Dear Home-Ec 101,
My husband is an engineer and sometimes likes to get dirty helping the techs repair his machine. Usually the grease spots on his jeans come out with Spray-n-Wash (sometimes I have to treat them twice) or it’s a pair of junk jeans and I don’t bother to worry about it. But he got a nasty grease stain on my favorite pair of his jeans…I’ve used Spray N Wash twice and it still hasn’t come out. I know my mom used to use Lestoil to get out grease and bad stains…I might go buy some, but thought I would ask first and see if you had any suggestions–maybe even things I’ve already got lying around the house.
Signed,
Launderin’ in Levittown
Ivy says:
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, I have a lot of experience with grease spots on laundry. I used to work at an auto repair shop, and now I’m married to a kitchen manager. Can we say grease city? I knew you could.
When I was working at the auto repair shop, I asked the guys how they got the grease stains off their clothes and they typically had two methods: Simple Green and Dawn dishwashing liquid. I’ve found if Simple Green can’t get it clean, Dawn could, and vice versa.
One thing I really like about Simple Green is, it works on lots of grease problems. It’s really handy to have around for that very reason. It also whitens up white tennis shoes! It does EVERYTHING! 😉
That is SO weird. I had never heard of Lestoil until last Sunday, when my sister mentioned it, and now here it is on your blog. The universe is trying to tell me to go get some. Maybe there are giant grease stains in my future?
Have you tried Dawn dishwashing liquid? I use that, and it is great!
Lori, I have to ask, did you read my answer at all?
Hello,
My husband encounters an awful lot of dirt in his line of work. Baking Soda soap takes out most everything except grease and tar. Dawn works great on grease stains. If you rub it in really well with just a touch of water and let it set for an hour or overnight, just about anything greasy comes out.
Good Luck!
Trixie
Lestoil works on everything! Even set-in stains. The best part about it is that you don’t have to pretreat. Just rub it in and throw it in the wash. You can also use it to clean your garage floor. It doesn’t get any better than that!!
If non of those suggestions work try, dishwashing machine soap….rub on let set for 10 min.
Pam
I had a greasy food stain on a shirt that wouldn’t budge even after Shout Stain Stick and several washings. I dissolved some OxyClean in some water and saturated the area with it. I let it set for about 30 minutes and then washed it. I have two identical shirts and couldn’t tell which one had the stain on it afterwards.
Duly noted as the German is a mechanic. A little tar goes a loooooooong way!! It actually scares me to put some things in my washer. I have thrown away some things due to that very fact. I have both Simple Green and Dawn at home. Will try on the horrid work pants that are highly flammable.
I had a stain on one of my shirts that I was having trouble with and rubbing alcohol took it out. I tested it first on the inside, to make sure it wouldn’t take out the color, and it seemed to do fine on that fabric. Dawn is definitely much more gentle though.
I had not heard that Simply Green was good for that- great tip!