t-shirt stains

May 3, 2006 9:08 AM

I have several t-shirts that I can't wear because there are small oil stains on them. Can anyone tell me how to remove these stains without damaging the dye?
posted by leavens to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (12 answers total)

Several ways:

Salt (cover stain with salt, brush off, rub dish detergent in to the stain)
Dawn dish detergent
Baby Powder (pour it on the stain and lit sit over night, then launder)
petroleum based hand cleaner
Cocacola (pour a can in the washer)
posted by tadellin at 9:18 AM on May 3, 2006

I've always found the Shout gel to work well for my grease stains, even if they are "set" from already having been washed one or more times.
posted by kindall at 9:23 AM on May 3, 2006

For any oil spots I use Zout, a stain remover available in most supermarkets where I live. Apply it to the spots, wait ten minutes, then launder the shirts in warm water with normal detergent.

Zout is my favorite, but I've also had good results with Gonzo, and another one called Tech. These treatments often remove oil spots even after the stained garment has been through the dryer once.

For me, products like Shout aren't as effective as these others I've mentioned. If you have to use Shout, rub it into the fabric, and then after a while, apply some liquid laundry detergent or Dawn dish soap and massage that for a bit. Then wash in warm, but let the article air-dry to make sure the spots have come out. Don't put the shirts in the dryer till you know they're oil-free.

Also, if the spot is fresh, you can draw out some of the oil by putting on some talc, baby powder, corn starch, etc. There are also stain-removel sprays containing solvent and powder that should help if you use them before the Zout method.

On preview: I haven't tried Shout Gel...yet!
posted by wryly at 9:28 AM on May 3, 2006

Admittedly mine are mostly greasy food stains. I'm not sure if "oil" means petroleum or cooking oil. Still... the gel works pretty well.
posted by kindall at 9:30 AM on May 3, 2006

Take it to the dry cleaners- it's what they do.
posted by small_ruminant at 9:39 AM on May 3, 2006

We no longer buy Shout because Dawn does a better job and at a lower price, even on existing stains.
posted by Doohickie at 9:42 AM on May 3, 2006

If you are talking about food oil, I've also found that Shout works very well, even on stains that have been there since before a previous washing. It's pretty amazing, actually. Dawn is an interesting idea--might try that. If you are talking about motor oil, I know that's what my dad used to use to get it off his hands.
posted by lampoil at 1:15 PM on May 3, 2006

I've found that any liquid dishsoap will do a great job oil/grease spots. Dab some on and toss in with the laundry, no need to let it sit/soak.
posted by nenequesadilla at 1:34 PM on May 3, 2006

Lestoil works great on exactly that type of thing, just soak the stain in that stuff, then put it in the wash.
posted by lilboo at 2:29 PM on May 3, 2006

Wow - how weird. I'm recommending Goof-Off: The Ultimate Remover again in one day, and I've only been a paid-up MeFi commenter for a week!

So anyway, yeah -- Goof-Off. Available at Home Depot. I've used it to rescue many a laundry disaster (oh, that's where that Chapstick went...). It's worked great on motor oil, cooking oil and wax that I couldn't get out with Shout and its brethren. Just dabbed it on to the oil spots, rinsed it out in the sink, then washed it with my regular detergent to get the solvent stank out. No damage to the dye that I could see.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 2:29 PM on May 3, 2006

My father always uses chloroform for this sort of thing. That said its probably highly unadvisable (and probably hard to get) if you aren't also a mad chemist type...
posted by prentiz at 4:23 PM on May 3, 2006

Baking soda! grind some baking soda in there while it's dry and let it sit.
posted by daravida at 3:54 AM on May 4, 2006