How to remove oil stains from clothes: cooking oil, dressing, lotion and motor oil

Step by step: how to remove oil stains from clothes

Safety first. Do not put oil-soaked clothes in the dryer until the oil is out. NFPA warns never to dry items that have been in contact with cooking oil, gasoline, paint thinner or alcohol, because they can ignite. Clothes soaked with gasoline or solvents should air out outdoors before washing. Use dry-cleaning solvents only in a ventilated room.

1. 1

   Blot off the excess oil

   Press a paper towel on both sides of the stain to pull up as much oil as you can. Do not rub, which pushes oil deeper and widens the spot.

2. 2

   Put a barrier inside the garment

   Slip a piece of cardboard or a folded paper towel between the layers of a shirt or pants leg. Oil wicks through fabric easily, and this stops it marking the back.

3. 3

   Cover it with cornstarch or baking soda

   Sprinkle a thick layer of cornstarch or baking soda over the spot and leave it 15 to 30 minutes, longer for a big spill. The powder darkens as it soaks up oil. Brush it off and repeat if it came up very oily.

4. 4

   Work in dish soap

   Put a few drops of grease-cutting dish soap on the stain and gently work it in with your fingers or a soft toothbrush from both sides. Let it sit 5 to 10 minutes, then rinse with water. Tide recommends this dish soap step for cooking oil stains, and repeating it if needed.

5. 5

   Pretreat with enzyme detergent

   Rub a little enzyme liquid detergent directly into the spot and leave it on. Enzyme detergents are designed to break down fats and oils in the wash.

6. 6

   Wash in the hottest safe water

   Wash the garment in the hottest water the care label allows; heat helps loosen oil in the wash, even though dryer heat sets it. Mississippi State Extension gives the same advice for greasy stains.

7. 7

   Air dry and check in good light

   Oil stains look darker when wet and can hide until fabric dries. Let the garment air dry, then check it under a bright light. If a shadow remains, repeat from the dish soap step before it ever goes in the dryer.

Oil stains by type

The method is the same core routine, but some oils need a longer soak or a solvent. If you are wondering how to get cooking oil out of clothes, the steps above are exactly that routine; the table covers the rest.

The motor oil soak is Tide’s ratio: about 1 ounce of liquid detergent per gallon of warm water, with the item weighted down by a white towel. For thick, sticky lubricants and chain grease, our grease stain guide has a solvent step.

How to remove old or set-in oil stains

Rewet the stain, then repeat the absorb, dish soap and hot wash cycle, and use the paper towel blotting method on heavy spots. Oil stains that went through the dryer are often still removable, just slower.

For heavy stains, Mississippi State University Extension suggests placing the stain face down on clean paper towels, applying detergent to the back of the stain, letting it air dry while you swap the paper towels often, then rinsing and washing in the hottest water safe for the fabric. The oil moves into the paper towels instead of back into the fabric.

If that fails on a washable fabric, a dry-cleaning spotter such as Carbona or K2r can dissolve the last of it. Use it outdoors or by an open window, let the solvent evaporate fully, then wash. Take silk, wool and dry clean only items to a dry cleaner instead.

Why oily clothes and the dryer do not mix

Dryer heat sets oil stains permanently, and heavily oil-soaked fabric is a fire risk. NFPA’s dryer safety tips say never to dry items that have come in contact with flammable substances such as cooking oil, gasoline, paint thinner or alcohol.

• Kitchen towels and rags used to mop up cooking oil should be washed well and air dried, not machine dried.
• Clothes soaked in gasoline or solvents should be hung outside to air out before you wash them.
• Never use the dryer to “finish off” a stain you are not sure is gone.

What the care label means by hot, warm and cold

Oil lets go of fabric more easily in hot water, but the care label sets the limit. Under the FTC’s care labeling rule, the words on a US label refer to the starting water temperature:

If the label says cold or hand wash, do not go hotter to chase the stain. Shrinking and faded dye cannot be undone, but an oil shadow can usually be worked out with another round of absorbing, dish soap and enzyme detergent.

Oil on dry clean only clothes, upholstery and car seats

When an item cannot go in the washer, absorb as much oil as you can, then use only what the label allows.

Dry clean only clothes, silk and wool

Blot, cover the spot with cornstarch, wait, and brush it off gently. Then stop. Do not add water, dish soap or a stain stick. The Drycleaning & Laundry Institute warns that household cleaners, stain sticks and “miracle” products often make stains harder for professionals to remove, and says to avoid hot water, the dryer and the iron because heat can set a stain. Take the item in soon and tell the cleaner what was spilled, even if you can no longer see it.

Upholstery

Find the cleaning code on the furniture tag before you put anything on the spot. Rowe Furniture’s care page describes the codes this way, and here is what each one means for an oil spot:

• W: water-based shampoo or foam cleaner only. Absorb with cornstarch, then clean with the foam from a little dish soap and water, and blot.
• S: a water-free dry-cleaning solvent only. Absorb first, then use a solvent spotter with the windows open.
• W/S: either is allowed. Start with the solvent, then use foam if a shadow remains.
• X: vacuum or brush only, with no water or solvent. Absorb with cornstarch, vacuum it up, and leave the rest to a professional.

Rowe also says to pretest an inconspicuous area before spot cleaning any upholstery. Our upholstery cleaning guide covers each code in detail, and the car seat guide covers fabric car seats.

Greasy-looking spots that show up after washing

If clothes come out of the wash or dryer with dark, greasy-looking spots that were not there before, the cause may not be food at all. The American Cleaning Institute lists undiluted liquid fabric softener and dryer-added softener among the causes of greasy, oily spots. Its fix is to rub the spot with bar soap and wash again, and to dilute liquid softener rather than pour it straight onto fabric.

If a spot is still there after the bar soap wash, treat it as oil with the dish soap method above. Our detergent and fabric softener stain guide covers softener marks in full.

What to do when you spill oil while you are out

You cannot treat an oil stain properly at a restaurant table, but you can stop it from getting worse until you get home.

1. Press a dry napkin on the spot to soak up what you can. Press; do not wipe.
2. Skip the wet napkin and the glass of water. Water does not lift oil and can spread the ring.
3. If you have talc, baby powder or cornstarch with you, dust it on and leave it until you get home.
4. A stain pen will not hurt most fabrics, but still treat the spot with dish soap before the garment goes in the wash.
5. Treat it the same day if you can. The longer oil sits, the more rounds it takes.

Mistakes to avoid

• Rubbing the spot with a napkin, which spreads the oil into a bigger ring.
• Washing in cold water, which leaves much of the oil behind.
• Putting the garment in the dryer before checking, which sets the stain.
• Skipping the barrier inside the shirt, so the oil wicks to the back.
• Trying WD-40 or other oily products on an oil stain, which only adds more oil.
• Washing hotter than the care label allows to chase a stain, which can shrink the fabric or fade the dye.
• Dabbing water or soap on S or X code upholstery, which can leave a ring worse than the oil.