How to get grease stains out of clothes

How to Get Grease and Oil Stains Out of Clothes?

Greasy oil stains on your clothes or any kind of fabric you own? It doesn’t matter whether the stains are old or new, you wouldn’t want to wear those clothes until you have found a way to get rid of grease stains. You must have thought of just pressing the undo button and make that nasty stain go away but now you don’t even need to pay the dry cleaners for trying to remove those stain.

You can easily remove those oily grease stains off your clothes by using the ingredients already available at your home. You have to remember at all times to avoid your first instinct of clearing that greasy stain with water because water repents oil and it might just make that stain permanent.

There are various home remedies useful for removing the stains caused by Oily food, butter, motor oil, wine, salad dressing or any other greasy product and it really doesn’t matter whether the stain is fresh or old, these remedies help you cleaning your fabric effectively and efficiently, regardless of the type of fabric you can easily learn how to remove old or new greasy oil stains through simple home remedies.

These remedies can help you cope up with an urgent need of using a particular fabric but it is ruined with a greasy oil spill and help you in saving money on dry cleaners. There were times when people didn’t have an option of dry cleaners but still they were cleaning their clothes using whatever that was available and in today's time we have become so busy in our lives that a stained piece of fabric is discarded or sent to dry cleaners instantly. Whereas these home remedies are effective and take way less time than you’ll spend on dry cleaners.

15 WAYS TO REMOVE GREASE STAINS (old & new) OUT OF CLOTHES:

1. CORNSTARCH WITH DISH SOAP

Cornstarch has many other effective features except for kitchen use and is considered as one of the very simple and effective methods of getting rid of grease stains off your clothes. All you have to do is lay your item of clothing on a flat surface and start sprinkling cornstarch over the stain and then soak in for an hour.

Then comes the part where you start rubbing any dish soap on the stain or use a nail brush for the process and that’s it. Start washing your fabric and wait for the magic where the stain gets vanished. You can even use cornstarch for cleaning old greasy stains from your carpets.

2. CORNSTARCH WITH DRY CLEANING SOLVENT

There’s another method of taking off oily grease stains off the stain fabrics by using cornstarch. The process you using the cornstarch is the same, placing your item of clothes over a flat surface and sprinkle cornstarch all over the stained areas and start rubbing the starch on the stain, slowly until you see the stain fading away and let it soak in for an hour.

Then comes the part where you’ll need some kitchen towels on a counter and place the stained item of clothing(stain side down) on the towels. Now you’ll have to rub the backside of the stained areas with a towel soaked in dry-cleaning solvent and do not forget to replace the paper towels frequently as they absorb the oil. This will help you in removing that old/new greasy stain off your item of clothing.

3. HAIR SPRAY

What if I told you that hair sprays aren’t just meant for hair use but also charcoal drawings and cleaning greasy stains off clothes. One of the quickest ways to get rid of grease stains off your fabrics, making your hair spray a fine stain remover.

All you have to do is spray all over the stained areas then wipe it off with a damp cloth and watch the most of the stains clearing out as it clears the stains instantly, then you can simply wash the fabric and air dry. You see, the things we use for our day to day use aren’t meant to fulfill just one purpose.

4. TALCUM/BABY POWDER

These kinds of powders have been proven to be very effective when it comes to removing grease stains from your clothes as it is quick in soaking liquids.

You can use this remedy, especially for delicate clothes because the powder helps in preventing the dullness and color loss in your clothes. All you have to do is sprinkle the powder all over the stained areas and see for yourself how it removes that oily grease stain.

After you’ve sprinkled the powder then press down the powder gently and let it soak the oil and grease and then you can dust off the powder along with the stain. Although it is considered best to leave the powder overnight in case the stain isn/t that bad then even an hour will do the trick.

5. ALOE VERA GEL

We all know that aloe vera is one of the most effective and efficient medicinal remedies but along with that it can remove all kinds of greasy and oily stains from your clothes and let it provide you relief from stain removal headaches.

All you have to do is soak the fabric in water for some time, making the stain little moist and then start rubbing the stained areas with aloe vera gel. Repeat the process for two to three times and then finally wash the fabric and witness the magic of aloe vera. Hence, teaching you another way of getting rid go greasy stains.

6. SHAMPOO

Another sensible way of removing grease stains from your clothes because shampoos already fulfilled the purpose of removing grease and natural oils out of your hair and it can do the same for any kind of fabrics as well.

All you have to do is pre-treat the fabric by applying the shampoo all over the stained areas and then soak in for some time. Then just put the fabric for washing, you’ll see for yourself that shampoo isn’t just useful for your hair but also your stained clothes.

7. DISHWASHING DETERGENT

Just the way shampoo works for your hair, dishwashing detergents are made to clean all the new and old greasy stains from your dishes. Well, it works great and gives you brand new dishes all over again and that’s exactly what it does to your clothes or any other kind of fabric you own.

All you have to do is start pretreating the fabric by applying dishwashing detergent all over the stained areas and then soak in for some time. Then just put the fabric for washing, you’ll see for yourself how dishwashing detergent can be useful for removing grease stains off our clothes.

8. COCA-COLA

During all these years you must have found various uses of coca-cola. Did you know that it is a great way to remove greasy stains from your clothes, you must be thinking about the color it might leave on your clothes but don’t worry because of the kind of food coloring they use in Coca Cola it won’t damage your clothes.

All you have to do is simply pour the coke all over the stained areas and after leaving it for few hours, just give your fabric a nice wash and see how it removes oil stains from your clothes without any sign of coca-cola.

9. VINEGAR

A useful remedy that you were using in your kitchen for your salad dressings and never really realized that it can remove all kinds of greasy stains from your clothes. Vinegar is filled with strong astringent properties and is very effective in removing oil stains.

If you use vinegar on your clothes make sure to add it with some hot water and it will protect the color of your fabric and will prevent it from getting bleached. All you have to do now is soak the stained portion in vinegar and hot water solution, then make sure you scrub the stained area and then let your fabric to air dry.

10. TOOTHPASTE

Another effective method of removing grease or oil stains from your clothes is toothpaste. Along with maintaining your dental hygiene, toothpaste is considered to help remove stains from all kinds of cotton fabrics. All you have to do is apply toothpaste on a brush and start rubbing on the stains and after gentle scrubbing, you can put that cotton fabric for washing. You will learn how you can clean grease stains from cotton clothes.

11. LEMON

Lemon is considered to be a great bleaching agent and is also effective in removing oil stains fro your clothes. All you have to do is slide the lemon and rub it on the stain as the lemon juice sinks into the stained areas it starts removing the oil from the stain. Once you scrub the stain with lemon it will help you in getting rid of the grease stain, then you can simply wash the fabric and make it stainless.

12. HOT WATER

You must know that water and oil don’t mix and that’s the key factor in this remedy. Once you apply boiling hot water on the stained areas, it makes the oil separate from the stained areas and once the oil is out then even normal detergent and regular wash along with scrubbing the stain with a brush will do the trick for you. Remember you may need to brush off the excess oil from both sides of the cloth to make it spotless.

13. BAKING SODA

Another common household ingredient that’s also a perfect remedy to remove oily grease stains. The porous nature of the soda crystals makes baking soda effective at soaking up oil from those greasy stains. All you need to do is sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda on the stain and the stain will turn brown indicating that it has soaked up the oil.

To make the fabric stain-free, keep sprinkling the baking soda until the baking soda stops changing color anymore as it has soaked up all the oil from the stain. Now, wash the cloth as usual and watch the stain simply disappear.

14. SALT WITH ALCOHOL

I’m sure that while struggling with the oily stain on your clothes, the idea of using salt with alcohol hasn’t crossed your mind but that doesn’t mean it isn’t helpful. You can see for yourself by mixing salt and rubbing alcohol in 1:4ratio. Now, start rubbing the solution against the greasy stains, you can also use a brush if necessary. After you re done scrubbing give your fabric a usual wash and see the stains disappearing.

15. WD-40

WD-40 is the trademark name of a penetrating oil and water-displacing spray. Among the various uses of this product, stain removal is a very effective use for this product. This is an effective way of removing grease from some surfaces, as are some lighter fluids.

You can even do a spot test on another area of the stained fabric before attacking the stain with the WD-40 or lighter fluid. Now, just spray the stain with WD-40 and let it soak for around 30 minutes and then give your fabric a usual wash to make it stain free.

Always keep in mind that knowing the right method of removing grease stains is important if you do not want your clothes to be damaged and even washing soaps like strong detergents and bleach might be the reason for seriously damaged clothes. We all are used to using bleach, which is a known allergen and has it’s effects on your skin as well.

Instead of using these soaps and bleaching powder filled with chemicals you can give these natural remedies a try and if it doesn’t suit you then you can simply switch to your old methods. It doesn’t matter whether you work as a chef or have kids in your house, these methods can help you in teaching how to remove old/new oily grease stains from your clothes give these clothes an oil-free fragrance.

And not just clothes but any other kind of fabric that you own like shirt, jeans, t-shirt etc. you can make them stain-free by using these home remedies. These same home remedies also work best in removing butter stain from shirt, Jeans, T-shirt etc.

Author: Sumit Arora
Sumit Arora is a travel writer and photographer, traveling around India for almost a decade. Passionate about Nature and Wildlife, Sumit documents the devastating effects on Nature.