How can I get motor oil stains out of clothes?

Question

My husband has ruined almost all of his clothes. He has many many many stains on his clothes from motor oil and I cannot get them out. Any ideas????

Answer 1

Try Simple Green or the hand cleaner Gojo. They also have this stuff called Oops that's supposed to take oil stains out. Look for it in the hardware section at Walmart.

Answer 2

How to Remove Oil or Grease Stains From Fabric

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Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Whether it's a cooking, automotive or lubricating oil mark, the sooner you deal with a greasy stain, the better the outcome.
Steps

1. Apply an absorbent such as talcum powder or cornstarch to the affected area, then brush away. If the stain is heavy or old, proceed to Step 2; if fresh, skip to Step 3.
2. Place stain facedown on paper towels. Blot back of stain with a dry-cleaning solvent. Replace paper towels as they soak up the stain.
3. Spray with laundry pretreatment.
4. Wash in the hottest water that's safe for the garment.
5. Air dry.

Overall Things You'll Need

* Laundry Pretreatment
* Paper towels
* Dry-cleaning Solvent
* Talcum Powder
* Cornstarches

Topics Addressed

* How do I get oil or grease stains out of fabric?
* Learn to remove stains from laundry
* Keep my clothing clean

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User Comments & Tips

by Josh on 11/22/2005
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Oil in cloth - Use Dawn dish detergent. Apply only a drop or two in accordance with the size of stain. Blot with damp cloth or paper towel to remove detergent and stain.

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by eHow Friend on 8/8/2006
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Baby powder, and Goo Gone - I bought a new pair of jeans a few weeks ago. I wore them once. I had to change the oil in my wife's car, so I made sure to put on my junk jeans and throw these new ones down the laundry chute. I washed them a few days later, with the other towels and stuff, and what do you know; I found several large oil spots on them (I realized later that I had thrown the oily towel, from oil change, down there too)! I was so mad. My wife found this site, and I read through all the tips. I wanted to go with the one that had the maximum potential for success, it looked like people were pleased with the baby powder tip, so we picked some up a few days later.

Washing #2: I mashed the baby powder into the stains (not something that it said to do here, but I wanted to be thorough), because I assumed that would give better results than just leaving it in a pile on top of the stains. I let it sit for 24 hours and then washed in hot water, using the presoak option and stain treat cycle. One of the stains I rubbed washing detergent into before the wash, just to see if it would do any better than the others. The results for all the stains were the same. They were greatly lightened, but still there. Not sure if it was the baby powder or hot water (or both) that was the key.

So, for washing #3, I squirted Goo Gone all over the stains and rubbed it in. I immediately washed the pants again, in hot water, using presoak and stain treat cycle. This morning I pulled the jeans out of the dryer, and I'm happy! I'd say the stains are 95% gone -- you could only notice them if you knew they were there. I expect with the normal washings that they will get into the future, these stains will completely disappear. Thanks everyone for your valuable information!

Answer 3

Cooking oil/motor oil
What you need: liquid detergent, two paper towels, a warm iron, baby powder, solvent

How to remove it: Once you've removed the excess oil, dampen the stain and apply liquid detergent directly onto it. Alternatively, place the stained portion of the garment between two paper towels and apply a warm iron to the area. If you're not in a hurry, apply baby powder and let it absorb the oil overnight. Finally, if the fabric cannot withstand very hot water, use a grease solvent before washing.

Answer 4

This sounds lame but if you put start with some DAWN dishwashing liquid and scour the stain and then put some Coca~Cola (1/2 a can) in with the wash it should wash right out though this is my own concoction but both websites offer great advice for getting stains out of clothing... Good Luck

Answer 5

Try using a bottle or so depending on how many you wanna treat.. Pour it right on the stain and let it soak overnight and then wash as normal the next day. If you wanna do more than one at a time..grab a bucket and dump in a 2 liter bottle of coke, add the clothes and leave til morning. It's cheap and easy..

Answer 6

This works on motor oil. There is a big yellow bar soap that has been around forever, Naptha, it comes in a paper wrapper and is in different areas of the cleaning section in the store. I call it the soap from hell. My mother in law turned me on to it. You spray the oil spot(s) with spray and wash or some other spray (or even water, you just want to dampen the spot) and then rub the spot with the soap from hell. Then massage the material. Use a toothbrush on the stain if you have to, it should come out right before your eyes. This soap gets out food oil, ink, lipstick, grass stains and wine are child's play for this soap. You can use it on anything in your house. The bar is huge. I have had mine for almost 17 years and still have a little chunk left.

Answer 7

M30 hand cleaner, rub it on the grease and oil spots and scrub it in with a brush, let it set about an hour and wash as normal.

Answer 8

Neat washing up liquid to get the oil out then normal detergent wash

Answer 9

Put some white vinegar on the stain, rub it in a little, and put 1 cup of vinegar in your wash, with your detergent. I hope it works for you. good luck..

Answer 10

I had the same problem with my husband. I tried everything, until my mother told me to try Pine-sol, the one in the green bottle, with pines illustrate. Apply it like you would "shout" and then to your laundry and wash with hot water, only the laundry stainded with oil.