Ever pulled out a shirt only to discover it has set in grease stains? No worries! Remove grease stains from clothing (even after you’ve washed them) with this super simple method. It will remove even the toughest of grease stains!
Hi, my name is Katie and I spill on myself… all the time. I’m just as bad as the kids and should probably be wearing a big or apron at all times. Then there are the times when I’m cooking and I splatter sauce or grease on myself. It’s amazing I have any clothing left without spots.
A few weeks ago Micah was eating dinner after work while we lounged on the couch (he gets home after bedtime most nights so he eats while we catch up on our favorite shows) and I snagged a bite of his Cubano. The juices from the meat dribbled down my chin and right onto my shirt. A shirt I had only owned for a couple weeks. I washed it with wishful thoughts that it was simply meat juice and not any grease from the super delicious pork shoulder gracing his sandwich.
I was wrong.
I pulled that shirt out of the clean laundry to see grease stains all down the front. Bummer. I refused to let this be the death of a shirt I really liked so I wandered to Pinterest and typed in “grease stain remover” and found dozens upon dozens of DIY remedies.
The first method I tried was chalk. “Simply rub chalk on the stain and launder as normal!” was the claim. It pulled some of the grease out (I should have taken a picture) but it was still an obvious stain so I knew I needed to go a little heavier duty.
I found this post and while I didn’t have the specific stain remover mentioned I did have Shout in the laundry room plus the other ingredients. I did find another method that used hydrogen peroxide instead of stain treater but I didn’t want to risk completely ruining the shirt so I opted for this method instead. I figured it was worth a try and if it didn’t work then I could use the shirt for a future craft project.
What do I need to remove grease stains?
- stain remover (I used Shout!)
- baking soda
- bristle brush (an old toothbrush would work great, I used a new dish scrubber)
- dish soap (most instructions recommend blue dawn, I had green Walmart brand)
Here’s my before picture. You can see all the stains down the front of the shirt. I really wish I had taken a picture before the chalk because they were significantly darker.
First up, spray the stains with the stain remover until saturated.
Second, add a little dish soap over the stain. A few drops is plenty.
Third, sprinkle baking soda over the stain.
Scrub the baking soda into the stain remover and soap with the bristle brush or toothbrush to create a paste.
Let the mixture sit on the stain for 20-30 minutes.
Launder as normal and the stain should be gone!
I’m so happy this method worked for me and now I want to see if I can find other shirts that have grease stains because I know there have to be a few in my drawers. How many shirts have I tossed over the years because I hadn’t bothered to search for a solution?
What’s your favorite method to get out stains? Do you have one you use for everything or different methods for different types of stains?
