Of all types of laundry stains, oil and grease stains are perhaps some of the hardest ones to get rid of. They won’t go away when you wash with water; they won’t go away with conventional washing either. And when you get an oil stain without realizing it and wash and dry your clothes the […]
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Of all types of laundry stains, oil and grease stains are perhaps some of the hardest ones to get rid of. They won’t go away when you wash with water; they won’t go away with conventional washing either. And when you get an oil stain without realizing it and wash and dry your clothes the conventional way, the day after you will find a baked-in, virtually unremovable spot that sticks out like a sore thumb. And it gets even worst if the said clothes are made of polyester.
So the question is, is there any way that we get rid of these pesky stains, without ripping the clothes themselves out?
The short answer is yes, it is possible to get rid of oil stains. But depends on what kind of fabric your clothes are made of, and whether or not you have preemptively made the mistake of rinsing the oil stains with water, this work can become many, many times more difficult. Nonetheless, it is doable using the methods that we will introduce later in this article.
Spread baking soda evenly over the stain to completely cover it. Allow the baking soda to absorb the oil stain for about 30 minutes. Put the item of clothing in a bucket of water (use hot water if possible) Add a few more tablespoons of baking soda, stir, and wait another 30 minutes. Wash normally.
The best-case scenario for treating an oil stain is to treat it immediately with the right method. In this case, baking soda is the perfect solution. This is also the first aid measure to get oil stains out of clothes without washing, which is extremely handy when the stained piece of garment isn’t easily washable, like a coat.
To treat the oil stain with baking soda, follow these steps:
For set-in oil stains, which are the oil stains that dry out on your clothes before you could treat them immediately, you can remove them using the following method. And this method is also how you can get the stain out naturally because the ingredients used for this routine are mostly natural.
To not panic and wash the stain with water is actually worth mentioning as the first step of the process because there is nothing worse you can do than washing the oil stain with water before anything else. Oil doesn’t mix with water, it floats on the water; so the water will not wash the oil stain away but instead wet the area around the stain, causing the fabric to get mushy around the stain, making it very difficult for any cleaning agents you throw in subsequently to contact well with the oil and do their work.
You do this so the oil will not spread to other parts of the stained clothes. You can get this piece of cardboard from anything around the house, like an old cereal box.
Blot the spot to get rid of any excess oil. Be careful not to spread the oil to other parts of the garment. A napkin or paper towels could also be used in place of a clean cloth.
If you have already experienced how effectively dish soap removes the grease on your dishes, the great news is that you can also expect the same effect when you use it on oil stains on clothes. It acts as a great pretreat agent to make the stain loosen up.
Drop a few drops of dish soap on the stain, and rub gently with your fingers, a cloth, or a soft-bristled toothbrush to work the soap in. Then let it sit for five minutes.
After the wait time, rinse the soap away with warm water. Then wash the clothes in hot water mode, adding some bleach (if the clothes are white) or a color-safe alternative product (if the clothes are colored).
You will want to postpone the dryer use until you are sure that the stain has been fully removed; an oil stain will be very hard to detect once the clothes are wetted from the washing. You will want to see if the stains have been successfully removed, because If you dry the clothes with the dryer immediately, the unremoved stain would literally be baked into the fabric, and become even tougher to remove.
You can also remove oil and grease stains with your regular liquid laundry detergent. Just pour a generous amount onto the item and let it soak for a while before rinsing.
Now we move on to the worst case scenario: You have watered your oil-stained clothes; you have washed the piece of clothes using a washing machine, and have dried it using a drier, and now you a baked-in oil stain. The news is even that can be treated; albeit requiring more patience and a little different methodology.
So in order to get the oil stain out, which is a lot tougher this time, you will need a little specialist help: You will need to pre-treat the stain with an enzyme-based laundry presoak.
An enzyme-based laundry presoak is a pretreatment solution that contains laundry enzymes; and it’s a specialist among cleaners when it comes down to breaking organic stains, including oil stains themselves. There are various types of laundry enzymes, and, each of them is good for breaking down a specific type of organic stain:
To get rid of washed oil stains with the help enzyme presoak, you can simply follow these steps:
So before buying any type of enzyme-based presoak, you may want to read the label to see whether or not it is recommended for the type of stain that you need to clean, and whether there is any contraindication for any type of fabric. A good enzyme presoak product would contain a variety of enzymes, allowing it to break down a variety of stains. As a note, a lot of these presoaks do contain bleach.
For this step, you must strictly follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Generally, the process would most likely go down as follows:
After the soaking, empty the presoak mixture and laundry the stained clothes like usual, following the fabric care instruction label.
Love this guide on how to remove oil stains from your clothes? Sparkling and Beyond has even more cleaning tips and guides for you to explore in our library. If the DIY methods don’t do the trick, you can always get professional help from us. We provide professional and affordable cleaning services for your laundry, your bathroom, and any other part of the house, for any degree of need. We’ll keep your home sparkling clean and healthy.
As the admin of Sparkling & Beyond, I bring a wealth of knowledge and passion for excellence in the cleaning industry. With years of experience in providing top-notch cleaning solutions, I am dedicated to sharing valuable insights and tips to help maintain pristine and healthy living environments. My mission is to ensure every home and office we service sparkles with cleanliness and comfort.
