How to remove grease stains from clothes: 8 working methods

09/13/201602/11/2017 Maria Ivanova 3 comments

The process of cooking usually does not go unnoticed for the housewife. There are greasy marks on the apron, on clothes and even on the tablecloth. Getting rid of them on your own, without having certain knowledge, is not very easy. What can we say about children who often get dirty while eating? There’s definitely no point in getting upset ahead of time.

You don’t have to spend money on dry cleaning or expensive stain removers; there are other methods that help remove the most difficult stains. How to remove a grease stain?

Don't panic ahead of time. Many people think that traces of grease are the end, it is impossible to wash them off, the thing needs to be thrown away, but everything is different. In fact, such stains will be much easier to remove than, for example, stains from coffee, berries and wine.

It is recommended to deal with such contaminated areas at the very beginning, without waiting until they become old.

1 Popular ways to deal with greasy stains on clothes
2 How to remove fresh grease stains?
3 Dealing with old greasy stains

Things to consider

All the methods described help deal with greasy stains. But if you are still afraid to take risks, it is better to just take the item to the dry cleaner.
Fresh stains are easier to get rid of than old ones. So don't delay it.
Do not machine wash an item with a greasy stain without first treating it. Otherwise, it will be much more difficult to remove the contamination.
Any home remedy must first be tested on an inconspicuous area of clothing. This will ensure that the color of the fabric is not affected.
If the chosen product does not cope with the contamination, try another one, lightly rinsing off the previous one with water.
Rub the product into a rough cloth with any brush or the back of a dishwashing sponge. It is better to rub a delicate item with your hands or clean the stain with the fabric itself, as when washing.

Old pollution

An item with a grease stain can be washed as usual, but often after such events the item remains unsightly. Established fat is very difficult to remove after washing. To do this, it is necessary to use more aggressive means.

Petrol

Wet a cloth with this substance and place the soiled item on top and further moisten the stain. It is recommended to wash the product several times to get rid of the strong smell. If gasoline is not available, it can be replaced with acetone or nail polish remover.

The method is great for dark colored items. If you are removing a grease stain from a down jacket, be gentle on the fabric and work from the edges of the stain to prevent streaks.

Turpentine and ammonia

Soak a cotton pad in turpentine and ammonia mixed in equal parts. Carefully treat the desired area and leave the wet product for several hours. Remove the composition by rinsing the item in warm water. This method successfully removes old stains from raincoat fabric.

Glycerol

The pharmaceutical product is effective against greasy stains on delicate fabrics. Items made of silk or other material will not lose their attractiveness after treatment with glycerin. Place a few drops on the fabric and let it soak into it. Leave the product to act for 30 minutes. To remove old grease stains from clothes, prepare a mixture of glycerin, ammonia and water, half a tablespoon each. Soak the material in this mixture and leave for 10 minutes. Wash the item as usual.

Vinegar

Use diluted acetic acid or table vinegar. Thoroughly saturate the affected area with it and leave it on for 10-15 minutes. Rinse the product in warm water to remove any unpleasant odor. If necessary, you can repeat soaking in vinegar until the product is completely clean.

Soda and dishwashing liquid

Dishwashing detergent itself is very effective, however, soda enhances the quality of the detergent composition. Wet the oily area with warm water, lather well with dishwashing detergent and sprinkle generously with baking soda. Leave for several hours, or better yet, until the fabric is completely dry and rinse the product.

Fighting animal stains

It can be butter or beef fat; no one is safe from the fact that herring oil will not get on your clothes while you are removing the bones. You can get rid of such stains, but the fight should begin immediately:

Dish gel. It is slightly diluted with water, after which the solution is soaked into the stain.
White spirit or acetone. You can use nail polish remover. Apply generously to the stain and leave for 20 minutes. Not suitable for synthetics!
If butter gets on the upholstery of the sofa, you should cover it with a thick layer of baking soda, then wipe it with a rag soaked in stain remover.

Emergency measures

You can significantly simplify the further washing of a T-shirt by pre-treating newly appeared stains.

Do not hesitate - until the fat is properly absorbed into the fabric and does not dry there, spray it with an absorbent agent:

salt;
baking soda;
mustard powder;
starch;
baby powder;
chalk powder;
talc.

Dry small crystals of the above substances immediately trap excess moisture. The sooner the stain is treated, the less grease will be absorbed. Before further cleaning, remove the powder with a soft, clean brush or cloth.

You can save suede boots or a skirt in the same way.

Basic rules for breeding and preparation of material

Stains can be removed using modern means or traditional methods. There are a number of rules, following which you can easily remove any greasy mark on clothes:

Cotton knitwear

To ensure that after removing the oily stain there are no traces left on the material, it is necessary to place several layers of thin material under the fabric (it is better if it is cotton knitwear).
If the fabric is thick and the dirt has penetrated deeply into the structure of the material, you should use a medium-hard brush, well soaked in a solvent, instead of cotton fabric.

Methods for removing stains on colored T-shirts

Removing grease from colored and dark T-shirts is complicated by the need to preserve the color without leaving discolored marks on the fabric. To do this, use special cleaning products.

Starch gruel

A starch solution is prepared using warm water. The final consistency should be paste-like so that the product can be conveniently applied to the T-shirt. In this form, you can leave it overnight, and in the morning, wash off the remaining starch and wash it off.

Dentifrice

Tooth powder can be used both on fresh, not yet healing stains, and on old, dried ones.

If the stain is fresh, simply sprinkle it generously with tooth powder, which should be immediately rubbed into the grease. It reacts with excess moisture to form active foam.

Once the stain has dried, moisten the oily soil with warm water and then apply tooth powder.

Bread crumb

If the stain is old but doesn't look bad, try soaking it in breadcrumbs. The fat is treated with hot water so that it dissolves a little. You need to put a crumb of fresh bread on top, which will immediately start to absorb dirt.

Tip: You will have to use several slices of bread before the dirt is completely gone.

Special means

Manufacturers of household chemicals, of course, could not ignore the problem of stain removal and have developed a large number of stain removers that help fight greasy marks, among other things. The most famous of them:

Antipyatin soap;
Vanish gel;
Amway spray;
pencil from Faberlic;
bleach “Bos Plus Maximum”.

The disadvantage of such chemicals is that they are not always on hand and are quite expensive. And the success of a grease removal operation often depends on how quickly the stain was treated.

How to remove a grease stain immediately after it appears

How to remove grease stains quickly and easily? If you have gotten grease on your clothes and noticed it right away, you can use the quick method and clean the item right away.

Blot up the grease with a paper towel or clean cotton cloth. You should not rub grease stains, as this will only increase the size of the stain, which is more difficult to get rid of.
After the cloth or paper has absorbed the fat remaining on the surface, cover the problem area with salt.
You will have to repeat this until the salt “pulls” the fish, pork or vegetable fat out of the tissue. Afterwards you need to remove the remaining salt using a napkin.
After removing the salt, wash the stain with dishwashing detergent and wash the entire item.
Dish detergent also works on stubborn grease stains and can remove marks left by machine oil.

Features of removing traces of fat from T-shirts of different colors

When choosing a method for treating a T-shirt from grease stains, it is recommended to take into account the color of the material. This will allow you to restore the item to the highest possible quality.

White

After quick response methods have been used to remove grease stains, it is possible to remove the remaining traces using a stain remover for white fabrics . A soiled T-shirt must be treated with a stain remover, according to the instructions for the specific product, and the item must be left to lie.

A cotton T-shirt without synthetic fibers in its composition can be exposed to high temperatures. To do this, boil the kettle, pour boiling water over the stain, turn the item inside out and repeat the treatment. The fat will break down from this effect.

For white T-shirts, which contain not only cotton, but also synthetic fibers, exposure to boiling water is not suitable. This item can be pre-soaked. After removing the stain, the item is washed at the maximum permissible temperature using detergent. In this case, white items must be washed separately from dark and colored items.

In addition to purchased products, white T-shirts can be treated with hydrogen peroxide, ammonia with soda and whitening toothpaste.

Black

For black and dark clothes with fresh greasy stains, you can use Coca-Cola as a stain remover . Its effectiveness is due to the inclusion of orthophosphoric acid.

The T-shirt is completely immersed in the undiluted drink and kept until the stain disappears. Mustard powder and commercial stain removers approved for use on dark fabrics can also be used.

Colored

Processing a colored T-shirt is a procedure that retains the risk of discolouration of the brightly colored material.

Home remedies should be used with caution. The safest method for removing old stains is a mixture of water, salt and ammonia .

Store-bought products should only be chosen that are designed for processing colored items or are universal.

How else can you remove a stain: universal store-bought stain removers

Any hardware store now sells a lot of products that are guaranteed to get rid of contaminants of a wide variety of nature. They are easy to use - you just need to follow the included instructions exactly.

Antipyatin soap is a very effective option. This product will cost (for a bar weighing 90 g) only 45-50 rubles. The problem is that it doesn't do a very good job of removing stubborn oil marks.

Use soap this way:

moisten the stained area of clothing;
rub with Antipyatin;
leave for 2 or 3 hours;
when the time is up, rinse;
Wash by hand or in a machine.

Vanish Gold Oxy Action is considered a very reliable product. The manufacturer directly recommends it to anyone who needs to get rid of greasy stains on clothes. For a kilogram jar you will have to pay a little less than 500 rubles.

To remove oil traces from an item, you need to pour 60 ml of gel into 4 liters of water (not warmer than 40 °C). The clothes are soaked in the resulting solution. If we are talking about colored fabrics, then an hour is enough, but when you have to clean white ones, wait 6 times longer.

Then wash your clothes in the machine, adding another 60 ml of Vanish directly into the drum. The described preparation is not suitable for natural silk, leather and wool products, but is suitable, for example, for denim items.

Quite a budget product - soap with a stain remover effect from the Frau Schmidt brand. It can get rid of the stains in question from any dense and knitted, cotton, and synthetic fabrics. It costs only 100 rubles.

How to use soap:

moisten the greasy blot with water;
rub it with a bar from the edges to the middle;
wait a quarter of an hour;
put it in the machine for rinsing.

The mentioned stain remover can also be used on colored clothes. Before use, we recommend that you test it on an inconspicuous fragment of the affected item of clothing.

“SA8 Prewash Spray” (SA8 Prewash Spray) from Amway is quite expensive. For a bottle with a volume of less than 300 ml you need to pay 700 rubles. However, it is economical and easy to use.

It is enough to spray the liquid onto the problem area from a distance of at least 15 cm. Then leave the product for about 10 minutes, and then immediately begin washing.

The manufacturer emphasizes that the effect will be higher the less time passes from the moment the contamination is applied to the start of its removal.

Ecover stain remover is a completely environmentally friendly product and will cost relatively little - 300 rubles. You just need to moisten the stained area of clothing with the product.

It is also recommended to rub the problem area with a brush built into the bottle cap. Next, the item is washed by machine or hand. The manufacturer does not recommend using Ecover on silk, wool and other delicate materials.

When choosing a suitable product, you need to pay attention to the recommendations and restrictions - all this is described in the instructions printed on the packaging.

Important: even substances positioned as safe can cause allergies in people prone to such reactions. Therefore, be sure to wear gloves when working with them.

Comprehensive measures

It can be difficult to remove old stains the first time. In advanced cases, when deciding how to remove grease, it is better to resort to a complex of products and stain removers:

First apply baking soda slurry, Fairy or toothpaste to the damaged area.
Then treat the traces with alcohol-containing products in combination with vinegar or glycerin.
Soak in soapy water.
Wash in hot water (select the maximum washing temperature based on the type of fabric) with the addition of store-bought stain remover.

To remove stains, use a soft clothing brush or an old toothbrush.

Some tips

Before washing, carefully inspect your clothing for stains. This way you can find fresh contaminants that have not had time to be absorbed and dry. Thus, you do not have to use special tools.
Use a brush to clean. By removing the dried dirt, you will see how much the fibers have absorbed the grease.
Choose your product carefully. It must treat the material with care. Check first how the composition works. Apply it on an inconspicuous part of the item. So, for example, when using a product suitable for a cotton product on a woolen item, its fibers may be damaged. Which will significantly spoil the appearance of the product.
Use methods of increasing effectiveness. Use less aggressive methods first, and if they don't work, move on to more effective methods.
When using a brush, you need to move from the edges to the center. With these movements you will prevent the appearance of streaks, and the oily area will not spread any more.

After using any method, be sure to wash or rinse the item to get rid of odors and product residues.