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Quick Tip: How to Get Grease Stains Out of Clothes

2009-11-02-GreaseStains.jpgOne thing about cooking is it sure is messy! Even when we remember to wear an apron, we still wind up with splatters all over our sleeves. The very worst are the grease stains, which always seem totally impossible to get out.

Well, at least they were until we learned a very simple trick!

 
 

Once when we were complaining about grease stains ruining all our clothes, a friend of ours suggested simple dish soap. She's an artist and she said that dish soap is the only thing that will consistently get oil paint splatters out of her clothes, short of using expensive products.

So we gave it a try!

We rubbed a little dish soap right onto one of our most recent stains and let it sit for a little while before washing. We sent the shirt through the wash and didn't see a stain, so we went ahead and dried it too. Like magic, the stain was gone.

We even tried this trick on old stains - ones that had been washed and dried repeatedly - and our clothes came out as good as new. We could hardly believe it!

We think it must be something about the grease-busting properties of dish soap that makes this work. Whatever it is, we're glad to know about it.

Do you have any sure-fire tricks for removing food and grease stains from clothing?

Related: Creative Ways to Store Dish Soap

(Image: Flickr member Robert S. Donovan licensed under Creative Commons)

Tags

Tips & Techniques, Clothing, Kitchen Cleanup, Cleaning, stains, grease, food stains, grease stain

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Comments (24)

i'm so excited! i have many, many shirts that have those little spots from grease pops. nothing ever worked on them.

can't wait to try this.

posted by glittercore on November 2nd 2009 at 12:26pm
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sprinkle talcum/baby powder over a fresh oil stain and it'll come out later with ordinary detergent. I don't think that'll work with older stains though

posted by juice on November 2nd 2009 at 12:40pm
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Eucalyptus oil works really well. I put some on (a few drops) a wet washcloth and then pat the stain and then wash. Takes it right out and your laundry will smell reallly good.

posted by Signe on November 2nd 2009 at 12:41pm
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The dish soap method works like a charm, but for some reason I always seem to get grease stains on dry clean only stuff. It's like they have a grease magnet and I'm nervous to try this on them.

posted by jkpenny on November 2nd 2009 at 1:42pm
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Be careful, some dish soaps will lighten clothing - my mom learned this the hard way. We use Lemon Sunlight.

posted by gleam on November 2nd 2009 at 1:43pm
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Unfortunately, this works only with petroleum based dishsoap. That's why when there's an oil spill clean up at the beach, they specify that you bring petroleum based dishsoap.

I use the plant based ones, and so they don't take the stains out. Whenever I cook now, I wear aprons, and change out of my silk blouses, dresses, or nice tops. I've ruined way too many articles of clothing to not learn my lesson.

posted by adiaphane on November 2nd 2009 at 1:59pm
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I have been using Dawn dish soap for two years to get grease stains out of clothes. Works like a charm. Just put it on the stain and wait no less than an hour and wash. I put the Dawn on the stains when I take my clothes off at night and have washed the clothes as much as a week after and it still works beautifully.

posted by ohsuzanna on November 2nd 2009 at 2:17pm
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Oh, if I learn nothing else on this site, all my hours spent perusing will not be wasted! I can't tell you how many of my husband's shirts (I always wear an apron) have these little grease spots. I can't wait to try this. As always-thank you for the great hints and tricks!

posted by rosebud on November 2nd 2009 at 2:36pm
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Lestoil is a miracle product. I heard about it and tried it on grease stains that were months old - worked like a charm. Now I swear by it.

posted by longhornem on November 2nd 2009 at 2:41pm
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My auto mechanic father taught me this great trick- brake cleaner! Go to your local auto parts store and pick up a can. Spray it on the grease spots (in a well-ventilated area!), and then launder- it may take 2-3 washes to get the smell of the cleaner out, but your clothes will be saved!

posted by kll205 on November 2nd 2009 at 3:00pm
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sooo you think this will work on baby formula stains?? i figure its grease in the milk that stains all my babys clothes... i duno.

posted by deebo on November 2nd 2009 at 3:08pm
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My mom does awesome fabric painting on clothes, so when I got grease stains on a shirt, I just give it to her to paint. She paints over the stains, and gives the shirts back to me for gifts. The dish soap does sound like a good idea though, and I'll give it a try.

posted by Jennybeen on November 2nd 2009 at 4:08pm
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I have plant-based dish soap at my sink - but I keep a small bottle of Dawn with my other laundry items. Works like a charm every time!

posted by stlellen on November 2nd 2009 at 4:51pm
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deebo,

baby formula stains are generally protien based. Try dabbing some salt into fresh stains. Spray with water, dab with a cloth, and repeat as needed until the stain is gone. This works for blood and breastmilk stains.

posted by akbuilt on November 2nd 2009 at 8:04pm
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You should use an edwardian style pinny with sleeves! I'm going to try the dish soap though.

posted by Sian on November 3rd 2009 at 6:08am
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Can't wait to try this on my son's shirts - that perpetually get grease stains.

posted by gormanmcadams on November 3rd 2009 at 10:18am
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Milk stains are terrible to get out. I used to work in a coffee shop, and was perpetually bleaching my white shirts to shreds. Eventually I gave up and just only wore black to work. Even that got stained though. I've never successfully gotten it out. I'll have to try the salt.

posted by deliriumsama on November 3rd 2009 at 10:25am
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coca-cola works wonders on grease and oil stains. there's some crazy enzymatic action going on there that will remove axle grease even...

posted by nico_forgot on November 3rd 2009 at 2:02pm
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I got a grease stain on my shirt at work today (from a filing cabinet, no less!) and used the dish soap in the kitchen because it was the first thing I could think of. It did a pretty good job, but I'll still be running it through the wash with some Spray and Wash tonight!

posted by cuminafterall on November 3rd 2009 at 8:14pm
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I also use baby/talcum powder. Put a little pile on the stain and let it sit for a day or two, then discard powder and wash as usual. It's worked like a charm for me, even on old stains that have been through the wash.

posted by splim on November 3rd 2009 at 8:36pm
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What about on upholstery? I stupidly moved some freshly made mini chicken and leek pies to my kitchen table and one dripped a bit of buttery/oily sauce on an upholstered chair. It doesnt have a removable cover so I can't put it through the wash. Will try the talcum powder for now.

posted by quari on November 3rd 2009 at 10:15pm
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Be careful using dishsoap, it can bleach the color right out of your clothes, so you end up with a big white spot!

posted by repressd on November 4th 2009 at 6:53pm
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I have plain old lemon Ajax and two t-shirts with oil spots. I think I'll give it a shot. If it bleaches it, oh well, it was already ruined from the grease spot.

posted by verily on November 7th 2009 at 10:35am
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Whatever you do, never use dishwasher soap, most of them have bleach in them. Seltzer is good for immediate use on stains, though, and soaking in salt-water gets red-wine stains out amazingly well, even if they dried.

posted by Tchivai on November 11th 2009 at 3:51pm
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