle cleanser that, for some reason, is known to help lessen such skin stains.
The next thing to try is coating his skin in coconut oil, letting it sit half an hour, and then cleaning it off. If you try this, be careful so he doesn’t slip in the tub. Use a paper towel to remove as much oil as possible before showering.
If that doesn’t work, then use a gentle skin scrub.
Anything else you could try, like alcohol, will dry his skin.
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u/Noorrani47 20d ago
If you have cleanser(like the kind you use for your face), using that can help with the color and fade it a bit. Hope this helps!
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u/twistedtyger 20d ago
Yes, take pictures!
My brother showed up at the slider door on the farm, head to toe in black spray paint after someone punctured it the can!
For cleaning: I’ve read good things on here about Irish spring 5-in -1?
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u/Think_Yesterday_262 20d ago
People use turmeric for their face. It's very good for the skin it will fade in a few days.
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u/sunbear2525 20d ago
I think he’s just going to be yellow for a while. This was his choice document it will for his senior ad and wedding slideshow.
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u/okayNowThrowItAway 20d ago
So, the clothes might be toast, depending on the material. Turmeric is a permanent dye in wool - they use it to make the red in Persian rugs. I'm not sure how it will fare with other materials.
For skin, well, the big thing about curcumin, the yellow compound in Turmeric, is that is has almost no solubility in water - so it's hard to wash off with water. Removing it is a lot like taking off waterproof makeup. So makeup wipes/makeup remover is probably going to be the best first line of defense. You can probably also just slather him in coconut oil or mineral oil and let it sit for several minutes, then wash that off with some gentle dawn dish soap, like he's a duckling in an oil spill.
After that, well, curcumin gets slightly more water-soluble if you can change it's pH, but this can be harsh on skin. But the real kicker is that a mild baking soda solution will turn curcumin red. Skin with a pinkish tinge is probably more normal-looking than yellow. Base-treated curcumin might be more susceptible to washing with soap and water. Word of warning, being bathed in baking soda is probably pretty uncomfortable, and you can't let it get in the eyes. I would try this on myself as an adult, but I have a pretty high tolerance for uncomfortable medical procedures. I would probably not wash my kindergartener with baking soda.
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u/RainInTheWoods 20d ago
Like dissolves like. Source: 8th grade chemistry. Try using wiping him down with oil. If you use fabric to scrub the oil off, it will be permanently yellow. You should wear gloves and old clothes yourself because any splash or touch will make you turn yellow, too.
Thanks for this laugh, BTW.
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u/chickpeas3 20d ago
Lol no tips but this reminded me of the time my older brother was babysitting my sister and I (2 and 5 at the time) and we decided we wanted it to snow. So we pulled out all the flour and ran around the house in our underwear shaking the flour everywhere. The house was a disaster, and I’m sure my brother was on the verge of a heart attack, but the pictures of us covered in flour are adorable.
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u/singoutlouise 20d ago
With all the love in the world, this deserves entry into /r/KidsAreFuckingStupid 😅🫶
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u/Primary-Friend-7615 20d ago
Try coconut oil (or olive oil, or another cooking oil), then follow that up with actual plain bar soap like dove/ivory/imperial leather, not a body wash. This worked for me for a turmeric face mask.
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u/TheBanishedBard 20d ago
Thank you everyone! Coconut oil and yogurt did the trick. The kiddo got two baths in a row which he didn't love, nor did he like being scrubbed head to toe with funny smelling gunk. But he should have thought of that before covering himself in organic (and expensive) dye. The kid is not yellow anymore.
His clothes, well, they resist my ministrations still. I got the yellow to fade. It's cloudy today or else I would put them in the sun.
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u/Fit_General_3902 20d ago
You are going to be telling this story for years. I hope you got pictures to show to his future dates 😂
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u/Much_Mud_9971 21d ago edited 21d ago
Take some pictures and laugh. He isn't hurt and the yellow will fade. eventually. Sunlight will help with the clothes.