How to properly remove grease stains from clothes
Stains from greasy food can appear on clothes due to carelessness or just an unfortunate accident. Often such things are considered hopelessly damaged, although this type of pollution is much easier to remove than stains from berries, coffee or chocolate.
What are pollution?
First you need to understand what types of pollution are:
- Grease stains on clothing are considered fresh if they are less than three hours old. It is easiest to remove them using modern household chemicals.
- If the specified time has passed, then the stain is considered to be ingrained. The fact is that fat molecules penetrate deep into the tissue structure and stain its fibers. Even after thorough washing, yellowish stains may remain at the site of contamination, which is very difficult to get rid of. Such pollution requires other methods of disposal. Special means are suitable for their removal.
- Often clothes with a stain that could not be removed are left until better times. Fat molecules on such things penetrate deep into the fibers of the fabric, destroy their structure and change color. Old dirt from fat is the hardest to remove. Sometimes in such cases folk methods and repeated washings come to the rescue. Stubborn stains can also be removed by dry cleaning.Professionals will select the composition that is most suitable for the fabric, which will gently clean the clothes without damaging them.
Thus, it is worth getting rid of grease stains on your favorite things as quickly as possible, preventing the substance from penetrating into the fibers of the material.
Nevertheless, even if the stain could not be noticed in time and the pollution has eaten into the clothes, there are a number of folk methods that allow you to return things to their original appearance. These methods have been tested by more than one generation of housewives and can cope with fat on any matter.
What to wash?
Special cleaning products will help to wash the grease stain from the fabric. But you can use folk methods. Before you start washing, you need to remove dust from the thing. To do this, it is enough to clean the clothes with a dry brush. Then prepare everything you need to remove the stain. You may need a cotton swab, a napkin, a small piece of cloth on which you can test the selected solution.
You can wash a greasy stain with a whole list of substances that can often be found at home. This list includes ordinary laundry soap, chalk or talc powder, table salt, tooth powder, ammonia, mustard, potato starch.
A fresh stain should be treated with any substance that has absorbent properties. For these purposes, tooth powder or table salt is perfect. The crystals will absorb fat and prevent it from penetrating into the fibers of the fabric.
mustard powder It is also able to destroy the greasy stain on clothes. But this option can damage some materials, leaving specific stains on them. Therefore, before wiping off dirt, you should test this method on a small area of \u200b\u200bthe fabric.
An extremely unusual method of dealing with grease stains - beer. The foam of this drink penetrates deep into the structure of the material and corrodes the oil molecules. It remains only to get rid of the sharp beer smell with a regular wash. If you accidentally spilled milk on yourself, dripped mayonnaise or other sauce, a solution of borax will help to cope with the dirt. A tablespoon of the substance is dissolved in a liter of water and the area is treated with this mixture, after which it is washed in running water.
There are more complex ways to remove a stubborn greasy stain. For example, it is believed that shaving foam is able to cope with such pollution. If you can’t wash the stain the first time, you should resort to fairly aggressive means.
For example, a solution gasoline able to remove fat molecules from tissue fibers. Soak a blotter with the purified substance and put it under the stain, then remove it with a cotton swab. In a similar way, grease stains on clothes can be removed using turpentine.
A mixture of ammonia and turpentine It will help to quickly and effectively clean greasy stains from clothes. For this, the substances are mixed in equal amounts, the pollution is soaked with cotton wool and left for several hours. After such a soak and wash in warm water, the stain should disappear.
Another way to quickly remove grease from clothes is to use glycerin. It only takes a few drops of this product to clean things. Glycerin is applied directly to the contaminated area and allowed to soak into the material for half an hour, after which the treated area is simply washed.
It only takes fifteen minutes to remove a grease stain with laundry soap with sugar. Pollution is soaped and sprinkled liberally with sugar, then set aside for twenty-five minutes. This is necessary so that the mixture starts the reaction and has time to penetrate into the structure of the material.
By using ammonia you can clean stains of various origins, including fatty ones. To do this, a teaspoon of the substance is dissolved in a glass of water, the resulting mixture is applied to the contamination with a cotton pad. After that, any cotton fabric is placed on the stain and ironed with a non-hot iron. All fat from the fibers should remain on the tissue flap.
An excellent assistant in removing grease from clothes - vinegar. It is mixed with water in equal proportions and the contaminated area is treated, after which the thing is left for an hour and washed under running water. An unusual way to remove grease stains from clothes is with a sweet soda, such as Coca-Cola. Soiled clothes are soaked in aggressive drinks for several hours, then washed in the usual way.
Dishwashing liquids often have the ability to destroy fat molecules, so they can become faithful assistants in the fight against such stains on your favorite things. The soiled area is simply washed with a special gel or foam, and then washed off with running water.
In the fight against fat on clothes can come to the rescue hair spray. The contaminated area is covered with a thin napkin or blotter and treated with a spray, and then ironed. Motorists are advised to use a shampoo designed for cleaning interiors to eliminate old dirt. Such products are usually quite mild and do not harm the tissue, but they perfectly remove fat molecules.
Stains on delicate fabrics can be removed with shampoo. It is worth choosing a product for oily hair. The substances contained in it will gently dissolve the fat molecules, but will not damage the material.
How to wash effectively?
The choice of method for cleaning the fabric from greasy stains depends on what type of material has been contaminated. Different fabric structure requires a different approach to removing contaminants. For example, velvet or silk are delicate materials that should be handled very carefully so as not to spoil the thing.
For rough material, such as jeans, aggressive substances are perfect. A greasy stain from such a fabric can be removed with ammonia or ammonia. An old stain can be removed with laundry soap and sugar. Will not damage clothes and professional cleaners.
Grease stains often appear on outerwear. In addition to accidental contamination, the collar and sleeves of jackets and down jackets are prone to greasing. You can remove grease from raincoat fabric with dishwashing detergent, for example, Fairy. The stain is washed, left for half an hour, and then the thing is washed with ordinary powder.
Grease stains can be removed from such a fabric with gasoline. This method is perfect for old and stubborn dirt. If the gasoline has not coped with the stain, you can resort to a more aggressive method. To do this, mix one hundred grams of ether and magnesia powder. Treat the stain with the resulting paste and leave the thing until the specific smell of the ether is completely gone. Then the soiled item is rinsed in cool water.
A mixture of ether and magnesia removes fat well from bologna tissue.
Grease stains from velvet can be cleaned with breadcrumbs. A warm piece of bread is rolled over the contaminated area.The bread will absorb the grease, after which the clothes can be washed in the machine. In the same way, you can clean the fat from the plush. If this method does not cope with pollution, use turpentine. This substance is more aggressive, but it will not harm such tissues.
From the most delicate materials, such as silk or tulle, it is best to remove fat using professional mild products. If you still want to use folk methods, mix two tablespoons of ammonia with water and treat the material with the resulting solution. In this way, grease can be removed from curtains or linens.
Absorbents will help remove grease stains from cotton or linen. You can use crushed chalk, talcum powder or baby powder.
This method is most effective for getting rid of fresh stains. The powder will absorb the fat, and you just have to wash the thing in the usual way.
Often stains from fatty foods appear on the tablecloth: after a feast, random contamination remains on the fabric. Linen fabric can be cleaned immediately. First, dust and crumbs should be removed from the tablecloth, then sprinkle the contaminated places with salt and let it absorb the fat. This procedure can be repeated two or three times if necessary, after which the tablecloth can be washed in cool water with soap or powder.
Tooth powder will come to the rescue if an oil stain appears on woolen clothes. The procedure for this is identical to removing dirt from cotton or linen. The powder is gently rubbed into the affected area, then the clothes can be rinsed on a delicate cycle in a washing machine.
How to remove grease stains at home depends not only on what fabric needs to be cleaned, but also on the type of clothing.For example, a stubborn greasy stain on trousers can be removed in a rather complicated but very effective way. To do this, the item must be placed in the sink, stain remover or laundry soap should be applied to the place of contamination. After twenty minutes, rinse the pants in very hot water, turn inside out and repeat the whole process from the very beginning.
If the dress is damaged, use the method that is appropriate for the material from which it is made. A quick way to clean a greasy stain from a T-shirt - wash it with dishwashing detergent. Modern gels dissolve fat quite delicately and cannot damage flowers. The same method can be used to clean the collar or cuffs of a shirt.
You can wipe off a stain of grease from a sweater or sweater with the help of delicate stain removers. The structure of wool or mohair is subject to rapid absorption of dirt, so such stains must be removed immediately.
It is also worth remembering that you cannot use an iron or aggressive substances, such as ammonia, to clean a woolen sweater or jacket.
But these methods are perfect to restore the original look of a bag or backpack. Products made of leather or suede can be processed in various ways. A fresh stain should first be wiped with wet wipes. They will remove excess fat. Any absorbent is suitable for further processing. The simplest and most familiar is corn starch, and the more familiar potato starch is also suitable. It is diluted in water to the state of a paste, the resulting slurry is rubbed into the pollution. The starch will absorb grease, after which it should be carefully removed with a napkin and wipe the area with a soft cotton cloth.
Another popular way to get rid of fat on a bag or leather jacket is onion juice.This method is extremely simple: the onion is cut in half and the pulp is treated with contamination. The stain will disappear in a couple of minutes.
If you don’t like the strong onion smell, you can replace this vegetable with lemon. But it must be remembered that things made of dark leather, lemon juice can lighten and thereby spoil the appearance of your bag.
The color scheme of clothing must be taken into account when processing. Aggressive products can damage the material, cause colors to fade. Bright things, blue, dark or red are best treated with dishwashing gel. It will dissolve grease, but will not lighten clothes. You can use a special soap to remove stains from colored fabrics, it is applied directly to the stain and left for ten to fifteen minutes, and then rinsed in cool water.
White things that have suffered from grease must also be handled with care so that there are no yellowish spots on the clothes. If the pollution is fresh, then it can be treated with salt, and then washed. If the fat has managed to eat into a light fabric, then you can remove it with the help of ammonia. To do this, dilute a tablespoon of the substance in a small amount of water and treat the stain with a cotton pad.
The next time you wash the affected item, add a little bleach to the powder to make the clothes look like new.
If the composition of the fabric allows, clothes with an old greasy stain can be boiled. To do this, the thing is immersed for twenty minutes in hot water. Under the influence of high temperature, the fat in the fibers of the fabric is split. After boiling, clothes can be washed with ordinary powder or special gel.
Tips & Tricks
Here's what housewives should remember:
- It is worth remembering that it is much easier to deal with a fresh stain than with one that has already penetrated the fabric. Therefore, as soon as trouble occurs and there is a greasy stain on your clothes, try to treat it with salt or any other absorbent, and then wash it according to the instructions.
- Whichever way you choose to get rid of a greasy stain, you need to treat the pollution, starting from the edges, gradually moving towards the center. Otherwise, the stain may increase in size and leave yellow stains on the clothes even after washing.
- When scrubbing old and stubborn stains with aggressive products, be sure to use rubber gloves. Gasoline, ammonia, ammonia can damage or burn the skin of the hands.
- Before choosing a treatment method for removing grease stains, try it on a piece of similar fabric. You will be able to see how the material will behave, whether the colors will fade or the structure of the fabric will not be damaged.
- Before washing, clothes with a greasy stain must be treated with a napkin, cleaned of dust with a brush.
By choosing the right method that matches the type of fabric and its color, you can easily get rid of even a stubborn and old stain. But if you are afraid of damaging your clothes, you should seek the help of professional dry cleaners.
In the video below you can see an experiment on removing grease stains from clothes.