Getting out Grease Stains (Help)

[Paul Bacino]

I find that when I cook on Sat and Sunday's-- I always end up with a grease stain of some sort--on sweat shirts , tee shirts or pants.

Not sure, could be animal fats, olive oils or any other cooking type oil

Thoughts on getting the stains out?

TIA Paul

[chileheadmike]

A little Dawn detergent rubbed in just before tossing in the washing machine has always worked for me.

[Shel_B]

I somewhat agree with the above. Use a good quality dish detergent, or perhaps Tide, rub it into the stain well (and I do mean well!), and let it sit a day or so before washing in HOT water. It's never failed me. Also, apply the detergent quickly - you don't want the grease to set.

Another trick that works well is to wear an apron. A good, heavy apron works very well. A friend made one for me out of heavy denim for my birthday in 1979. It's still serving me well, and it's afforded plenty of protection over the years.

[nibor]

We have good luck using a Resolve stain stick.

[Mjx]

I blot out as much grease as possible, and sprinkle talc on the spot(s). I pat it in, add more, pat that in, smack the layer off from the un-talced side, do this again, then a third time before laundering. This tends to remove a lot of the grease, and is less likely to leave a discoloured spot than spot-treating with detergent. Mostly, though, i try to wear clothing that doesn't show grease stains, even when I don't get on them immediately.

[Special K]

What Mjx does, only with chalk powder. Or, you know, you could wear an apron! (I always think of that too late, too).

[Porthos]

Aprons help. I use Shout! to pretreat my grease stains.

[Porthos]

Mostly, though, i try to wear clothing that doesn't show grease stains, even when I don't get on them immediately.

For when I do my renaissance faire cooking I gave up on trying to deals with stains. I have a tub in the garage full of "faire" shirts, old shirts that already are stained and I wear those while cooking. Then if I splash bleach or grease on them I don't care.

[dcarch]

Obviously it depends on what kind of stain on what type of fabric.

If I can't get the stain off using laundry detergents, I use HD's carpet cleaner and garage floor de-greaser.

dcarch

[judiu]

One of the spray on laundry additives make a spot remover especially for grease stains. It's a bit of a PITA, since you put it on about 10 minutes before you put the thing in the washer, then it has to sit for a few minutes, but if you don't have a washer at home, the "sit" phase can happen in the car on the way to the laundrette.

Before all the fancy stuff came out, I used to add a shot of powdered Spic & Span to the soap in the washer. Worked pretty well, IIRC!

Oh, yeah, Oxyclean does a pretty good job, too.

ETA Oxyclean.

Edited October 26, 2013 by judiu (log)

[Franci]

Just moving from Europe, I found out that my clothes stay stained when washed, there I used Vanish spray just before uploading my laundry machine and no grease stain at all. Here I triedOxyclean in the machine it works a bit but never like the Vanish spray. I just saw it on Amazon and I MUST buy it!

[merstar]

We have good luck using a Resolve stain stick.

Ditto.

[Fernwood]

Zout spray, also foam, etc. This works very well for us.

Various enzymes designed to chew up various substances in food stains: fats/oils, proteins, etc.

Much cheaper at supermarket or Target.

[Paul Bacino]

Thanks...everyone.

[Holly Moore]

Wear grease stains as the badge of honor they are.