Getting Grease Stains Out Of Your Favorite Clothes

Grease stains can be a nightmare to deal with, turning your best clothes into useless rags. Oil is found in many everyday products, including food, auto care, and cosmetics. Oil residue is one of the most common causes of clothing stains.  There are some great house cleaning tips to address this situation.

Cleaning Grease from Fabric

It may seem daunting to remove a grease stain, but before you give up and throw out that dress, blouse, or shirt, there are a few things you can try to save that clothing item. Here are a couple of great methods for removing grease stains from clothing.

Corn Starch

Corn starch is excellent for removing grease stains because it absorbs the grease out of the fabric. To use cornstarch to remove grease stains, follow these steps:

• Sprinkle the corn starch on the fabric.
• Soak the back of the fabric in water to flush out the cornstarch, pushing out the stain.
• Spray the affected area with a cleaning solution of dish soap. Mix 1 Tbsp. of dish soap with 10 oz of water in a spray bottle.
• Use a clean rag to blot the area you sprayed the dish soap solution.
• Use a stain remover to pretreat the area of the grease stain.
• Wash in the washer with hot water.

Recheck the stain when the garment is done in the wash. If it’s still there, repeat the above steps until the stain is completely gone. Do NOT put the item in the dryer until the stain is gone because doing this will permanently set the stain.

Dish Detergent

It removes grease from dishes, so why not clothes? The answer – it can. Follow these steps:

• Rub dish detergent directly on the stain, saturating the area. Let it sit and sink in for 10 minutes.
• Wash the clothing according to the instructions on the label.
• Check for the stain, again making sure not to put the clothing in the dryer until the stain is gone.
• Repeat if necessary.

Warm Water

Clothing today is often labeled to be washed in cold water. This labeling is usually based on the clothing’s fabric to prevent shrinkage, loss of color, or elasticity (like spandex). Unfortunately, cold water often does not help with cleaning oil-based stains. As a last-ditch effort, if other stain removal processes haven’t worked, try washing the item in warm water.

The Organic Maids

If you accidentally get grease on your clothes, don’t worry. There are ways to save that clothing, bringing it back to life and looking good as new. Organic Maids have lots of house cleaning tips to keep your home clean and sparkling. If you need help with your home cleaning, give us a call at 704-999-1947 and schedule a cleaning today.