How to Get Grease Out of Clothes in 5 Easy Steps

You're going to need a little more than mild detergent to remove stubborn stains. Francesco Carta fotografo / Getty Images

Whether it's natural cooking oil, industrial machine grease or motor oil, grease stains can wreak havoc when they come in contact with your favorite clothing item. Read on to learn how to get grease out of clothes, including differing methods for synthetic fabrics and natural fibers.

Assessing the Situation

There are three things to make note of when cleaning oil stains out of clothes:

Severity of the stain
How long it has been in the fabric
What clothing material you are dealing with

Coarse, synthetic clothing materials will likely be more resistant to staining and hold up better against an abrasive cleaning solution, while soft natural fibers can hold messier stains and become stretched or damaged during deep cleaning.

You'll also want to identify and begin cleaning the grease stain as quickly as possible. Oil that is allowed to sit on your favorite shirt will penetrate deep into its fibers and dry into a clumpy mess, making tough stains that are very difficult to deal with.

Addressing the problem and removing oil right away will make your life much easier.

How to Remove Grease Stains From Synthetic Clothing

When you look at industrial workplace and garage clothing today, they primarily use synthetic fibers like polyester, and that's for a good reason. The synthetic materials are resistant to grease stains, and are made to hold up against repeated machine washing with heavy detergents to get them clean every time.

With that in mind, synthetic materials can take plenty of elbow grease (rather than a gentle touch) for removing grease stains.

1. Remove Excess Grease

Scrape any dried clumps of grease off of the surface of the clothing using a coarse brush or a plastic scraper. Wetting the stained area can also help soften up any material around the grease stain.

Old grease stains will likely require more wetting and more scraping to make them cooperate. For the most stubborn stains, an oil-based lubricant like WD-40 can also help push out the grease.

2. The Dish Soap Method

Dawn dish soap and other brands of liquid dish soap include de-greasing chemicals that make them perfect for stain pretreatment, especially on tough synthetic fibers.

To treat the stain, simply squirt some dish soap on top of it and sprinkle with some warm water to let the soap work its magic. Let it sit for a couple minutes as it penetrates into the oil molecules.

3. Scrub

Scrub the stain using a washcloth or a coarse brush. The liquid dish soap should get foamy and start to brown in color as it pulls oil from the material.

4. Rinse

Use a warm water rinse to remove the remaining soap from the grease stain, and repeat the dish soap treatment if the stain is still obviously visible. If the stain persists after a few tries, you may want to invest in a chemical stain remover.

5. Throw It in the Wash

After pre-treating, immediately run the clothing in your washing machine to completely remove grease stains.

Most synthetic fabrics are just fine being washed in warm or hot water with a liquid enzyme detergent and won't fade or shrink, but consult the care tag on the clothing item if you are unsure. Machine dry on medium heat, or hang dry if you want to take extra care.

How to Remove Grease Stains From Natural Clothing

Natural clothing like cotton and wool can be nerve-wracking to wear in a garage or around greasy food, but accidents happen, and those denim jeans or that cashmere sweater can still likely be saved with some tender, patient care.

1. Dab Away Excess Grease

To clean your natural fiber clothing, start to treat the grease stain as soon as it happens. The first thing you will want to do is soak up any liquid oil on the surface of the fabric.

Blot gently using a soft washcloth or a dry paper towel. Avoid coarse brushes and scrapers as they could damage the fibers.

2. Apply a Baking Soda Pre-treatment

Baking soda and vinegar are perfect things to keep around for more gentle cleaning projects. The baking soda is mildly abrasive to help remove stains out of clothes, while the acid in the vinegar helps break down oil. Neither of them leave a residue after rinsing.

Wet the affected area and sprinkle baking soda on top of the stain. Follow up with a spritz of diluted white vinegar, and then gently rub the area in a circular motion using a damp washcloth or a sponge.

3. Rinse

Rinse with cold or lukewarm water and repeat if the stain remains. You may have to go through steps No. 2 and No. 3 several times, given that you are dealing with weaker fabrics and less abrasive cleaning methods.

4. Hand-wash the Natural Clothing

Cotton clothing can typically hold up to a machine wash cycle in cold water. However, a hand wash is always the safest method, especially when dealing with the most supple materials like wool fleece.

To hand wash natural clothing after stain treatment, fill your bathtub with cool water along with a scoop of mild laundry detergent. Hair shampoo can also be a perfect cleaning solution for extra-fine fibers like Merino wool.
Use your hands to work the detergent into the fabric and let it foam up. Gently rub the fabric together to help knock away any remaining dirt.
Rinse away all detergent using cool water, then wring out the fabric to help remove excess water. Hang dry the natural clothes to prevent shrinkage.

When in Doubt: Consult a Professional Laundry Service

Treating a grease stain at home is often the simplest and cheapest solution. However, if nothing that you try seems get that stain out of your outfit, then bringing it to a professional launderette or dry cleaner may be the only way to save your clothes.

This is especially the case if the item is labeled "dry clean only" on the care tag.