How to Get Oil Out of Clothes in Simple Steps 2024

Grease and oil stains can cost you a lot of time and money, thus, is one of the gruesome out of all laundry offenders. You can’t say that you’ve been in a situation where you haven’t come across oil stains, so it is important to know how to get oil out of clothes!

Even if these spots are the smallest, it is said to stand out on your cloth and are often quite difficult to remove. This sticking scenario occurs as oil turns semi-solid readily at room temperature. It means it is essential to treat it with hot water and oil-cutting substances.

But the amount of detergent and cleaning agent depends on the type of fabric you’re working with. Synthetic fibers and polyester are difficult to handle so you have to use tough ingredients for them. Whereas natural fibers are quite easy to treat once you get the right materials. So, whether the stains are fresh or set-in, here’s everything you should know!

Getting Oil out of Different Types of Clothes

As we have stated earlier, every fabric material has different requirements when it comes to getting the stains out. Here are some of the cloth queries, you have come across:

• Cotton: Everyday cotton stands among one of the most long-lasting and hard-to-wear-off types of fabric. It means that regardless of what it goes through, it remains brand new without taking any damage. So, if you have spilled oil on your cotton shirt when you were cooking then worry not! All you need is just to break it down so that it gets removed easily.
  Try out some rubbing alcohol available on any pharmacy or even your nail polish removers and spread it on your stains and you’ll see the stains vanishing.
• Synthetic Fibers: Synthetic fibers are quite similar to cotton when it comes to durability and wearing off, however, it requires additional care as the stains get hard to remove. Moreover, these fabrics don’t work well with tough solvents and high temperatures. It is wise to choose gentle laundry detergents for cleaning stains off.
• Delicate: The clothes which you should care about the most are your delicates. The delicate fabric includes wool and silk, which essentially needs to be handled with care. If you have accidentally dropped oil on any silk or cotton cloth then you can’t use the same methods for it as you would with cotton or synthetic fabrics.
  It is easy to remove oil stains from it once you know the right trick. You only need to get the oil out of the stain as much as you can before washing it off with lighter detergents.

How to Remove Oil Using Baking Soda

One one of the most cost-effective ways of getting rid of stains from your favorite clothes is to use baking soda. You can also remove the sticker residue with the help of baking soda.

Here are the steps to get it done:

Any sort of excess oil must be removed first. Cloth is preferable but if no spare cloth is available then use a paper towel.

Simply sprinkle some baking soda on the oil stain and let the fabric sit for a complete day.

After a cycle of 24 hours, use a brush to remove the remaining baking soda from the fabric. If the fabric is of a much bigger size then a vacuum can also be used.

After the baking soda is removed, make a vinegar and water solution and pour it on the stained area. Use a brush and some soap to scrub the stain. Rinse and repeat till the fabric is completely clean.

How to Remove Oil Using Chalk

Although baking soda is both cheap and accessible, for some reason if someone doesn’t have any or wants to get the stain removed in a short amount of time, then chalk can also be used for this purpose. The chalk works essentially the same way as baking soda, however, the process is much quicker as we don’t have to wait for a day. The basic steps to follow are as follows:

It is necessary to get a piece of cloth or paper towel for removing any excess oil. Use chalk to cover the affected area and wait a couple of minutes. Wash and repeat till the stain is gone.

How to Remove Set-In Oil Stains

When oil is spilled on fabric, work must be done to remove it immediately as the longer the oil stains the fabric, the harder it is to remove. However, with the right tools and some hard work, it can be done. So here are the steps to remove set-in oil stains:

• Keep the Fabric Dry: Remember that oil and water don’t mix, and when water is sprinkled on the affected fabric, it forms a coat around the oil, not allowing it to go anywhere. So work on the stained fabric when it’s dry.
• Support the Stain with Cardboard in Behind: When cleaning the affected fabric, it must be made sure that it doesn’t spread to other parts of the cloth. Keeping cardboard between layers of the textile will stop it from spreading.
• Dab the Stain a Clean Cloth: For removing as excess oil as you can just dab a clean and dry piece of cloth and dab the stain as much as you can. This would stop the oil from spreading on different parts of your cloth. Instead of a cloth, you can also use any tissue, paper towel, napkin, etc.
• Smear Dish Soap on Stain: One of the best materials for removing set-in oil stains is liquid dish soap. Just pour down a heavy amount of dish soap and smear it all over the stain. You can also use your finger or any small brush for an even spread, after which you have to let it sit for around 5 minutes.
• Rinse it Off: After waiting for 5 minutes, just rinse the cloth off with warm or hot water. You can use any detergent later on for complete washing.
• Dry your Cloth: It gets difficult to locate stains on wet pieces of cloth. So, let it dry completely and repeat the process if you find any residue.

As we’re done with every possible way of removing oil stains, you must be having some queries rushing down your mind.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it possible to remove oil stains after washing & drying?

Although it isn’t the best case as you have to get rid of all the stains before you wash and dry. Still, there are ways of removing it from the cloth, but it would need extra steps and materials. This is because the additional heat in drying resulted in baking that might discolor the fibers.

Can we use WD-40 to get oil out of clothes?

Surprisingly yes, you can use WD-40 for removing any types of stains from fabric and so do oil stains. However, WD-40 isn’t always recommended by most launderers as it isn’t eco-friendly, so using soap for removing is efficient.

Do oil stains be removed by the oil itself?

One of the most interesting things about oil is that it cuts itself. However, you can not use straight-up oil for removing the stains. Instead, you can use oil-based serums or soaps for easy removal.