what is the best way to clean a working mans blue jeans?

Question

my husband is an hvac tech and he gets the worst dirt and grease stains on his jeans. i have the heavy duty large compasity front load washers i have tried soaking in simple green but it doesnt always work. Any good tricks for getting these stains out would be much appreciated. also i really dont like to use harsh chemicals. thanks

Answer 1

I use Borax in addition to pretreatment and detergent, and there isn't much that ruins my clothing.

Buy him some cheap blue jeans exclusively for work, and ask him to not wear his better ones to work. YOu call geet really cheap jeans at Wal*Mart and Steve and Barry's.

Answer 2

Spray the stains with a pre-wash and then rub some Naptha soap into the stains. Scrub it in with a brush and let the pants sit for awhile, maybe an hour or so. Then re dampen the spots and rebrush the stains and toss into the washer. Wash in cold water. Hot water sets stains. Cold water will clean well enough and if the stain doesn't come all the way out the first time, or if you missed a spot, you have a second chance. Hot water is unforgiving as far as stain setting goes.

Naptha soap can be found in all cleaning aisles, it's been around forever. It even works on motor oil. The only stain I ever saw it fail on were perspiration stains on a Tommy Bahama shirt, after the perspiration marks on the material had been sprayed with a deoderant by the dummy married to my best friend. What was he thinking?

To keep the jeans looking newer longer use detergent made for dark clothing, wash in cold water, and tumble dry.

Answer 3

Oh.. glad you use Borax... I do not know of anything else that is better for working man's clothes... As you may know.. some of the stains from working on /around HVAC items... just wll not come out but borax will get the clothes as clean as they can possibly get

Answer 4

At home I would recommend Borax. It seems to work the best of the products out there. The problem is that the washing machines inour homes are not the best. I would recommend (if money allows) sending them to the cleaners. they have industrial machines and seem to get the clothes much cleaner than any home machine.

Answer 5

Wash them separate from your own clothes for one,and for me I use this big thick pink or white bar soap used for laundry called "ZOTE" ,it's found in mexican stores ,and sometimes I see it in Wal-Mart. Try it out,just cut off about a hand full ,scrub it on the pants and then stick it in the washing machine along with your detergent that you use.I use Liquid ALL detergent for stains.

Answer 6

my husband was a mechanic in a shop (now he's one with the army, so i'm not so worried about his coveralls) and he'd do work sometimes in his normal clothes and get oil, grease... if it is on a car, he got it on himself at one point!

anywho - on the worst of it in his normal clothes i would let them set in 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 warm water mixture for 15-30 mins. i'd hand scrub them (rubbing them against eachother), and then wash them with a scoop of oxyclean. the only thing i was never able to get out was sharpie.

Answer 7

well the simple green is a gd idea...this is what i do for my husband who gets his jeans dirty first of all there work clothes so they are meant to be just that work clothes and they get dirty so with that i have used oxi clean right in the was also,ive tried zout spray which i love also theres baking soda

Answer 8

Try Melaleuca's Mela power with Mela brite and spot spray let it soak for about 10 minutes and wash see if that works. It is also environmentally safe.

Answer 9

Try using ERA detergent....pour some directly onto the stains and let it sit for awhile then wash using more of the ERA.

Answer 10

You can use vinegar...just pour some in the washer with water then put your jeans as regular...
Good luck!!