One 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)
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.
view glittercore's profile
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
view juice's profile
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.
view Signe's profile
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.
view jkpenny's profile
Be careful, some dish soaps will lighten clothing - my mom learned this the hard way. We use Lemon Sunlight.
view gleam's profile
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.
view adiaphane's profile
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.
view ohsuzanna's profile
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!
view rosebud's profile
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.
view longhornem's profile
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!
view kll205's profile
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.
view deebo's profile
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.
view Jennybeen's profile
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!
view stlellen's profile
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.
view akbuilt's profile
You should use an edwardian style pinny with sleeves! I'm going to try the dish soap though.
view Sian's profile
Can't wait to try this on my son's shirts - that perpetually get grease stains.
view gormanmcadams's profile
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.
view deliriumsama's profile
coca-cola works wonders on grease and oil stains. there's some crazy enzymatic action going on there that will remove axle grease even...
view nico_forgot's profile
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!
view cuminafterall's profile
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.
view splim's profile
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.
view quari's profile
Be careful using dishsoap, it can bleach the color right out of your clothes, so you end up with a big white spot!
view repressd's profile
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.
view verily's profile
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.
view Tchivai's profile