Out damn (escalator grease) spot!

June 5, 2007 9:19 AM

I have recently acquired some unfortunate escalator grease (I think) stains on a favorite pair of khaki-colored pants. Said stains are so far impervious to my best efforts at removal with detergent, a Tide stain stick, and Oxyclean. I'm out of ideas. Help?

I'm sure there's some magical product out there that is effective at removing these black stains, but I have no clue what it may be and Google is not helpful. I'm pretty sure the stains are from the black grease they use to lube the escalator stairs and handrails. Thoughts? Suggestions?

posted by iminurmefi to clothing, beauty, & fashion (17 comments total)

My father swears by chloroform as a near-magical method of removing grease and oil stains - which it is. It's also pretty hard to get hold of if you don't have a mad chemist for a father...
posted by prentiz at 9:26 AM on June 5, 2007

Goo Gone, available at your local Home Despot, will remove anything from anything. I've mitigated myriad laundry disasters with it. Just don't use it in an enclosed space.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 9:35 AM on June 5, 2007

One thing that always worked for us is Lestoil.

I've heard that it's at some Walmarts and Targets stores. If the store does not have it, ask the manager to order it.

My mom used that stuff to take freshly-lain road tar out of our clothes as kids. It is a miracle product, made out of some unholy combination of chemicals I'm sure.

It has never let me down.
posted by answergrape at 9:37 AM on June 5, 2007

First try covering the stain with duct tape and pulling the tape off repeatedly. Then try shampoo.
posted by peep at 9:38 AM on June 5, 2007

GOJO hand cleaner is sold at automotive and hardware stores, and is used on both skin and uniforms by auto mechanics and other equipment technicians I know. I've used it with some success to remove equipment grease from clothing, first applying it and scrubbing, and then leaving on as you would any other pre-treatment before washing. Good luck.
posted by faineant at 9:59 AM on June 5, 2007

There's a product called "Greased Lightning," available in home improvement & hardware stores, that I swear by. Actually, there's lots of industrial degreasers available; I'd think any of them would at least help.

One thing I'd advise is not to wash them till you're sure you've gotten the stain out. Washing sets in grease stains.

Oh, and one other thing: I'm not a fan of the Tide stain sticks, but by good old Shout spray, left to sit and soak in for a couple hours, has saved many a hopeless reprobate from my "almost ready to throw out" pile.
posted by ROTFL at 10:02 AM on June 5, 2007

I got car door grease out of a pair of white pants with dish soap, but I'm not sure how well it would work now that the stain's been ground in with the other stuff. Worth a try though.
posted by AV at 10:09 AM on June 5, 2007

I second trying either Gojo or Goop.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:34 AM on June 5, 2007

orange peel oil is a natural (and edible) oil solvent. A big bottle is $1.50 at your supermarket.
posted by Fupped Duck at 10:47 AM on June 5, 2007

If none of those work, I've bleached my favorite pair of khakis a few times to get out stains, and it's taken /most/ of them out...
posted by Comrade_robot at 10:59 AM on June 5, 2007

In a similar vein as Greased Lightning, I've used Simple Green to great effect on any number of nasty-ass stains. It also got ground-in dirt and motor oil out of my hair.
posted by notsnot at 11:06 AM on June 5, 2007

Greased Lightning! I've found they have it at CVS/Duane Reade type places as well. It got out a gross oil/tomato sauce stain for me.
posted by LittleLisi at 11:26 AM on June 5, 2007

I've used dish soap to get bicycle grease out of fabric and upholstery (a good tip if you are hauling your bike in the backseat, and you don't even need to rinse it out). It worked so well that it blew my mind.
posted by unknowncommand at 2:26 PM on June 5, 2007

Hair spray works well for ballpoint pen ink ... maybe it will work on the grease.
posted by Araucaria at 3:37 PM on June 5, 2007

At this point I'd suggest taking the pants to your friendly local dry cleaner, explaining what you think the substance is, and letting them go at it. Greasy stains usually need a solvent. And if you've had absolutely no luck so far, it probably needs a solvent with very little polarity, and professionals usually are the ones that have those. If you have dried these pants in the drier you may already be out of luck.

Home Comforts, my bible for these things, suggests the following if you prefer to pursue this at home:

Place the garment stain-down on a pad of several plain paper towels. Apply solvents to the back of the stain [from the inside of the garment] starting with acetone [nail-polish remover] use lots of solvent and change the towels frequently until it has dried. Then launder using extra detergent with the hottest water safe fr the fabric. Do not put in the drier. Try again using a commercial stain remover containing ethylene dichloride. If that fails, you need to use dry cleaning fluid, so you may as well take it to the dry cleaner. Or you can purchase dry cleaning fluid but those are very volatile so read up on how to use them safely.

Do not use hairspray as the alcohol is the active ingredient that works on the ballpoint pen and the rest of it will just hurt your garment.

Simple Green is not generally considered effective on oil-based stains. When I used to detail cars, we used simple green on everything, but we had to bring in other products for oil and grease-based stains.
posted by Mozzie at 4:02 PM on June 5, 2007

I squirt mine with lighter fluid, pour liquid laundry detergent over it and wash in cold water, drip dry. I like Shout also, soaked for a while. If it doesn't come out the first time, I've had good luck repeating it. As long as it never gets hot, it doesn't seem to set in. You can rub in baby powder to soak up some of it in advance, or, I hear baking soda but have not tried it. YMMV.
If you really, really think these pants make your ass look good, take them to the dry cleaners.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 6:33 PM on June 5, 2007

The thing about khakis is, it's really easy to discolor them. A lot of the more aggressive stain treatments might take out more than the grease, leaving the pants clean, but still unwearable.

The best solution IMO is to saturate the stain with Dawn dish soap (it has to be Dawn). Let it sit for 5-10, then launder as normal. Repeat if necessary. If the Dawn won't do the job, then you can start trying riskier stain removers.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 10:24 PM on June 6, 2007