Deep-fried chicken wings, French fries or cheesy mozzarella sticks, if you are a big foodie, your undying love for fried food is to be expected. Whether you’re eating at your favorite restaurant or indulging in some home cooking, finger-licking good fried food is hard to resist.
But the fat and oil that goes into giving fried food the crunchy skin and inner gooey goodness are also responsible for some of the nastiest grease stains on your clothes. Not only do they look shabby, the oily odor is hard to miss.
If not acted upon fast, these grease stains can set in and be really difficult to get rid of later. So, it’s key that you deal with the stain as soon as you spot it.
Blot up as much oil as you can with a paper towel. If you’ve got a large blob of oil on the surface, use a blunt knife or a spoon to remove the excess fat. Then, just a handful of household ingredients and some patience can salvage your clothing.
We tried our hand at seven popular cleaning hacks to remove cooking oil stains from clothes. While most of them fared well, the star was cornstarch with dish soap.
So if your favorite dress has been doomed with a stain, follow one of the seven pretreatment methods below to remove food grease and oil stains from clothing.
Caution: Check the care label of your garment before trying any of the cleaning hacks. If your clothing is a dry clean only garment, take it to the dry cleaner as soon as possible.
Note: All the methods below are pretreatments and the piece of clothing will need to be laundered to remove the stain completely. Before throwing it in the dryer, make sure that the stain has completely come off. If it needs one more sitting in the pretreatment, do it before tumble drying the garment. Otherwise, the heat in the dryer can set the stain in and make it difficult to remove later.
Contents
Method 1: Cornstarch & Dawn Dish Soap
Cornstarch and Dawn dish soap gave us spectacular results. The cornstarch helps absorb the excess oil from the stain. The dish soap then breaks through the grease and loosens up the oil clinging to the fabric’s fibers.
You can also use this method to remove grease stains from carpet.
Things you’ll need:
- Dawn dish soap – 1 teaspoon
- Cornstarch – 1 tablespoon
Step 1. Cover the stain with cornstarch and let it sit
- Lay the garment on a flat surface. You can also place a paper towel underneath the stain.
- Sprinkle a generous amount of cornstarch all over the stain.
- Use your fingers to work it into the stain.
- Let it sit for 30 to 60 minutes.
Step 2. Clean the stain with dish soap and water & launder it
- Squirt 3 or 4 drops of dish soap on the stain.
- Rub it into the stain with your fingers. You can also use a soft-bristled brush.
- Use a wet cotton cloth to blot the stain with water. Continue wiping until all the soap and cornstarch is removed.
- Run the piece of clothing through a wash cycle on the hottest setting suitable for the garment.
While the above hack should get rid of the stain with one treatment, you can repeat the spot treatment and wash the item again before putting it in the dryer.
Method 2: Baking Soda
Since baking soda is an excellent absorbent, it’s great for soaking up all the oil in the stain. All you need to do is treat the stain with baking soda, then launder the garment for complete stain removal.
Additionally, you can also transform this simple kitchen ingredient to make washing soda for laundry.
Things you’ll need:
- Baking soda
- Paper towels
- Water in a spray bottle
- Old toothbrush
Step 1. Remove any excess oil with a paper towel
- Dab the stain with a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
- Continue blotting until you’ve soaked up all the loose oil that you can.
Step 2. Apply baking soda on the stain and let it sit
- Place 2 or 3 paper towels underneath the stain. This will prevent the oil from seeping into other areas of the garment.
- Sprinkle baking soda all over the stain.
- Let it sit for 30 to 60 minutes.
Step 3. Scrub the stain & launder the garment
- Spray water on the stain to wet the baking soda.
- Use an old toothbrush to scrub the stain for 1 to 2 minutes. Do not apply too much pressure or it will damage the fibers of the garment.
- Launder the garment on the hottest setting that it can withstand.
Method 3: Hairspray
While hair spray helps set your hairdo for the rest of the day, it can actually help prevent a grease stain from setting into your clothing. The alcohol in hairspray is what breaks up the stain. So, the harsher the hairspray, the better it will work at removing the stain. In fact, you can also use hairspray to remove permanent marker stains from clothes.
Single-Step Treatment: Spray hairspray on the stain and soak up the loose grease
- Place a paper towel under the stain.
- Spray a generous amount of hairspray on the stain.
- Use paper towels to blot up the loose stain.
- Continue blotting with fresh paper towels until all the liquid has transferred onto the paper towels.
- Launder the item as usual, but on the hottest setting suitable for the garment.
Method 4: Eucalyptus Oil
Eucalyptus essential oil can also be used to remove food grease and oil stains from your clothes. The volatile oil will help activate the oil stain, making it easier to remove when you launder the garment. This will also work for older stains.
Single-Step Method: Apply eucalyptus oil on the stain & launder the garment
- Pour some eucalyptus essential oil on a cotton ball.
- Dab it on the stain.
- Give it a light rub until the stain starts to come off.
- Immediately launder the item on the hottest setting to get the stain out completely.
Method 5: Vinegar
White vinegar can deal with multiple cleaning problems. One of them is removing oil stains from clothes. The acetic acid present in white vinegar helps break through the oil and makes it easier to remove when you put it in the washing machine. Vinegar also deodorizes the garment.
Single-Step Method: Soak the garment in white vinegar & launder it as usual
- Pour white vinegar into a bowl. If you are worried about color fading or bleeding, you can mix the vinegar with an equal amount of hot water to dilute it.
- Soak the stained area of the garment in the vinegar for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Squeeze out the excess vinegar from the garment, then run it through a normal wash cycle.
- Instead of drying the garment in the dryer, hang it out to air-dry. This will prevent any remaining stain from setting in.
Method 6: WD-40
If the stain has already set in, it can still be removed using WD-40. It is a commercial oil used for lubrication and protection from moisture. When applied on a cooking oil stain, it helps activate the oil, which can then be blotted and removed easily from the garment.
Things you’ll need:
- WD-40
- Paper towels
- Spare cloth
Single-Step Method: Spray WD-40 on the stain & blot it with a clean cloth
- Place a wadded paper towel under the stain to soak up the leeching oil.
- Generously spray WD-40 on the stain.
- Let it sit for 1 to 2 minutes, then soak up the excess liquid with a clean cloth.
- Launder the garment like you normally do and let it air-dry.
Method 7: Coke
While the results may not be very satisfactory, Coke can be used in a pinch to remove food grease and oil stains from clothes. However, it can work most effectively when used after an initial cleaning with one of the above methods. The soda present in Coke will help clean out any oil residue from the garment, once most of it has already been cleaned up.
Note: Do a patch test first on a hidden part of the clothing.
Step 1. Soak the stain in Coke
- Pour about 1 cup of Coke into a bowl.
- Dip the stained area of the garment in the Coke.
- Let it soak for a good 6 hours.
- Retrieve the garment from the Coke and give it a good squeeze to remove the excess liquid.
- Launder the clothing like you normally do, then hang it outside to air-dry.
Tips
- You can use an acetone nail polish remover to remove food oil stains. However, do a patch test first to check for any color bleeding.
- You can also use a product named Carbona Stain Devils for fat and cooking oil as a spot treatment before washing the garment.
- You can replace the cornstarch in Method 1 with baby powder or powdered chalk. Both of them work as good absorbents.