How to get stain out of light gray slacks

November 2, 2010 6:03 PM

Help me get a stain out of a good pair of slacks.

I spilled chicken noodle soup down my legs on an expensive light gray suit. The grease in the soup immediately stained the pants and I can't get it out. I don't know if I inadvertently made it worse, but I tried using water (hot and cold) and a tide stick. Nothing has removed the stains even a little. Not sure of the material - whatever typical business suits are made of. Am I completely screwed? Seems like the stain has really set.

posted by Yunani to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

Use some liquid dish soap (like Dawn or whatever) to get out the grease stains.
posted by phunniemee at 6:05 PM on November 2, 2010

Best answer: 2nd-ing liquid dish soap. That stuff is made to get out grease stains. If you can use an old tooth-brush to rub it in a little, that should help too.

I've gotten plenty of grease stains out of other clothes of varying fabric types with dish soap even after the stain has set, the garment was washed once and dried in the dryer.

Traditionally, suits are made of wool but modern suits are kinds of natural-synthetic blends and all sorts of stuff and it should safe to use on just about any fabric.

Does it say on the tag if it is dry-clean only?

Worst-case scenario, you could take to a dry cleaner and ask them if they can get it out.
posted by VTX at 6:37 PM on November 2, 2010

I was able to remove bike grease from my favorite sweatshirt this past weekend with Dawn dish detergent.
posted by bolognius maximus at 7:51 PM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ammonia cleans grease from clothes, and is safe for all fabrics. If you don't have any, it's usually on the bottom shelf of the cleaning aisle at stores -- get the regular one, not sudsing ammonia. It smells horrible, but the smell dissipates quickly. Put some on a rag and wipe the stain, or mix half-and-half with water in a sink or bucket and soak for a while. After the stain is gone, wash as normal.
posted by Houstonian at 12:51 AM on November 3, 2010

If the pants aren't washable, try sprinkling cornstarch on it and let it sit for a couple of hours, scrape it off and repeat. The cornstarch should absorb the oils without washing.
posted by mchorn at 4:01 AM on November 3, 2010

I can't recommend K2R highly enough. You can usually find it at hardware stores and sometimes in laundry aisles at larger superstore-type places. Seriously, it's miraculous for removing greasy stains. (NB: If you use it, make sure you shake it REALLY well first and spray a shot of it into, say, a sink before you spray the garment.)
posted by cowboy_sally at 11:46 AM on November 3, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I tried everything (dish soap, corn starch, tide stick, water (hot and cold), but nothing worked.
Finally, I tool them to the drycleaners and they were somehow able to get them perfectly clean and back to normal again. Thanks!
posted by Yunani at 5:10 AM on November 13, 2010