Last updated: Nov 27, 2022
Do you have garments that you no longer wear due to oil stains?
If yes, you should know that it is possible to clean almost any oil and grease stain and you will not need to do a lot to do it. Fried foods are not all that good for your health (but they are the tastiest), but most of the cooking at home requires you to use some oil at some point. And so, your clothes are bound to get some oil stains at some point.
So how do you remove the annoying oil and grease stains from your clothes? Here is short oil stain removal tutorial that will help you out.
So you have spilled some oil on your clothes when cooking something. What should you do next? Do you dump the clothes with the rest of the laundry pile?
No, you should take care of the oil stain immediately.
Leaving the stain to set makes it harder to deal with, and it will take more effort and time to remove. The first step when dealing with oil should always be to remove as much of it from the cloth as possible. Use a dull knife or spoon to remove as much grease as possible and do it keenly to avoid spreading the oil. Also, removing the excess fat ensures that it does not spread to other parts of the fabric.
Well, laundry detergent is always necessary when cleaning anything. But, what is the best laundry detergent for washing oil? Most commercial liquid detergents can remove grease from fabric, but some can be harsh on your clothes and ruin them. The best idea is to use something that has a specific formulation for dealing with oil and other stains.
Carbona Stain Devils is an example of fat, oil and grease stain remover. And if you also happen to spill the oil on other things like carpets and rags you should use Spot and Stain Remover from VeryDirtyCarpets.
These commercial stain removers will act on the stained section without bleaching or have any other permanent effects on your fabrics. Just like with laundry detergent, you should apply a small amount of the stain remover on the oil patch or according to the manufacturer directions.
I know the feeling that you get when dealing with oil and other annoying stains. You just want to get it done as fast as possible. But, for the best stain removal results, you need to give your stain remover or liquid detergent some time to set. Allow for at least 5 minutes but the longer you wait, the simpler the stain will be to remove.
As the liquid soaks into your fabric, it will begin to break down the grease to make it easy to remove. But, do not leave it for too long as it will dry out meaning that you will need to repeat the process.
Hot water is the key to removing grease from fabric.
But wait! How hot should the water be?
Well, it depends on the clothing that you are cleaning. And so the best idea is always to check the clothing tags to determine the safe temperature for washing the fabric. Once you ascertain this, you should then proceed to wash your clothes with the hottest water that is safe for the clothing (according to the tag).
Keep in mind the fact that the warmer the water, the easier it is to clean the oil.
But, you would not want to burn your favorite top or shirt trying to remove oil, would you?
After the hot water wash, you can proceed to wash the fabric as you would do if it did not have a stain. But, after rinsing and before drying you should check the stained area to ensure that the oil stain is gone.
In most instances, it will only take one round of stain remover application and hot water wash to remove oil, but sometimes it might be necessary to repeat the process at least twice. Also, air dry the attire because this will make it easy to determine whether there are hints if the oil stain left. And yes, removing oil stain from your clothes is that easy.
With the 5 easy steps above you can get rid of oil stains on most fabrics. But what do you do when dealing with delicate fabrics like silk and wool? The delicate clothing is in most cases also the expensive one, and so you will not want to ruin it just to get rid of a few small patches of oil.
Luckily, it is still possible to remove oil and grease stains from any fabric type.
For delicate fabrics, you will still need to follow most of the steps above, but the choice of cleaning detergent and water temperature will be different.
Step #1: Start by blotting out the excess oil with a clean towel or paper towel and avoid spreading the oil to other sections. Avoid using knife or spoon because they may damage the fabrics on your delicate clothing.
Oil stains are annoying, and they can prevent you from wearing your favorite clothes. But now you know how to remove these stains from any fabric. With the right cleaning agents, some hot water and few minutes to spare you can clean almost any oil stain.
All in all, if you find the process tedious and time-consuming, you can always use professional dry cleaning services.
